While Katie was fishing, Owen went out in a kayak with Grannie!
He did really really well and had a blast!
Then of course Katie wanted to go. We told her next year she could go by herself but this year she had to sit with Grannie.
Category Archives: Photos
Looking for beach glass!
We stopped at Eagle Harbor to hit the art fair and see where the kids have been spending their time. They took us to the beach to show us “their spot” and then we all looked for beach glass (Grannie got them hooked).
The water was a bit chilly!
I never expected to cross off two bucket list items tonight!
So let me backtrack a bit and say that back in July I saw a news article come across my Facebook feed about the most unique margarita in Michigan. Of course I clicked the link…and was happily surprised to see that it was a thimbleberry margarita in a restaurant in Calumet—exactly where we’d be headed later in the summer to pick the kids up after grandparent’s camp. What are the odds?
I tried to figure out when we could stop, hoping it would work on the way through as it would be about an hour from where we were staying (and since we’d only be there two days, we didn’t have much time to be traveling two hours for a margarita…even if I REALLY really wanted to). We planned to be passing through about 9pm which was perfect…except we left later than anticipated plus ran into construction and rush hour traffic so by the time we were driving by it was after midnight and they were long closed. š And then I kind of forgot about it since we were busy with family.
But then we went on our date night—which was about 20 minutes from the house—and actually put us about halfway to the margarita. Tom suggested we go and I thought about it for a minute, thinking I’d love to but that would mean a 45-minute ride home afterwards and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. And he looked at me and said “REALLY?! Let’s go. We won’t be this close for at least another year.” #vacationbucketlist
I love this man.
So off we went. We walked in to the restaurant and headed to the bar. An older gentleman sitting at the bar welcomed us (which seemed slightly odd, but whatever) so we thanked him then ordered the margarita. It. Was. Delicious. Here’s me enjoying my first one.
I asked who came up with it and the bartender pointed and said “The owner—and she’s right there!” So we started chatting with them. They were a husband and wife (which, had I reread the article, I would have seen their photo) and they were really great and super nice.
So as we were talking, I jokingly asked if they would let me drink from the dispenser (because who hasn’t wanted to do that with a drink or ice cream at some point in their life?!) and the owner said yes! WAIT, WHAT?! I was kidding. But they said it was a first and no one had ever asked! Ha! Free margaritas? Iām totally in. She said I’d have to let them take pictures to post on their Facebook page and I said that was no problem!
So I did it.
My first thought was it’s harder than you’d think to line your mouth up under it—the dispenser shoot is pretty close to the machine itself which doesn’t lend itself well to putting your mouth directly under it. Plus I had to hold my hair out of the way so it didn’t get in the machine, get covered in margarita, or get in the way of the pics being taken. Plus you couldn’t just crank it open full force or you’d choke—and it obviously have you brain freeze! So it was a delicate balance…but I handled myself like a pro. š
Tom, the owner, and the bartender were snapping pics the whole time. Unfortunately noone took a video.
And from the bartender’s view:
It might have been dripping out of my mouth.
What a total riot! I mean seriously. I never would have guessed this is how my night would end. I told her I’m sure people would PAY to do that (I would!) and she joked that maybe that would be her new business model.
I took a pic with the owner and we exchanged pics and I posted them right then and there.
We even joked about me doing it again because we didn’t get a video and she said I could but then it didn’t go any farther. She said she’d let Tom do it if he wanted but he’s not a margarita guy. She then offered him the beer tap of his choice but as Marine Officer he declined. But, she did give me my second margarita on the house! Oh, and we also had a piece of delicious chocolate cake that the owner made!
We will definitely go back there…and I highly recommend the thimbleberry margarita.
Our very last date night (part 1).
We head back to reality Sunday so this was our very last date night…a very popular BBQ place right on Lake Superior called Fitzgerald’s. Not a crappy view… 😄
Our view from the table was gorgeous, too!
Dinner was a hard decision since everything looked delicious, so I ended up getting three appetizers.
Tom had a rack of ribs (in reality he ate two and took the rest home). š
My very first Inukchuk.
My mom always makes these in Maine and I love them so had to try one today when Tom and I went out for dinner and I saw all the perfect stones (and we were early for our reservation). It wasn’t the best placement for a photo but not bad for my first one. It was harder than I thought it would be—the rocks have to be just right.
Sun Dog on vacation.
Birdhouse Crew
Papa had cut out pieces for birdhouses so Tom helped get them all put together.
And then there was the painting.
Photos of the fully finished projects to come…Katie left hers out and it rained so she has to repaint it. And I didn’t get a pic of Owen’s.
Fisher girl
Still love this view.
Still wish it wasn’t 8 hours away.
Itās time to go get the kids.
Maggie was READY to go. Once she got outside while I was loading the car, she did NOT want to go back in and she just stood there waiting.
Unfortunately Tom didn’t get out of work as early as he’d hoped so we didn’t get on the road until 4…and with an 8-hour drive (well, 7 actual hours but 8 with the time change) plus construction and rush hour traffic…we didn’t pull in until almost 1:30am. Yuck.
But, because we could, we picked an awesome-sounding BBQ place on Yelp as we drove down the highway, called in an order, and picked it up within 15 minutes…eating in the car as we continued down the highway. Easy peasy. And then we took about seven minutes and stopped for ice cream along the way as well. We even got Maggie a dog ice cream which she wanted no part of. Kids! š
Chatting over wine and playing with lipstick makes for an awesome afternoon.
Tom wouldn’t let me get it.
Itās date day so of course we ended up at a Costco. (Tom said no.)
Anniversary day in Chicago: a foodie adventure!
Since the kids were away at grandparent’s camp, we decided to take advantage and go to Chicago for some foodie experiences to celebrate our anniversary a bit early. Of course I hadn’t thought far enough ahead about making reservations so the one place I really wanted to go had nothing available until September so we planned on walking in and hoping to eat at the bar (friends had done that so we knew it was possible).
Stop 1: Frontera Grill by Rick Bayless
We got there about 10 minutes before they opened and there was a line of about 10 people. By the time they opened there were probably 30 people waiting. We had a reservation and they sat us in the bar area at some reserved tables.
The menu wasnāt what Iād been looking at…I had downloaded the lunch menu, not paying attention that weekends had a brunch menu. (Rookie mistake!) So of course the two dishes Iād previously decided on werenāt available. I did ask if I could still get the dish I really wanted (one of their three ceviches) and he checked and said no. Dang. So it took me quite some time to pick what I wanted.
We started with drinks. Tom had a Chupacabra and of course I had a margarita. I really liked his and Iād order that above my margarita.
CHUPACABRA
Milagro blanco tequila, fresh and roasted vegetables (tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumber, celery, garlic, onion), fresh lime, Worcestershire and chipotle.
TOPOLO MARGARITA
Milagro reposado, Royal Combier, housemade limonada, shaken tableside.
FRONTERA CEVICHE
Hawaiian albacore, tomatoes, olives, cilantro, green chile. Crispy tostaditas.
The ceviche was amazing. It was a tie for my favorite dish of the entire day. I would eat that every day for the rest of my life. And it was one of the three ceviches they had that I didnāt think Iād like because I donāt like olives. But Iād never have known there was olives in it. Iām drooling now just remembering it. The tostadas were amazingāthey stayed wonderfully crispy even with all that juicy ceviche on it.
I opted for two starters as my lunch:
GRILL ROASTED ELOTE CORN
Serrano mayo, cilantro, and fresh cheese
I had recently had Mexican corn at a farmers market and it came in a cup. I totally didnāt think this would come on a cob. LOL So it was messy but yummy!
SOPECITOS RANCHEROS
Crispy corn masa āboats,ā braised beef shoulder, roasted tomato-serrano sauce, avocado, queso fresco.
Sooooo good. Unbelievably good.
Tom went way outside his box and got a vegetarian dish! I am not a huge mushroom fan so Iād never order it but it was good. (I forgot to get a pic once he unwrapped it and dug in.)
MUSHROOM MIXIOTE
Shiitake, maitake and oyster mushrooms, dark pasilla chile sauce, potatoes, chayote & local greens cooked in a parchment package. Creamy goat cheese, sunflower shoots.
And then dessert. We werenāt going to get any because we knew we had to eat again at 4:30 but…screw it. We both immediately went to this:
DOS, TRES, QUATRO CAKE
Dos candied nuts, tres leches, cuatro chocolates (chocolate-infused tres leches cake, house-ground chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, hot fudge), candied almonds & pecans.
We both love tres leches but werenāt huge fans of this. It was okay but we apparently like less fancy versions of this dessert (we joked give us your 9×13 pan instead of this crazy thing).
Stop 2: Chicago’s Original Architectural Tour by Wendella
We had asked friends for recommendations of things to do in the few hours between restaurants and this river tour was highly recommended. It was a quick walk from Frontera so seemed perfect. However, we hadn’t anticipated the hot and humid weather (it was probably 93Ā° with 80% humidity) and we both decided there was NO way we’d enjoy any of it sitting topside in the blazing sun…so we each had a drink in the bar for most of the tour (they had margaritas so it seemed like fate). We will go back again with the kids when it’s cooler.
Stop 3: Hubbard State Cigar Shop
Because it was on the way back toward the car and Tom needed new cigars.
Stop 4: Firecakes Donuts
Because donuts. And it was right on the way.
From top: Espresso something or other, Pistachio old fashioned, Cherry fritter, Malted milk ball, Strawberry marscapone, Chocolate cake, PB cup, Creme brulee, vanilla with coconut
Stop 5: Three Dots and a Dash tiki bar
This bar was named one of The World’s 50 Best Bars so imagine the coincidence that it was ALSO on the way. It was only accessible via the alley—they had tiki torches outside (you can see them behind us).
Then it was down into the dark, cool depths of a basement bar.
The drinks were amazing…but expensive as hell. We only had one each. Tom said he has found his retirement job.
Stop 6: Girl & The Goat by Stephanie Izard (Winner of Top Chef)
So we got to Girl & The Goat way early. We wasted some time at a nearby coffeehouse since it was still like 90Ā° and humid. At about 4:10 we walked down. The doors were locked but the revolving door was open so I walked in and asked the first employee I saw if it would be okay to sit at the bar until they opened since we’d just driven a long way and it was so hot out. He said he didn’t think legally we could do that and then suggested we sit in the waiting area. Okay, that was fine with me.
But my anxiety started kicking in as more people started lining up outside and then trying to come in (at one point a huge gaggle of like 20 people came in). You could see the manager getting irritated with people wanting to come in and wait but they obviously weren’t open yet. And the people looked at us sitting there like why did we think we were so special. I’m a rule follower at heart so I was torn between going to wait outside with the rest of the herd and keeping my seat (which no one was telling us we had to move…). I really wanted those first seats and we had been there first but I was getting paranoid that something was going to prevent it. Tom said he was ready to make a dash to the seats if need be. I know it’s just food and it would have been okay if we ended up needing to wait a bit, but I was still anxious.
Fast forward to 4:30 and a lady came over to us and asked if we had a reservation and we said no, we wanted to eat at the bar…and she said to go grab seats. Yay! So we were seated before anyone from outside even walked in. Phew!
That’s a goat topiary behind us.
And of course another margarita because why not?
I’d perused the menu ahead of time—as well as all the dishes our friends had ordered—so I had a good idea of what I wanted. I told the bartender that friends had been there and sat at the bar and had an amazing experience and he said he’d try to live up to the expectation!
We had drinks and picked four dishes. This is the order they came out (they serve them in the best order to eat them):
SWEET CORN PIEROGIS
Charred scallion sour cream, sweet corn-tomaro chimichurri
Everything was good, of course, but this was by far our favorite course of the night. The bite of pierogi with the chimichurri was pure delight.
SQUASH BLOSSOM CRAB RANGOON
Almonds, chive yogurt
We love crab Rangoon so had to try these. They were delicious, of course.
DUCK TONGUES
tuna and black bean poke, crispy won tons, piri piri
Just as delicious as our friend mentioned. (It was a toss up between this and the pierogi for the winning dish but the chimichurri pushed the pierogi over the edge.)
Then they surprised us with a dish, compliments of the chef, for our anniversary (we’d been talking about it with the bartender). It took me by total surprise and I forgot to get a pic. I’d never have ordered them but they were DELICIOUS.
SAUTĆED GREEN BEANS
Fish sauce vinaigrette, cashews
And the final course… We debated between a few and I let Tom pick.
GOAT NECK
Perilla marinated heirlooms, pickled grape tomato, green plums, tahini yogurt, wood fired pita
Mmmm. The meat was so tender and flavorful, the marinated tomatoes were perfect, and I’m not a tahini fan but it worked well together.
Before this dish came out we had discussed that we might need to order one more dish. While we’d had three planned dishes and one surprise dish, it really hadn’t been THAT much food. Did we need more? No. But we’d probably never be back so why not. But after the size of the goat neck, we opted to just go with dessert.
CARAMEL CORN & MALT BALLS
Vanilla malt ice cream, popcorn caramel, chocolate magic shell
When they delivered it (with the lit candle) they wished us a Happy Anniversary, as did all the bartenders behind the bar as they walked by! This was a crazy dessert that totally worked on all levels. Each component was delicious but a bite with everything was sublime. I’d order that again in a heartbeat. (They should really also add chocolate ganache squares to the description.)
We were there for almost two hours and we had a great time interacting with the bartender—I can’t imagine sitting at a table. When the bill came, they hadn’t charged us for the dessert, either, so we left him a huge tip. Overall an awesome meal. Just delicious all around. I highly recommend it…
And a last-minute photo as we were leaving!
It was such a great day and I’m so glad we did it…
Surprise anniversary adventure, day 2!
Tom told me to get dressed and be ready to go by 8:30! I had no idea what was in store…but I could only imagine it would involve more delicious food…somewhere north. I love adventuring with this man!
Sushi for lunch! Yes, please!
Then we walked around the downtown river area of Milwaukee. We might have done a little shopping and exchanged anniversary cards at one store. š
Tom had made plans for dinner, too, but we didn’t spend as much time walking around as he had thought so we just headed home. š
Garlicpalooza
So I bought that huge bag of peeled garlic from Sam’s Club and put it in the garage refrigerator and proceeded to forget all about it. Fast forward to now and I really need to start using it because it’s going to go bad. So I decided to roast a bunch of it.
Everything was going really well until I decided to up the temperature just a tiny bit while also forgetting to set another timer. Whoops.
The tray on the left was cooked perfectly. The tray on the right was mostly salvageable. Then I ground it all up and made little garlic pucks for the freezer.
Grandkid handoff!
Another week of grandparent camp for the kids and another week of respite for mom and dad! Everyone is having a blast!!
First ever grandparent camp!!
Since we live so close to family now…and the kids are getting older and more self-sufficient, we thought it was time to let them stay for a long visit with the grandparents! As scheduling happened to work out, we went to Michigan for our family Christmas and then left the kids there…and then Gramma Jean and Grandpa David would drive up to meet Papa and Grannie Lin to hand off the kids…and then we’d eventually drive up to the UP to pick them up. They would be gone a total of 19 days, 12 of which they were completely without us. Needless to say we were all looking forward to it…the grandparents were excited about having the kids, the kids were excited about fun with the grandparents, and we were excited to have some alone time and general peace and quiet.
Here are the pics from some of the adventures they had with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!
Lake Margarethe – of course they made fast friends with other kids who where there!
Grandpaās arty kid cups
When we were packing up to leave I found the bathroom cups grandpa drew for the kids.
Len Christmas in July, Year 5
And the meat festival begins…Of course Timmy brought a ton of his amazing brats…but this year he added smoked brisket to the menu! HOLY WAH!
And no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you…that’s a Gummy Bear brat. With real gummy bears in it. It wasn’t bad…just a sweet taste. I thought Katie would love it because she LOVES gummy bears but nope. Silly kid.
And the annual kid comparison! After last year when Owen was taller, Nick pulled ahead (which he should, as he’s almost 14).
2017:
The kids goofing around while I was getting the camera set up.
My test shot to make sure the settings were okay, and I loved it so much I kept it. It’s also fun to see how we can all pull it together for the real photo!
Nick and Owen…conspiring? Planning? Who knows.
Gramma created a project for the kids—money frozen in a block! They had to figure out how to get to it! (It didn’t take them long!)
Oh yeah! We also gained a dog for an hour or so. Mom didn’t recognize him and Tom called the number on his tag and it was animal control…?!? He was good and just hung out with us—got a few pets and belly rubs (Maggie pretty much ignored him). After awhile a young girl came looking for him—and we found out she was visiting someone in the neighborhood.
Overall it was a perfectly gorgeous day—not too hot and not too cold, lots of good food (too much, actually, but we’re Lens so it’s expected), and great visiting with family and watching the cousins play!
Tom saved me from certain injury!
So you remember that Gramma Jean had a rope swing. Well she got a new swing this year and Tom rigged it up again with a new rope and Katie was really enjoying it. But I wanted to swing too because it’s damn fun. So long story short I ruined the first rope (it was supposed to stretch and rebound but it was too old so when I sat on it it stretched but didn’t rebound). So Tom eventually rigged up a second rope which he tested to make sure it was suitable.
It wasn’t.
He wasn’t hurt, though he was a bit sore.
Needless to say we gave up on the adults using the swing. š
My boy with my backdrop.
It’s Christmas all up in here today.
I love being home with family…and celebrating Christmas in the summer is amazing! (And what’s Christmas with family without a few adult bevvies?)
Tom thought he was doing a good thing.
He bought me a new margarita drink.
It was cute and I was excited.
Unfortunately…it was horrible. I dumped it out.
Grayling sun dog.
My favorite backdrop…
With my favorite guy…
Just a few fireworks.
Tom and I might have gone a little overboard at the fireworks store…but in our defense the kids love them and all the fun ones are illegal in Illinois. So tonight we did a frog princess and some huge sparklers. (The frog princess was really quite cool but I didn’t get pics because I didn’t think it would last that long… But it kept going and going! I’ll get pics the next time!)
Katie’s birthday adventure with GJ!
Remember last year when Gramma took Katie out on a birthday adventure? Well, she loved it so much they decided to do it again! But this year, Katie was really nice and invited her brother along, too, since she knew he’d have fun, too. Awwwww, what a sweet Katie bug.
They went to the city park and had a picnic lunch, skipped stones, and played in the river; then went mini golfing and to another playground; and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen and a quick treat from Dollar General! They had a great day!
When you surprise an old friend at breakfast.
At our dinner last night, a friend of the family (and my high school Spanish and yearbook teacher) told me a friend of mine was in town and they were having breakfast if I wanted to join them. It was early, but they are both worth it. And it was great to see her face when I walked in! It was just like a yearbook staff meeting!
River kids
We had dinner at a friend’s house tonight…and she lives on the river so of course this happened. Katie didn’t love it (too cold and too many rocks) but Owen really liked it (though he may just have really enjoyed having a dog and another boy his age to play with).
#roadtrip #michiganbound
Tom wanted to be on the road by 6. After I was done laughing at him, I suggested TRYING for 6 but not being upset if it was more like 7. We ended up leaving at 6:23 so we were both happy. (Well, as happy as I could be for having to roll out of bed at 5:30. That’s NOT my jam.)
