Michigan! - All of us

Long story short, last year was Mom and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary. They'd been planning a trip to celebrate it, but it never worked out. Plus, my sisters and I kind of dropped the ball and didn't do anything really special.

So this year, for #31, we told them to name a weekend when they were free and we would plan a mystery trip. We successfully kept the secret from their anniversary (May 3) to the dates we chose (August 6-7).

The morning of the 6th, we gave Dad and Mom "puzzles" to put together that would reveal the location:


When they finished they saw a map of the west coast of Michigan with circles around Saugatuck (for exploring on Saturday), Holland (for dinner Saturday night), and South Haven (for Sunday brunch).

We packed everything up into two cars and made our way north. Once we arrived in Saugatuck, several of us need a bathroom break and, more importantly, a caffeine fix. We found a little coffee shop - Uncommon Grounds - that was totally cute but also totally packed. Once I tried a drink there (the "Café Miel" - a latte with cinnamon and honey), I understood why it was so popular. If I lived in Saugatuck, I'd be a regular for sure. We hung out in the courtyard for a bit despite some light rain.








We spent the day wandering around the streets and shops. I don't think anybody bought much of anything, but that town is so cute that it was still a really entertaining day. It rained on and off, so naturally we had to go drink beer at a (mostly) covered bar. The second photo here is of the bar from a distance. I'm posting it so you can see how misty it was that day.

After a great lunch at Butler's and some more Michigan beer, we wandered a bit more and then headed to our hotel.



Oh my goodness, people. This place was kid heaven. It looked like a castle. There was an awesome game room. A pool shaped like the state of Michigan. And, to take the cake, an indoor/outdoor hot tub. It was overrun with families, and I can completely understand why. BUT, those thoughtful, thoughtful individuals at the front desk didn't forget about those of us without kids. There was a strictly enforced "adults only" swim time from 10:30 - midnight every night. And we took full advantage.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For dinner on Saturday we drove to Holland and hopped aboard a dinner cruise. This was the absolute best way to spend an evening in Michigan. It was so relaxed and friendly. The food and cocktails tasted great. There was a shockingly good blues band aboard. And the scenery was gorgeous. We took a series of family photos since we were all gussied up. Here's one of all of us, taken using the camera timer.

And here are some shots, courtesy of my favorite photographer - Kevin Rasp - from the boat.









Saturday night after dinner was awesome. Amy put together a "Name That Kid" game for my parents that was a big hit. And then...a little bit of hot tub, a little bit of swimming, partner stunts, cannonball competitions, more beer, fudge and cupcakes from Saugatuck...basically a perfect Saturday night. We didn't get moving until about 11 a.m. the next morning - that's how good of a time we had.

Sunday brought brunch at Clementine's, more wandering and shopping, and for some of us, Kilwin's ice cream and a walk down to the water in South Haven.

Awesome, awesome weekend. Can't wait to do it again.

Things I love about Roger -Amy

Ok. So I am probably the least sentimental/mushy person on the face of this planet. So this post is completely out of character, but I feel the need to give credit where credit is due. So, here goes.

Roger (my husband) has tons of great qualities that I love. However, (and not surprisingly) I can be a little hard on him sometimes about certain things. On nights like tonight, though, I am reminded of exactly what it is that I like the most about him.
Luckily, our everyday interests match up. I love that the two of us can sit and watch T.V. after work and make jokes about whatever is happening. We like the same types of food, we both enjoy a glass of wine or a beer, we have the same sense of humor, and we like to go out and have a good time. This is not what I love the most, though.

Tonight, we had a friend over and she brought her adorable little puppy. I was reminded of how sweet Roger was all night. Here are some examples:
-He moved a chair in our living room so it would be positioned at the precise angle it needed to be to allow for maximum window viewing for the puppy (without saying a word or even knowing that anyone noticed that he did this).
-He plays with puppies (and children, when they're around) for as long as they want (seriously, the commitment to the playing is insane).
-Whenever there is a child around, he is always 100% concerned with what they are doing and where they are. He will frequently stop what he is doing to ask where the kid is, what they are doing, and if they are safe.
-He does the same thing (that was written above) for animals.
-He is concerned for everyone. My friend was walking home from our place tonight around 11 pm and he insisted on walking with her for a little while to make sure everything was ok. There have been tons of news stories about things happening in her neighborhood, and even though he was probably ready for bed he wanted to make sure she got home. When Roger does something like this, it's because it's warranted, and because he's legitimately concerned for someone's safety.

All in all, Roger is a great guy. He makes sure everyone is taken care of, everyone has fun, and everything that we do is fun. I am a lucky lady, and I just thought I should give credit where it's due. Thanks, Rog!

Florida! -Amy

As promised, here is a post showcasing my fabulous trip to Florida earlier this summer.

Roger's family has a condo in Orlando that they go to every other year. Luckily, 2011 was an "on" year, so we got to spend a week sunning ourselves and swimming in the pool, thrill-seeking at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and stuffing our faces with yummy food and delicious drinks.

The condo was amazing, and we had to much fun with family. We had a TON of people there! The list included Roger and I, Roger's brother Ryan and his girlfriend Nikki, Roger's Mom, Mom's boyfriend, sister Kayte, Aunt Kay, Uncle Joe and Aunt Lyn, cousins Mikie, Lucas, and Kaylee, Grandma Kay, and the star of the show, our nephew Kayleb. It was a full house and a great time. We got tons of relaxing time in by the pool, and accomplished lots of overdue catching up.

We LOVED going to Universal and Islands of adventure. Roger has been a couple of times before, but this was my first time there. The rides were awesome and like nothing I had ever experienced before. We loved the twisty-turny roller coasters like the "Rip, Ride, Rockit" where we got to pick our own song to listen to while we looped-the-loop and "The Hulk" which is self explanatory. Most of all, we loved the movie themed rides that were less twisty-turny and more graphics and effects.

The highlight of my amusement park experience was Harry Potter World! We got to go on the "Hogworts: Forbidden Journey" (which was UNREAL... seriously no words...), "The Flight of the Hippogriff," and "The Harry Potter Dragon Challenge." All amazing. We also had lunch at "The Three Broomsticks" where we tried butterbeer, and browsed at "Honeydukes", the candy shop. Awesomeness.

Enjoy some pictures of our adventure and relaxation filled vacation. It was great!

Hello! -Amy

I have been quite the neglectful blogger over the last month because my life has been very busy. I've been between Chicago and La Porte a ton, and Roger and I took a trip with his family to Orlando, FL. It was a blast, and I will have post on that with pictures to come soon.

It's wedding season, and Roger and I seem to be at the age where all of our friends are getting engaged or married. So, as a result of that I have had a TON of celebrations to attend. Two of my very best friends are engaged, so we have planned engagement extravaganzas for them. Also, Roger and I have 2 weddings to attend on our Anniversary weekend (which is this coming weekend). I can't believe we've already been married for a year.

In other blog news, I have decided that it is too hard and time consuming to try to keep up with two blogs. I have this one, and then one that I started with Roger when we were engaged. As a result, I often decide not to write anything at all on either because when I think of something I can't decide which blog to put it on. So, I've decided to discontinue the blog that I started with Roger, and to devote all of my time and news (which is always so exciting, I'm sure) to the sisters blog.

I start professional development for the month of August at school on Monday. I am excited to get back (sort of) but I'm glad that I get to ease into it with a month of work before the kids show up again. I love them, but they are definitely exhausting!

I think that's most of the update I have for now. Florida vacation post and anniversary celebration post to come soon.

Adios!

Life update! - Kelly

So, it's been awhile. :) Things have been pretty busy in my life recently! Here's a quick recap:

- Ran the marathon in Duluth. Full recap here!

- Started institute (I'm currently wrapping up Week 3 of 5). Here's the sweet rental car I get to drive around all week:



- Celebrated the 4th of July in LP with family, good food, a little parade action, and lots of time outside.

- Slowly started running again (Amy and I are planning on doing the LP 1/2 marathon with the Tour de LaPorte at the end of August) and started doing hot yoga (best thing ever... seriously!).

Feel free to keep tabs on me for the next few weeks on my tumblr account- I'm not posting there a ton but am doing a little better than keeping up here!

Last Marathon Post - Brady

I know I've been talking an awful lot about the marathon, so I promise this is the last post about it. I just wanted to put up two links that will give anyone interested a better idea of what the day was like. (And that I can go back and check out when I want to remember all the details.)

If you click here, you'll watch a short video about the race. You'll get some idea of what the course looked like and hear other runners talk about what fast times they had because of the ideal weather that day.

And if you click here, you'll see tons of information about my run - my pace each mile, a map of the race, the elevation changes, etc. If you like running or walking or biking, I'd highly recommend getting a Garmin watch. Wearing it on training runs and races is a lot of fun.

One interesting note is that, according to my watch, I ran 26.2 miles in 4:28:48 - almost two full minutes faster than my official race time. I think that's because you pick up some mileage as you run the course...weaving back and forth to get water, taking turns wide, etc.

Okay, that's it! Time to move on with my life. :)

The Best Grad School Perk - Brady

Maybe my favorite thing about being a graduate student is being able to work wherever and whenever I want. That's really not much of an exaggeration. Now that classes are over I have to be on campus for meetings occasionally, but I could probably move to Australia and do just fine. It's a very sweet deal.

I took full advantage this past Monday and Tuesday. Kevin did some depositions in Minneapolis, and his firm pays for his transportation, hotel room, and meals. It's really a bargain for me to come, so since we're the most opportunistic travelers I know, we went for it.

We arrived Sunday night and had a really memorable meal at a restaurant called W.A. Frost. It had one of the most beautiful outdoor patios I've ever seen. The food is also mostly locally grown/raised, and it's vegetarian friendly. Our dinner there was one of my favorites, ever, anywhere we've been.





Monday morning we went for a run on the "greenway" located conveniently behind our hotel. Apparently, they call this bike trail the "hipster highway." Young, bike-riding Minneapolans use it to commute to work. Kevin and I ran about 2.5 miles (down for a quick view of the Mississippi) and back. Then he headed off to his meetings while I worked away in the hotel room.





After a few hours I took the hotel shuttle downtown and met Kev for a quick Potbelly sandwich for lunch. Then I headed to the Minneapolis Public Library to work for the afternoon. The building is absolutely gorgeous.





But finding a workspace with an outlet (my ancient computer has no battery power of its own anymore) and reliable internet connection was almost impossible. I think I tried 5 different work stations in the library. No luck. All of the outlets were broken. So I headed to the coffee shop downstairs. Again, I had lots of trouble finding outlets. Once I did, I bought a coffee and settled in...only to be told by the guy behind the counter that getting online was almost impossible in the store. Frustration overdrive.

BUT...we have to look on the bright side when we're lucky enough to be in a fun new city, don't we? When Kevin was done for the day, we headed to Uptown Cafeteria and Support Group (that's really its name) for happy hour and sat on their sunny roofdeck. This was our view.





Then we headed out to another fantastic dinner at Red Stag Supper Club. More good, local veggies. More good, local beer.





And we followed THAT up with some lounge singing (we actually did some of the singing...) at a nearly empty bar that we LOVE called Nye's Polonaise Room. When you walk into this place you feel like you've gone back in time fifty years.

Tuesday brought another run, this time the other direction on the greenway, to Lake Calhoun. We saw some skinny-dippers...that was exciting...and then got cleaned up for the day. I rode downtown with Kevin and hopped from coffee shop to coffee shop in search of the elusive outlet + dependable internet connection combo. I finally gave up on finding a cute local place and just went to Starbucks. I have never been so grateful for a chain. Good, fast service. Good coffee. Plenty of seating. Plenty of plug-ins. A connection that didn't start and stop on me. I got more work done during those four hours than I did all of the other hours we were in town.

We fit in a walk over the Mississippi and one last dinner - at another great place called Spoon River - before our 8 p.m. flight.








I can't believe this is my work life.