Let the birthday just keep on rollin'!

For mom's big milestone, I cooked up a little outing for her and the girls in our extended 'family'.  To celebrate her, we hopped in the minivan and trekked to the far off land of...Kalamazooooooooooo!  

Where we saw Wicked!  

Which could really stand to be renamed: Wicked, the Fantastic. or something like that.

Here we are at the show.  Little did I know when I was planning that everyone getting there would be, in itself, a bit of a celebration.

Mmm dinner and ice cream to boot!

Let the good times roll!  Keep 'em comin'!

Soggy

Documentation time.  I have lived through the great flood!  Interesting that I studied Genesis this year...I'll be sure to publicize that fact if I ever do again!

For those of you not living in the GR Area or without a flooded basement, these barely do justice.
So. Much. Water.
I, thankfully, had no house issues. Whew! Just some splattered white pants running between the raindrops into work. 

This is a panoramic shot of one of the lesser flooded ball fields at Riverside Park. In the background of the middle one you can see the equipment shack, it's 4-5 feet underwater!

 Lead image from the news.

Can you even imagine a worldwide flood?

Thankful for the promises of God! :)

Cow Meeting

Or Jersey Junction - take your pick!

On our walk to get ice cream much discussion was had around which flavor would be chosen by each person.  It's such a hard choice, and then when you get there, there are flavors you hadnt even considered! Oye! the pressure! the debate!

In the end, it was Lemon Sorbet, Cookie Dough, Milkey Way, and Chocolate Monster!  Yum! Oh, and a whole lot of fun :)

Iceberg right ahead!

On the 101st anniversary of the Titanic's maiden voyage, Kari and I made our maiden voyage to the museum exhibit to see the artifacts.

Outside the exhibit; no photos allowed inside! boo!

Scored a ride on the carousel too!

Before you go in, they give you a boarding pass with a passenger's name on it and a few facts about them.  At the end you check to see if you survived or not.  My passenger was Alfred heading to my brother's wedding, but I didnt make it :(  Kari did though!  she was a swanky lady in first class!

It's Bradley Day!

Third annual trip to Veraland, or Fort Fun, or Bradleyville!  

It was a good time, I got a few things, and I got a few things for others...working ahead, uh huh! uh huh!

Sara Vera leading the charge!

We made it in!  Pinkland!!!!

Ohhhh look who else was there! (My main motivation for going!)

Here we are with our haul!

And of course...a trip to Chik-fil-A!

Another great year of Vera Fun!  While we were shopping they were announcing next year's scheduled dates, who's in?!

The one and only

April Fool's Baby!

And she's ours and we're so glad

:)

The bday spread - thanks Dad!

 mmm cake! We love cake!

 Grandma and Moses stopped by to help us celebrate!

Happy Birthday Mom! And many more!

Sooooo Sappy

The other day, Sweets jumped in his car that was parked in front of my house and noticed that it had rained on his car, but apparently, nowhere else.  Hmm... we have weird weather here in Michigan, but not that weird.  After a smudgy windshield wipe, and a daring taste test, it turns out the sugar maple in my front yard was giving off SAP!  

A little hard to see, but you can tell that's not a clear windshield!

We were going to tap the tree for kicks, but the equipment and process is a little more involved than one might think! But if you've got the necessary stuff, feel free! :)