Saugatuck, MI

I think this was the 3rd annual birthday we have celebrated with our friends & neighbors at their house in Michigan. We always have a blast eating, drinking, and carrying on in some way. We even made it down to the water, to Crane's orchard for apple pie, the vineyard for a tasting this year, and to town to shop....well, all in a combination of the last 2 trips I guess. I was lucky enough to buy a cute little desk where I type now for our office & my school computer.
The weather was about 20 degrees warmer than last year, so we ventured down to the park so the kids could ride the "wheel o death."The ladies convene for a self timer Friday night.
And surprisingly, we pulled off a self timer Saturday night in the wee hours of the morning!

York visit- November

The last weekend the water taxi was running in Chicago was a beautiful, yet chilly afternoon. It was fun to ride the Metra and water taxi while still being able to see the Marshall Field's (or is that Macy's) Christmas window display/story. We also saw the Cantigny home & grounds on a Sunday afternoon tour.

Halloween 2009

Hummm. To post something from so long ago is almost challenging. What do I remember about Halloween? It was soooo cold, the tractor was exciting and took many of our trick-or-treaters on a different path, pizza always tastely and great company from the neighborhood later in the evening! The tractor wins all votes for the most exciting part of the evening. Who would expect this in a cozy little burb like ours? What is so fun is that now Jim takes it out and around the block on Sundays just to keep it running now that it is all fixed up!

Natalie is our most frequent visitor! Atlas likes her a lot & she is very good to him. He likes to listen to her read him stories from books that mom has given me!

Here is Jim stealing away some of the kids. Only parents who needed a beer or a pit stop came later in the day. Strategy was important to making the evening good for all!

Big bad birthday weekend

Wendy came up to celebrate her shared September 21st birthday with Mike, 5 years apart. I believe 32 & 37 are their ages this year. Instead of tequila or keg stands, we sat around the neighbors fire Friday night, went shopping and dining Saturday, and saw a car show, IDEA garden, and strolled through stables & an equestrian center Sunday before mellowing out for some surf & turf, wine, football, and Cranes apple pie.

Of course it would not be a real visit without a 4 footed friend, cousin Daggot. Atlas & Daggot get along pretty well until Atlas starts to throw some right hooks or tries to steal a ball just to be a trouble maker. He's never really been taught to share, but I think he truly likes having somone smarter & wiser around him!

Most precious dog in the world

Atlas after a long day outside while we stained the deck. He had absolutely zero interest in going back in the house after about 7 hours ouside---note the wide caps on his ears as he got a little too close to the deck staiN! oops!

Here, Atlas is prioritizing his balls from favorite to "can be my favorite if the multicolor goes missing"
And, maybe if I sit at the door and cry long enough, someone will let me outside in my unfenced yard!

Sshhhh, I am sleeping. being a dog is very hard work & I must get my beauty rest!

Sidewalks at last!!!

I waited all summer to get the stinking sidewalks done & I end up missing all the action because I had to go back to work. The kids are probably sad that there are no more see saw boards to jump on or little stones to throw, but I bet everyone who pushes a little tyke bike is extremely pleased to have a smooth surface again!

The frame really looked nice from our point all the way down the street to the 3 other houses that came on board together to try to reduce the cost of the pour. Who would think that concrete is SOO expensive? And with a little luck, I will petition city council or the street division to recoup 50% of the bill if the budget for the replacement sidewalk program returns next year.And some lovely little mums to flank the stairs as fall approaches. A nice touch done by Mike (the final white board is in the garage waiting to cover that last riser)

Back to school movie night in the driveway!

On the Saturday before school started, we had one last summer block party with leftover hot dogs from July. Get a few people together, throw in some homebaked goods, fruit, & chips, and dinner is served! Voila! As the sun started to set, Anne set up the equipment for a king sheet showing of a popular kids movie that followed a short home video on our garage door.

The screening was awesome and the kids tucked themselves in with popcorn & sleeping bags.

Even Atlas got to watch from the mezzanine!

And the adults ditched the kids, went next door, and washed down the s'mores with a few final beers of the night. Thanks to Muilli's grill basket, many could be served at once!