It's been HOT. I mean really, really hot. Hot enough to make my mascara run. Hot enough to not wear a bra...well, maybe not that hot, but definitely hot enough to not want to wear a bra. When the pool water got up to 90 degrees...AGAIN...I had to add some cold water...AGAIN. It just doesn't seem right to sweat while floating in the pool....AGAIN. Matt's mom came for a visit to watch Matt's nephew's baseball team fight for the Little League State Championship. They battled for five long, hot, grueling days, but lost in the end. It was a good run. Since they lost when I went to watch early in the tournament, I didn't want to jinx them any further and didn't go to any more games. I did make them cookies, though...and then they lost. Uh oh, I'm really hoping I didn't jinx them. I'm a bit superstitious.
We (and I totally mean Matt) cleaned the front of the house with the power washer after we FINALLY got it back from the shop and its two-week repair. We (and, again, I totally mean Matt) hung up the shutters in their new spiffy color...burgundy. It's a nice change from the navy. Well, it was really more like lighter navy since the sun definitely made them fade a bit in the last couple of years. Now we need to do make some changes to the landscaping. (And, again by we, I totally mean Matt needs to change some landscaping. I don't like to get dirt under my nails.)
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| Goodbye blue. Hello burgundy. (Since we have a new paint color, this totally means some changes are needed for the outdoor decor, too. I just need someone to tell Matt because he thinks our old stuff is fine.) |
We enjoyed a fun weekend with my sister and her family. We met them over at Silver Lake and had a great time bouncing along with them on a dune buggy ride. Then we headed over to the Little Sable Point Lighthouse and spent some time at and in Lake Michigan. We took them to a rope and zip-line course and the kids had a blast climbing and zip-lining. We hit Binder Park Zoo on their way home and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the monkeys. They even followed me as I moved around to take pictures. If I ever win a huge lottery (or find out I have really, really rich parents), I plan to buy an island (or two) and make animal sanctuaries. Even though I love monkeys so much and would love to have one as a pet, I never will because I know they're wild animals and should not be pets. I'll never be a crazy monkey lady that puts clothes on them. That's what dogs are for. So, I thought a monkey island would be a perfect solution for me. I can see monkeys all day, every day...and since my neighbors are driving me crazy and I really want to move, it would be a perfect place to live! The good news is that I'll have help with my island/s. My niece said she'd work on both my monkey island and dog island. My nephew said he would only work on the dog island because monkeys throw poop. One of the priceless things with the kids was that they both simultaneously said they wanted chocolate fondue for dessert when I told them I had stuff to make ice cream sundaes or s'mores. I think it's kind of become a tradition for me to make chocolate fondue when they come to visit. The other priceless thing was my niece asking me to show her mom how to make my scrambled eggs. I told her it was all in the special seasoning. The best part was her reply: "It's white cheddar popcorn seasoning. But can you show my mom how to do it? You make the best scrambled eggs in the whole world." Yep, she definitely can come live on my monkey island with me!
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| On our way to our African Safari at Binder Park Zoo. |
We finally got a new TV for the living room. The past couple of years of dealing with digital cable on our old analog TV and the frustration of having the sides of the picture cut off finally had us caving in and getting a flat screen LED TV. It's so nice to see the entire picture on the screen...and especially nice to actually see the whole score of a game. Over the past couple of years, we never saw the ball if it was outside of the middle of the picture and couldn't see the score of a game. Plus, now moving the TV won't give Matt a hernia. It's a bigger screen than the old TV, but it looks so much smaller in the entertainment center. I tried to talk Matt into getting a new entertainment center so he could have a bigger TV, but my logic didn't work on him. Darn. Still, it's nice to watch the athletes compete in the Olympics and totally see what's happening...all in high def. It's even nicer to see the whole court and all the players and not try to figure out where the ball or athlete will pop back into the picture again.
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| I don't think I've ever seen anyone get a TV out of the box, hooked up, and programmed faster than Keaton did. Maybe he could get a job at Best Buy on the Geek Squad. |
I spent last week enjoying the Olympics...when I wasn't sleeping or throwing up. I found a tick on my leg after the zoo and didn't think anything of it...until the vomiting started and lasted all day long. Fun. Then came the fever and achy joints. Joy. I still didn't think anything about the tick I found until Matt mentioned it and I looked it up on the computer. Huh. It looks like I was bit by a tick. Which is kind of funny because I don't do bugs or outdoorsy stuff where bugs can touch me. Gross! So, that was a fun few days. But, like I said, I did watch much more of the Olympics than I've ever seen before in my life and had a mini vacation from cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
We packed up the motor home and went camping at Fort Custer over the weekend. Keaton and Cyrus went with us for a change of pace and it was nice to have the extra company. We went to Matt's (and Keaton's) company picnic on Saturday and it was fabulous...as it usually is. I enjoyed the plant tours and learned a little more about what they do and how they do it. I also enjoyed my beloved cotton candy and we were thrilled to see they had a cupcake tent. Seriously...a cupcake tent full of cute, delicious cupcakes. It was awesome! I enjoyed a vanilla bean cupcake with butter cream frosting, toasted coconut, and a drizzle of chocolate on top. Yummy! It was a great day...but very, very hot. We rounded out the evening visiting with friends and enjoying some margarita jello shots. Who knew they even made margarita jello? Whoever did is amazing because they were delicious! When we were at the campground, we enjoyed some biking and walks with Cy. Keaton had an adventure on the bike trail that he wasn't expecting. He was expecting a leisurely ride on the paved road around the campground and was surprised to find himself on the dirt bike trails with jumps. He said he thinks he was parallel to the ground at one point in the ride and almost died three times. He tends to exaggerate just a bit.
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Keaton's idea of camping: Being inside the motor home with central air while playing a video game on his laptop.  We stopped for a picture along the Kalamazoo River while doing a little biking. Most of it was on paved roads and a well-groomed trail because I'm a big baby. |
1. Keaton actually wanted to come camping with us and spend time with us!
2. Keaton was able to help us unpack and put everything away!!
3. A cold front moved through, dropping temps so we aren't melting anymore. I finally turned off the air after having it run nonstop for three weeks and opened the windows so we can now enjoy some fresh air in the house!
