Some Adult Time

This past weekend, we sent the kids to church snow camp, and we headed up on the train to Chicago to meet our cousins from Illinois.

We did this for the first time last year when the kids went to snow camp.

It was supposed to be to celebrate our anniversary, which is in Sept.

Last year we had such a good time, we decided to do it again.

So, we packed up the kids and us, had Grandparents shuttle them to and from the church, and we drove ourselves to the airport to catch the train.

Unfortunately the kids didn't get to go tubing in the snow (remember, we had just had a blizzard, and there was a TON of snow) because while we were gone, it started to warm up, and rain came, and then turned to ice, and made it too dangerous.  Bummer for them.

In the meantime, we arrived in Chicago and proceeded to have a great time with our cousins, Brad and Sally.

We went to restaurants that would be too expensive to take the kids to with us, and we went shopping at places that wouldn't interest them...save for the LEGO store where we happened upon this...

Since Ev is such a HUGE Iron Man fan, he was a little jealous.

Our hotel was located right in the heart of downtown...3 blocks from Michigan Ave...and about 3-4 blocks from everything else important.

Bloomingdales was our neighbor...

and so was every quaint little restaurant, grocery store, or 3 story brownstone.  (Made me rekindle memories of when I desperately wanted to live in one of those quaint little brownstones...still kinda do...)

They even had one particular restaurant for the bacon lover...

We didn't go though.  Instead we hit up Webers Grill, P.F. Changs, and a hole in the wall mexican place called Su Casa.

Oh, and we frequented Starbucks quite often.

Our weekend went both fast and slow, and I was a little happy to have my head hit my own pillow when we got home.

We had great weather (in the 40's...a heatwave from the negative temps just earlier in the week), and great company.

Makes me ready to take the kids back for our annual summer foray into the city for a White Sox game.

Hope your weekend was tops too.

A Day for the girls

It's not often I get to go somewhere just with the girls.

And NO KIDS.

Today, I got to get away with one of my best girlfriends.  I'm sure you have some too.  The girls who you have so much in common with, whose tastes match your own, and who you genuinely like to be with!

We went up to the Allegan County Flea Market.

Yes, it's a Sunday.  Yes, we skipped church.

I'm sorry.  The flea market is on the last Sunday of every month.

We had a lot of fun.

Nonstop talking.

Chippy paint galore...

Burlap and flowers...

Pretty wooden boxes by the stack...

Pinwheels (and someone's very bright blue backside...sorry.)

Once it got hot, we decided to get outa Dodge.  We drove out of the fairgrounds and went downtown Allegan for some lunch and some antique store hopping.

We talked for hours about everything.  My mouth is tired from talking and smiling.

I brought home some goodies.

I got some wrought iron fences for the garden where the cutting flowers are and some other things...

The globe was $2 because the man who sold it to me forgot to take the price tag off from when he bought it.  He was kinda mad at himself, but honored the price.  It'll go good with my globe collection.

The red wire basket will go in the living room and the pistachio green handle is my favorite!  The chippy white frames will be used for craft projects.

Grace needed a hook in her bathroom for her wet towels.  In a former life, I'm sure this was used for hats.  It'll be spray painted and will be just the right size.

It was a good day.  I'm so glad we went!

We're back, and we survived...I think

We traveled past the thumb in Michigan this past weekend. It was 5 1/2 hours up, but it felt like more.

I was dreading this trip something awful. I mentioned that before.

We were going back to where my husband was born. We don't go up there often for many reasons.

But, there was a reunion and a relief sale that I guess we couldn't miss, or so I was told.

We stayed here.

A four room motel. And the best thing about it was this.

Which isn't saying much. I'll leave the name of the place out of the post in case someone really does like staying there. I was a little bitter about paying what we did for a "camping experience" which was not what I was planning to do at all.

A trip around the town didn't take very long, and the next couple of pictures I was told to take. Brent told me to take them and show what his old house looks like. He wants me to put a disclaimer in here saying that it DID NOT look like this when he lived there. He and his family moved away from here 27 years ago, and now his uncle lives here. (Yes, someone actually lives here.) There is no running water in the house.

It's a sorry excuse for living. Unfortunately this type of house was common where we went. Like no one cares about where they live. It was sad. It's not a prosperous town. Not like the town we live in is much, either, but this town was just sad.

There was, however, one redeeming thing about the trip. Our reunion was at a pond Brent used to go to as a kid.

It was a beautiful setting. Remote. Quiet. Serene.

The kids had a blast and swam for hours. We could hardly get them to eat supper, they just wanted to swim.

We got back yesterday afternoon, after passing this sign on the way home.

Brent pulled over and made me take a picture cause he thought it was so funny. That's what he calls Michigan anyway..."God's Country." Ha.

We also had to pull over and take this picture too, proving there were SOME nice homes where we went. Believe me, this was only one of a few.

I was never so glad to get back to my clean house, my clean bedspread, bathroom, etc.

I overheard Brent talking to his parents after we got home, about how if they go back next year they might go without me.

I'm TOTALLY OK with that!

We're Hittin' the Road

We're leavin' on a jet plane...well, not really, just a regular old van.

We're heading up to what my husband likes to call, and I quote, "God's country." Personally I think he's delusional, but whatever.

No, we're heading up for three days to a VERY tiny town called Fairview, MI, which is a 5 hour trip each way.

My husband is ecstatic, and I think he's the only one.

As I pack my suitcases, which by the way, don't look anything like this (although these are MUCH cuter than mine)

and so are these...



I can't help but worry about what this weekend is gonna be like.

You know, we all have those, dare I say it, family reunions we all dread, just a little. Sometimes they turn out better than what you expect, but sometimes they don't.

Let's just say, the last two times we've been up to this place, have not been good memories. One was for a funeral, and one was when Grace was 6 months old and we had to stay in a crappy (not exaggerating here) trailer with mice running around it at night.

Oh yeah. Nuf said.

So, to say I'm a little wary is an understatement. We're staying in a motel, one of the only ones in town, with only 5 units in it.

I'm worried.

There will be no internet service where we are, and I don't have a laptop ya'll, so it'll be a few days until I can report back.

Hopefully this will go better than I have only imagined it will.

See ya Sunday.