Tag Archives: Ann Arbor family fun

Sweet September

 

Maypole and tango are just two of the many dances at Dancing in the Streets. (Photo: © Vickie Elmer)

September brings back to school schedules and cooler evenings, yet there’s still beautiful days and events to savor.

We are going to three of them this month and want you to come along. They are:

Sept. 6 – Dancing in the Streets.  Learn to dance an array of international dances, or enjoy music and dance from Main Street.  If you feel adventurous, try Cajun-Zydeco or belly dancing. Or swing and English country dancing may be more your style.  We will be right in the center of the festival, starting around 12:30 so you can enjoy some treats before you move your feet.

Sept. 13 – Kerrytown Book Festival . Held in the Farmers Market, this festival is a great place to meet authors and small publishers. We will be on our sidewalk outside 303 Detroit Street with a make a book mark activity and lots of sweet treats.

Sept. 13 – Monarch Migration Festival at Leslie Science and Nature Center.  This ticketed event features games, educational activities and a chance to help the monarchs on their journey south.

Then it will be one or two more Saturdays and the Italian ice cart goes dark by the end of September. Order your quarts so you won’t be without if Indian summer visits us in October.

This year, we expect to return with roasted chestnuts grown in Michigan a few times in November and December. So watch our Facebook page for announcements of those events. When the weather turns cold, we are glad to join your company’s holiday party with this distinctive holiday treat.

It’s a Mystery who will show up at the last Second Sunday of the year

It’s called All Things Mysterious, this upcoming special day at the Mity Nice cart and the Sunday Artisan Market. And it will be a day full of surprises and mysteries, with some magic thrown in for good measure.

Yet it started out as a place holder or maybe a joke, when the Mity Nice crew first started planning the Second Sunday events early this spring. We knew we wanted a half year of joyful activities and events, yet we had not yet figured out what our October theme would be. The other five months came to us with ease, but not the last one.

So when we created the schedule and the sweet little postcards that adorn so many refrigerators around town, we wrote in “Mystery” for that month.

Eureka! We had a great idea and eventually we realized it worked perfectly, mixing in a little bit of Halloween with a lot of surprise – including some mystery guests and performers.

So we are sworn to secrecy a lot of this, but some entertainers you’ll recognize from our Mity Nice Street Fair and some are new to the Second Sunday scene. Some may be so mysterious you’ll never know their true identity.

One thing that is no surprise is our Mity Nice Arts & Crafts area, where children and adults play around and make things, whether they be sock puppets, bookmarks or a pirate’s moustache. We’re adding some mystery games near our cart on Detroit Street, too, because games are such fun. (Anyone for another hand of poetry cards?)

What:  A fun family day full of games, crafts, entertainment and many mysteries. (But no mystery meat, we promise. Our cart is all vegetarian and vegan treats!)

When: Sunday, Oct. 14, 11:30 to 3 p.m.

Where: At the Mity Nice cart, on the sidewalk at 303 Detroit Street, and throughout the Sunday Artisan Market

Who: Anyone who enjoys fall, mysteries, sweet treats or art – that’s all of us! Plus our friends from the Leslie Science & Nature Center are coming as our charity partner, and they’re bringing some mystery guests.

Why: Because next to Michigan-made Italian ice and other sweets, what could be more wonderful than a day full of joy and mysteries?

How:  How about creating a secret identity, just for the day of All Things Mysterious. Or maybe you want to pull your copy of Harriet the Spy or Encyclopedia Brown and read something mysterious before you show up.

What else:  We cannot tell you, or it will ruin the mystery and the fun surprises!

Blue moon – dogs, students and dancing this week

The summer’s fun continues to run.

We have a busy week here at Mity Nice, and we’re really looking forward to seeing friends back from vacation and students and staff back to U-M and other local universities. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s up with us:

  • Thursday, Aug. 30 –  We’re heading to Main Street around 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. to welcome Lena and Habana, the Latin American restaurant, to our neighborhood.  If you want a shot of tequila in your Italian ice, start at the cart then step inside!
  • Friday, Aug. 31 – Our first Full Moon, Dogs & Spoon event. Please stop by on Main Street with your friendly dogs, big, small, young or old. We are big dog lovers, and so we’ll have dog treats (courtesy of Dogma Catmantoo in Kerrytown) and a dog game or two. The spoon, of course, refers our wooden spoon so owners and friends can savor late summer heat with a couple of scoops of lemon or lime Italian ice.
  • Saturday, Sept. 1 – Hello Students! Look for us on our North University sidewalk space near Hill Auditorium, starting around 4 p.m. We’ll crack out the Go Blue! Italian ice, and give away a dozen of our Maize & Blueberry muffins to students, then scoop up some sweetness to new and old friends.
  • Sunday, Sept. 2 – Dancing in the Streets. Such a joyful event, with free dance lessons and music and more along Main Street. We have been part of it every year, and we always donate a percent of our sales to the organizers, the Ann Arbor Community of Traditional Dance and Music.  We’ll be there by around 1, and the dancing begins at 2 p.m. with ballroom dance lessons and family dance too.  (Yes, we will dance a bit, when we’re not scooping or pouring drinks.)

We hope to see you at a few of these fun events – dancing shoes and dogs are optional, but joy and friendship and Italian ice are essential!