Gnome Hunting in Frankenmuth!

 Day 3 of our MI adventure found us heading out of Grayling (after I reassured the Bean there would be other pools) and about an hour and 45 minutes south to the Bavarian town of Frankenmuth.   While we have been to Frankenmuth before (during our annual trip to Bronner’s) there is no end to the things to do, see, explore, eat lookg at and sow for there.  I knew it’d be a great half-way stop on our trim home that we could spend as little or as much time as we wanted depending on how spent my crew was after our very busy Michigan week.

As a huge bonus to the day, just earlier this week I stumbled across a great way to see lots of Frankenmuth in a fun way for the kids – gnome hunting!  Like the Fairy Doors in Ann Arbor, the kids LOVED this.  Tongs of businesses and other locations around town have gnomes ‘hidden’ at them.  You find them, learn their name, write it down and if you find 10 it earns you a prize!  We had so much fun and our hunting took as all over.  A few favorite locations: Sugar High Bakery where we shared a huge French Toast cupcake (I lobbied for “Pizza Pie” but got outvoted)  The Michigan Shoppe, Rau’s Country Store (where Kayla found her “souvenir”) and the Frankenmuth Toy Co. (where Noah found his)

Grant’s one request of the trip was if we were going to Frankenmuth, a meal at Zehnder’s was in order.  No one gave him any grief – Noah said “best chicken ever”  Monster sugar cookies from their bakery for later were a great bonus for the kiddos!

We did more exploring, found more gnomes and ended up at The Bavarian Inn just in time from the Clock Tower to play the glockenspiel and tell us the story of “The Pied Piper”  That seemed about the perfect time to wrap it up (though we will definitely be going back) and make the hour and 15 minute trip back to the Hills.  We ran into quite a bit of traffic on the way home, though oddly enough neither kiddo crashed on the way back.

I had one more Michigan food to try for dinner when we got home – mini corn dogs made with “Jiffy” mix which is headquartered not too far from us in Chelsea, where you can actually tour the facilities.  (Add it to my ever growing Michigan bucket list)  We did dinner and a movie (complete with a giant cookie for dessert) and I have two (I hope) very happy kiddos snoozing soundly in their own beds tonight.  What a trip!

According to the crew, favorite moments from today were:

Kayla:  Finding the gnomes

Noah:  Finding the gnomes

Grant:  The chicken!

Kristi:  Listening to the bells at the Bavarian Inn with the crew

We made it to Frankenmuth!

More penny crushing

Look - a gnome!

Heading across the covered bridge

Two cute kids and a Mama 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Noah!

She's such a cupcake

The display at Sugar High

Our beautiful French Toast cupcake

Dig in!

They made friends during the trip

I knew it!

The Bavarian Belle

Zehnder's from across the street

Uh, YUM!

I'm not sure if Noah and Grant breathed, or just inhaled

Their cookie choice

This pictures for Mom - we know where to get them before Thanksgiving this year! They even had spearmint ones

Kayla's souvenir choice of the trip (are you really surprised??)

This one's for Aunt Shell!  Minion kites :)

See the gnome?  His name is Jack :)

Noah's choice

So cheesy

He'd been asking for cherry honey and we finally found it today

Picking their prizes

Playing in the fountain

The clock tower

Pied Piper

Our Frankenmuth loot!

Done in a jiffy!