Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

It's a beautiful 70 degree day perfect for an afternoon walk. 

Plans in place for August.

A tour of Carthage College courtesy of my college friend and her son. She's a professor and he's a student. It's a beautiful campus on the shores of Lake Michigan, but I think it may be a little small for Lils. They have 2600 students and that feels a little too much like high school for her.

 

My cousin and his wife are coming through town next week. I'm excited to see him and to meet her.

We are moving Teddy from Brooks Street to West Wash Wednesday. I pray we can get the sectional out and then in.

Our family room furniture has finally arrived. Next week we get our carpet installed and then the furniture delivered and then the fun part begins...the accents.

 I finally finished Between Two Kingdoms. I checked it out twice. Renewed each of those twice. It was a compelling read, but also a little tough given personal connections so I had to take my time.

Now I'm on a mission to finish The Last Thing He Told Me. I skipped television last night and went to bed early to read. It was wonderful and I slept like a baby.

Healthy snacks ready to grab and go. These snap peas and carrots taste like candy. Really.

This Prince and the Pea. He's always in the thick of things. One of his favorite things to do is unfold the laundry I've just folded.

 

 

Gus on guard of his new teepee. All cats should have teepees. The Tres Amigos love to nap in theirs's.

Happy hour with Hazel. Sweet sister is my lovable sidekick.

When Lake Michigan is in the 70s. 

Halloween is in 94 days. We'll be ready here. I am trying to show restraint with adding to our costume cache.

Room for two

weekending

I'm having that panicky feeling that it's the end of July already. In my experience, August's 31 days are shorter than July's. It has been a really good summer. Uneventful, yet full. The very best kind. The elusivity of time convinced us all that we had best head to Windmill Beach Sunday. I got up early to workout and put together lunch. In a stretch of 90 degree days, there was no better place to be. The sand was scorching, but the water was perfection. We burned our feet getting to the water where we stayed for most of the day. This is the kind of water we wait for all year...refreshing not frigid. Ted and I beat Mike and Lils in a game of Spike Ball before we took one last dip and then cleared the beach. An afternoon of fun in the sun was just what we were all craving. A game of Wizard too. That I lost.

And speaking of craving, Saturday night we made homemade pizza's at the kid's urging. We followed dinner with a movie night. Insidious scared Finn more than it scared us. He was completely freaked out by the noises coming from the television. Poor guy.

Earlier in the day, Mike and I went back to the farmer's market. He was in search of fresh produce for salsa and fajitas, which he made last night. The hot Hungarian peppers were good and hot. We lucked out because a couple vendors had tomatoes, and then I bought more at a road side stand yesterday knowing what we had wouldn't last long. August our meals will revolve around them. We stopped for a drink and to pick up some lunch at a nearby deli after the market and just like last week the streets were busy with people out and about. We were grateful to be among them.

Evidence...

 

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

A date to catch up with Sue last night. O. too. We covered most everything big and small and always books. Olivia and I have been twin readers this summer. Sue made a perfect one dish meal...Shrimp Kung Pao Noodles. We agreed that just about this time of the summer we start missing pasta. Craving it. She added butternut squash and zucchini noodles to the rice noodles and that was the piece de resistance.

She sent me with leftovers for lunch today. A dozen farm fresh eggs too.

Farmer's Markets. Lils and I made a day of it with my aunt on Saturday. We stocked up on fresh fruits, veggies and flowers until we literally couldn't carry any more. Lils was so excited there was a blueberry stand. I was happy to get some fresh eggs. Then we stopped for a late afternoon snack at a cute little neighborhood place. It was hopping. There were so many people out and about enjoying the perfect afternoon. We ran into our favorite neighbors despite the fact we were across town and then we saw a family from church that we have known since Lil's was a baby. Everyone is coming out of the woodwork and it's really sort of wonderful.

 

Thinking about hitting another market tomorrow and hoping they have tomatoes.

These onions. Yes, from the market and so good that alone they could have been dinner, but they were for burgers Mike cooked to perfection on the grill.

 

 Ted didn't have room for onions on his double decker.

Our Milwaukee Bucks are the champs. I'm not much of a basketball fan, but this team is class act and it was so much fun to root them on to victory. It's been great for the city too.

Dinner with friends last Saturday. Like our oldest friends who happened to marry. We don't get together the four of us as often as we used too, and yet there is an ease and comfort when we do. We all agreed that we have to make a more concerted effort. September will be at Casa Wags.

Tuesday nights. Ted and I gather to watch Below Deck. This week we curled up on my bed with all three cats. They never left. I didn't get much sleep. It was Gus's first time sleeping in bed. He even plays in his sleep.

Ted found an apartment. It's a newer 2 bedroom with a nice kitchen, laundry in the unit, walk in closets and a balcony. There's a gym on the first floor and a rooftop deck. He's moving on up. I'll be grateful when he's all moved in and situated.

My fan girl. Lils has been cheering on the Bucks at the Deer District and she just left for another Brewer's game with her co-camp counselors. I think she's having a great summer. She's spending lots of time with friends and she loves her job.

Kopps. They're known for their burgers, but Alan and I are big fans of the grilled cheese with tomatoes and extra pickles. He did get us a pint of Cream City Champs custard...the flavor of the day in honor of the big win.

Early morning walks. There's no better way to start the day.

  Life with 3 kittens. Never a dull moment.

Brotherly Love

#augustbreak2021. Clearly, I need some inspiration to take pictures of something besides my adorable cats. This Instagram challenge is one of my favorites.

And yes, it's almost August, but there's still a lot of summer left and I intend to enjoy it.