Birthday Week in Michigan - Brady

We celebrated Kevin's 30th birthday in San Francisco. For mine, I wanted to be able to spend time with lots of family, so we rented a cottage in Union Pier, Michigan for a week. (As fun as it's all been, I think our finances are ready for a non-milestone birthday year.)

It was a true vacation. (Except that we both worked a little - Kevin even went into the city two days.) We didn't rush around, and cloudy weather gave us a great excuse to sleep in and do a whole lot of nothing. Just lots of relaxing, bike rides and runs, some fun dinners at Brewster's, Timothy's, and the Red Arrow Roadhouse, a Sunday barbecue with family, and some overnights with friends and siblings throughout the week.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week.

Kevin's dad took this picture of the two of us at the beach. 

The Whistle Stop Grocery. My mom gave me a gift card to spend here, so I bought a vanilla candle to take home as a souvenir. (Also, I had to get some of their amazing coffee while I was there, of course.) 

Breakfast on the beach.

Campfire on the beach! My favorite night.

My cocktail at Journeyman Distillery - rye, lemon, and simple syrup. We also went wine tasting at Round Barn Winery. 

It's not vacation without lots and lot of ice cream. 

I made multiple trips to David's in New Buffalo. This particular stop was with my mom after walking from Union Pier to New Buffalo on the beach. We sat on their back patio where they have a ping pong table and lots of seats in the shade.  

Our walkway down to the beach.

Our cottage. 

Sunrise.

Sunset.

Summer Fun and Slacker Sisters - Brady

Well, my two sisters must be too busy having summer fun to post on this blog. But don't worry, I'm here to share my own adventures with you.

Here's what I've been up to.

- Kevin is still hurt, still on crutches. He sees the doctor again on August 20th and might be able to put weight on his foot at that point. We shall see.

- I turned 30! Yikes! When did that happen? Where did all those years go? I had a lovely day. You can see pictures by clicking here. I took a nice sunrise bike ride by Lake Michigan, went to a yoga class, had a study date at a favorite coffee shop, and finished it all up with dinner at The Pump Room with Kevin. The next day, Friday, I headed to Second City with some family and friends and then out to drinks across the street. And then Saturday I had dinner in La Porte with my parents and donuts the next morning with my grandparents. AND THEN on Friday we're headed to Michigan for a week in a cottage to continue the celebration. I'm embracing my father-in-law's "birthday month" philosophy.

- I started my dissertation! Today, I actually opened a document on my computer called "Dissertation." I'll be working on said document for the next year and a half of my life.

- Kelly and I were saying yesterday on our bike ride to a sunrise yoga class on the beach (case in point of the rest of this paragraph) that it's been an active, active summer. People keep giving me free/cheap yoga classes. I bought a bike and have been riding the heck out of it. I'm running almost as fast now as I did before I broke my ankle. I've done some wake-surfing. I think I'm being twice as on-the-go as normal to make up for Kevin's immobility.

- Speaking of wake-surfing, a couple of weekends ago my mom's side of the family rented a house at Lake Wawasee. We used to do this when I was a kid, and it was awesome to have everybody back where we have so many happy memories. Here are some photos from the weekend.

A pretty sailboat, close to sunset time. 

The pier.

The house my family rented.

Kevin's bandaged up leg. 

Me on the pontoon at sunset. 

Get off that boat and write a blog post, Kelly!

Kevin was our boat driver all weekend long - what a trooper. 

There. I think you're up to date! It's been an awesome summer, and I'm trying to make the most of the month or so of hot weather we have left!