Leah's Visit to Cincinnati

We sent Leah down to Cincinnati to spend the week with her grand parents. They were nice enough to e-mail pictures of what she did all week. Sure looks like she had fun.

My Sweet Girl is 7

Leah turned 7 not too long ago. She's become quite a young lady, enjoying all things girly but refusing to be outdone by the boys next door. We had planned to take a camping trip on Kelley's Island to celebrate her birthday but unfortunately I had to cancel because she caught a cold that knocked her out all week. She took it all in stride and when she perked up a bit she requested to do a little retail therapy....her new favorite girly mommy and me activity. Maybe her joy of shopping will rub off on me because while I enjoy spending one on one time with her I hate shopping.

This is what happens when bad parents don't send their kid in with a recipe when requested

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Blue Tops Live On

Last week we took a family vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As a child my family would go up there every summer to visit my great grandparents, Nana Gwen and Gramps Harold. We haven't vacationed there since 1988...(I distinctly remember Tracy Chapman's "Fast Cars" on the radio) and the last time I was up there at all was in 1995 for Gramps Harold's funeral. Winters up there are something else.

My brother and I had been talking about going back and last fall he sent me a link to an article about a Michigan Tech Student that had built a cord log cabin with her father and she lived in it during the school year. Ends up that Student is the daughter of the family we used to rent "Blue Top Cabins" from. I contacted her father about possibly returning to the U.P. for a visit and the next thing I knew my dad had booked 3 cabins just down the street from our original vacation spot. My brothers family wasn't able to join us but my sister and her family made the 16 plus hour trek from Knoxville. I was excited to relive childhood memories with my kids but I was nervous if anyone else would enjoy themselves....there may be lots of water but it's definitely not the beach vacation we've become accustom to. Leaving 100 degree heat we set off on a 13 hour drive for cooler climates and what a pleasure it was. Jeans and sweatshirts become part of our evening attire. Ice cold showers and even colder swims, sunsets after 9:30, twilight that lasted nearly till dawn and more stars then I've seen in a planetarium highlighted the week. To my amazement my teenage nephew asked my sister if they could start vacationing there every year because it was way more fun than the beaches of North Carolina. The history up there is so rich and it was good to visit the place my family migrated to generations ago.

Sea Shells by the Lake Shore

Mackinaw Lighthouse

Mackinac Bridge - as a kid I thought this was the most amazing bridge. 5 miles long it marks a little more than 1/2 way between Cleveland and Houghton

One foot in Lake Michigan - One foot in Lake Huron

Mackinac Bridge

These towers can be seen for miles before you reach it on I75

My Hippie on Oskar Bay - our home for the week

Fishing without hooks ;-)

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Worn Out

Portage Canal Light House - loved climbing on those boulders as a kid - as an adult they nearly gave me a heart attack watching my kids risk life and limb jumping boulder to boulder

Lake Superior Sand Dunes - black sand like no other place I've been

Lake Superior at Sunset

6 of the 8 Grandkids in Nana's old stomping grounds

Blue Tops Live On

I remember the Isle Royal Ferry passing our cabin daily...didn't see any Cleveland Cliffs ore boats this time

My mom believes her great grand mother was born in this light house but while Pierce is a family name I don't see her last name listed

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse tower

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

View from Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

Fort Wilkins

Fort Wilkins - I remember standing on the base of that flag pole as a kid

Cousins - Cooper Harbor Sunset Cruise

Copper Harbor Sunset

The Problem with Gardens

Don't get me wrong, I love fresh veggies and the idea of being able to step out my back door to select what's for dinner, the problem is, I-don't-cook. I decided last year, when I realized I would actually have a yard again, that a container garden would be a perfect complement to my gorgeous new deck. I asked for gift cards at Xmas to help me on my way. We had a cold wet wet wet spring so I wasn't able to plant anything until few weeks before Memorial day. Now everything is growing like crazy and the anal retentive environmentalist in me refuses to let anything go to waste. Who knew herbs could grow so fast? I've already used the cilantro to make two batches of fresh guacamole, parsley to make fresh couscous veggie salads, oregano on homemade pizza and basil for chicken pesto pasta. Haven't figured out what to do with the rosemary yet and the lettuce is ready for picking. Before I know it the cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes will be ready too. I can't have Scott thinking I can or rather will cook on a regular basis. As a working mother I have an image to uphold and takeout to be had.

The Graduate

Better late then never....me posting a picture, not Scott graduating.
Back in Mid May we spent a weekend celebrating Scott's accomplishments. We had a party Saturday evening. I planned food for 20 plus and somehow managed to feed 30 adults and 18 kids. Scott was overwhelmed that so many people cared enough to come. The weather was crappy so I was glad I scrapped the BBQ idea. Amazingly after having 50 people trapped in my very humble home, nothing was broken, mangled or otherwise destroyed. By 9 in the evening the house was as clean as it had been before the party...well with the exception of the basement...seriously 18 kids! Don't think it could have been any worse if I had sent the kids down there and told them to make as big of a mess as they possibly could.
Sunday was the actual commencement. The kids were amazing sitting through what felt like the longest speeches EVER. The neat part of all this is he's already done with the bar, so he doesn't have to immediately turn around and start study for the July exam like all the other suckers at commencement.
Now the real fun starts....student loans