Beautiful Day, Beautiful People

Saturday was ladies lake day at the cottage - too fun!

We have such wonderful women at church, all ages and all backgrounds and it's always a joy to spend time with them laughing and chatting and enjoying a beautiful day.

Pretty flowers were set about

Boatloads of blueberry muffins were made

And they looked good doing it!

Last minute touches

A moment of instruction

Enjoyment!

Good Dutch women - not a drop of cream or sugar in any of their 4 cups of coffee! :)

After breakfast chatter and laughter

Only one boy allowed. Cute goes a long way :)

Great day at the lake, come again sooooooooon!

Friends on Friday

Another summer bucket list item got checked off Friday when we took pity on our cableless friends and invited them over to watch the Tigers :)

I tease! But they did bring their twin babies and we all enjoyed delicious Vitale's pizza as we watched the said Tigers get trounced. Again.

Uncle Petey just luvs him some baby time!

Thanks for coming! Madgie is already asking for a repeat visit.

I hear that old piano from down the avenue

I smell the pine trees, I look around for you

Oh, my sweet, sweet, sweet old someone coming through the door

It's Saturday and the band is playing

Honey, could we ask for more 

The other night we enjoyed Garrison Keillor's farewell tour at the Frederick Meijer Gardens. It couldnt have been a nicer night, or nicer company.

Barbara made fantastic boxed lunch dinners, tied up in a most darling way.

Garrison came right down our aisle!

Look who else was there! Baby Arie and his momma and dad :)

My sweet old someone(s) - way to poto bomb that one DAD! :)

Good music and good stories made for a most perfect summer night.

A fresh coat(s) of paint

Three. Three coats of paint. On a 90 degree day. But we made it! 

Let's get serious, Peter did most of the work, (full service husband, just ask him :) however, I did feel like I was getting close to losing a fingerprint from taping.

I failed on taking before photos, but the walls were tan, the door white, the trim paint peeling, and the light fixture bad.

And here's what it looks like now:

I apparently have a three year vetting period for curtains. They must remain in my basement on the shelf for 3 years before they can see or block out the light of day. Thank you Lindsay for buying the same one and then relinquishing it to me :)

June came by for a bit too. She needed a break from the construction at her own house, which is considerably more involved than our paint :)

Still to be finished: carpet and baseboards.

Ole! Ole! Ole!

The other night Peter was away fighting the rebels, so in an attempt to garner a free meal, I ended up spending the evening with my parents. I had no plans and they did. #weird

Their plans were to take in the soccer match happening at Houseman Field. So on the hottest night of the summer, we and 5000 other people packed in and watched the GRFC win! 

Real futbol. It was fun!

ps: I had success with the free foodies, including a Whippy Dip after :)

Birthday Weekend!

I'm beginning to learn that for a guy who doesnt like a lot of fuss, Peter's birthday tends to get celebrated, and celebrated, and celebrated. Check last year's archives and you'll see what I mean.  

It's really fitting for a guy everyone loves, and certainly no trouble for me, I havent met too many cakes I didnt want to devour...

If you recall, he had an early celebration in Boyne so Friday we resumed the celebrations, this time with his family; he shares the day with his dad and his mom's was just 10 days before, so it's a whole group effort!

Saturday we biked the Kal-Haven trail, something he's been talking about since I've known him.  It turned out to be a good ride, but maybe not repeated any time soon. Also, add a travel bike pump to next year's bday list...

Sunday was the actual big day, the kittens begged to have the birthday banner hung, so I obliged. We had preschool chapel and the kids all sang to him, just darling.

The one fruit dessert he'll make an exception for, and it was delish!

Sunday evening we celebrated with friends and the youth who arent at camp or in Mexico. Ice cream s'more cake was a crowd pleaser!

Happy Birthday to my main squeeze!

Vacation Outtakes

Here are a few of the funny moments that didnt make the original cut.

Little girl's hair stylist

Up close and personal with Peter and the bridge, zoom out! zoom out!

Doughnut smile

Puppies!  We ran into several, and the kids were THRILLED!

No idea what was happening here, other than she cant get enough of her Uncle Peter

Sometimes your little brother needs beating up

Backseat photobombin'

Spill proof

Kids behind the cam.

When you look through your photos and say, whaaaaaaat?! ha!

Cake please!

Catching the breeze on the ferry ride

Dream Big! Someday maybe you can see your name in raisins

Rita and Mos cheesin'

Sam had to have a photo of his crustacean

That's a wrap! Until next time!