Pterodactyl Meets Alligator: A Quiet Lake Weekend

Last weekend, Ed and Lisa invited us to the lake house on Lake Mattoon (about three hours from Chicago, two hours from St. Louis) they share with two other friends of ours, Dustin and Kelly.

We had such a fun and relaxing weekend with Ed, Lisa and their 18-month-old Thomas. Thomas is endless entertainment. He was full of smiles all weekend--except for the occasional "pterodactyl" squeal. There really is no other description that will do, Thomas could seriously do a squeal-over for a dino cartoon! :)


As we took our first boat ride on Saturday morning, Lisa and Ed warned us about the alligator. Before I was able to say anything stupid about the likelihood of an alligator in this lake, they clarified that it was a floating log in the boat right-of-way that, at first glance, looked very much like an alligator's back. (On Sunday, Matt and Lisa pulled it out of the way so it's easier for the boats to avoid it.)

Thomas is locked in his life jacket whenever on the boat, but he also volunteers to put on the watersports helmets as well. They of course don't fit him, but it makes for a pretty safe kiddo when he's all geeked out like that!


Thomas "driving" and napping on the boat.

Later on Saturday, Ed took Matt to their property that they are in the process of clearing. The boys cut down several trees while Lisa, Thomas and I hung out and went for a swim.

After a great dinner, hilarious antics by Thomas, and a fun game of Tripoley (complete with a lot of fund reallocation throughout), we got a great night's sleep Saturday.

Then Sunday morning, we got up to take Ed and Lisa on a ski run. I have seen them ski dozens of times, but it never fails to impress me!

Unfortunately, we had to take our goodbye picture, with plans to get together again in the fall. Thanks, Ed and Lisa, for a super-fun (and ridiculously tasty) weekend!

Wild Montana Skies and Big Warm Hugs

We took a week-long trip to Montana earlier this month. Here's the recap!

Saturday: We flew to Bozeman and spent the night at the C'mon Inn.

Sunday: After breakfast at Wheat Montana (cinnamon rolls as big as your head!), we drove up to the Crazy Mountains for a two-night stay in Ibex Cabin, a log cabin built in 1939 as a guard station. After checking out the lodging, we took a nice afternoon hike among the wildflowers. My hiking songs of choice were the perennial "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music, Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" for obvious reasons, and a surprise addition, Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." Judge me if you must, I really like that song!

Monday: We had big plans for major hiking, but a nap and a whole lot of rain got in the way, so the day became all about R&R&R (rest and relaxation and reading). Which was quite nice. The Montana skies were indeed "wild" the entire time we were visiting, as it rained every afternoon we were there! Despite looking black and white, the last picture in this series is actually in color.

Tuesday: We saw the sunrise, cleaned up, and then headed to Helena, where Grandma Net, Aunt Nellie, Carrie, Maryah and Eryn were waiting for us. We had a nice visit and then enjoyed dinner with them and Uncle John that night.

Wednesday: Carrie, Matt and I went on a great tour of Helena and learned a lot about Montana's capital city. We then went to the Brewhouse for lunch, where Grandma Net, Nellie, Ryan and the girls joined us. We spent the afternoon walking around the shops in Helena, including The Parrot Confectionery (hand-dipped chocolates, yes please). We wrapped up the evening with a great rib dinner at Ryan and Carrie's and a fun evening in. Pictures below: Matt and Carrie; Eryn; Grandma Net, Matt and Aunt Nellie; Maryah.

Thursday: We headed to Butte and spent the day with Grandpa and Ginger in the Highlands. We stopped on the way up the mountain to pick wild raspberries, look at the very pretty reservoir and get a tour of an amazing log house (don't call it a cabin!). Grandpa and Ginger know the caretakers so we got a tour--this place is amazing. We had a yummy picnic at the trailhead, and then were thoroughly impressed by Grandpa's skills driving the trails up the mountain! It was a very nice day and a really cool experience for this flatlander.
Thursday evening we headed to Bruce and Jayne's for dinner with the gang. It was so good to catch up with them and just enjoy each other's company. And Hanah painted us each a very beautiful watercolor! Pictured: Uncle Bruce, Aaron, Matt, Hanah, Aunt Jayne, Theresa.

Friday: After spending the night at Grandma Betty's, Grandma took us for an early lunch at Matt's Drive-in, a classic burger and shake joint that was originally owned by Grandma Betty's cousin, Matt. The food is great and the atmosphere is classic. We then spent the afternoon playing Tripoley and laughing as we took each other's money!
Friday evening we went to Vicky and Butch's for dinner--another feast! Vicky and Butch spoiled us with their special ribs and we had a really nice evening with the Knoepke clan. Pictured: Grandpa, Ginger, Uncle Butch, Matt, Aunt Vicky, Grandma Betty.

Saturday: After a whirlwind week of fun and family, Grandpa and Ginger took us back to Bozeman and put us on the plane home. We both enjoyed the trip a lot and agreed we need to do it more often! Warning, Montanans: we'll be back soon!

REST STOP: Powder Room Rehab

Check out the mad skills from Dad, Mom and Matt--while I was busy with two bridal showers and a bachelorette party one weekend, they completely overhauled our once-ugly powder room into quite a looker! Mom and Dad came back during the week to finish up the grouting and put everything back together! I can't thank them enough--it's just amazing!

Here's the peachsicle BEFORE. I was not a fan.
We laid out the tile in the hallway to figure out a good pattern.
Dad gets to work laying the tile in the very small work space!
And here's the "Seaworthy" AFTER. Love the paint, love the new light. And check out that gorgeous tile job!

JULY: Mileage for Our Guest Rooms and Museum Memberships!

July was super fun because we had two sets of much-loved house guests!

RYAN FINALLY CASHES IN HIS BIRTHDAY PRESENT (FROM APRIL)
Lucky for us, my cousin Ryan loves to visit and explore our fabulous Chicago museums. So, for his 8th birthday back in April, our gift to him was a weekend of fun and museum-ing in Chicago once school ended for him and Matt.

Dad dropped Mom and Ryan off on Friday night and we kicked off the weekend with a jam session--piano, tambourine, harmonica, kazoo, maracas, triangle. . . it's quite a jam, let me tell you!

Saturday we headed to The Field Museum, where they are celebrating the 10th anniversary of SUE, the T-Rex with several new additions, including ROBO SUE, an exhibit full of animatronic dinos!




I also had to include this photo of one of our favorite spots at the Field--gorgeous nature photography surrounding a beautiful Darwin quote. It stops us every time.

We then did a late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, much to Ryan's delight, even though he actually fell asleep in the booth!

Sunday, Dad joined us and we headed to the Museum of Science and Industry. We all enjoyed doing the classic and new exhibits.

The weekend was super fun and we hope to do it again this fall--no birthday necessary!

BROWNS IN TOWN!
We were thrilled later when Kim, Aaron, David and Lexi came to visit, all the way from Montana! They were with us for four fun-filled days.

We started out at the Museum of Science and Industry. So much to see, they actually went back later in the week to see some more! While there, we all checked out the new storms exhibit--David and Aaron stand in front of the tornado.

We also clowned around in the Circus hallway--Matt and Kim showed us how it's done.

And we did the classic exhibits that never fail to deliver--the Coal Mine and the U-505 Submarine. Here, David and Lexi try their hand at the sub simulator and they passed! Most of the kids in front of them sunk!

Later that night, we headed to the Sox game. It was a great game, Sox won, and the attendance was higher than the entire population of Butte, Montana!

The next day we pounded the Chicago pavement, hitting the Art Institute (the Lions!), taking an El ride, visiting Chinatown (giant drinks at Joy Yee!), and seeing some helicopter scenes being filmed for Transformers 3.

While Matt and I had to go back to work, the gang explored more of the city during the day. Then we met up with them for more fun in the evenings, including a Wednesday night symphony in Millennium Park. We had a great picnic, followed by Rainbow Cones back in Beverly.

We so enjoyed having the Browns in town and hope they'll come back to visit again soon!

JUNE: Sights, Sounds and Taste(s)

I got a very nice surprise over the past few weeks--a couple people asked me why (or pointed out that) I haven't posted since May! And here I thought nobody would notice! :)

So let's do a run-down of June and July highlights and then I will slow down to cover the big events of August with a post each.

ROCKIN' AT SOLDIER FIELD
First, the Keith Urban/Dixie Chicks/Eagles concert at Soldier Field. IT ROCKED! The Chicks were the hook for me, as they are a top-five fave of mine and they put on a great show.

I was impressed that Keith Urban is quite the performer, and he buttered up the audience by (a) donning a Blackhawks jersey for part of the set and (b) leading the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Keith's wife (Nicole Kidman, that is). She wasn't there, but he claimed the recording would be part of her birthday celebration.

The Chicks were amazing as always, doing a lot of their biggest and best hits, but also some really clever covers like Train's "Soul Sister." We both loved seeing the gals rock it and will hopefully see them many more times in the future. In between the Chicks and Eagles set, the sunset made for a great intermission.

And The Eagles were the classic Eagles. They sounded pretty flawless, the tension was palpable, and Joe Walsh was off his rocker. Like I said, classic Eagles. Very enjoyable.

TASTE OF CHICAGO
We wrapped up June with a lovely day at the Taste of Chicago with John, Carol, and their fun friends Bill and Jane. We had a lot of good stuff, including a new edition, the Garrett Popcorn popcornsicle!

Matt and I then headed to the outdoor cafe at the Art Institute to relax and watch the birds interact with the fountain sculptures. It was a very relaxing, meditative afternoon after the hustle and bustle of the Taste.