Steamroller!!!

Today, our family learned the meaning of a shuffleboard "steamroller."


Things will never be the same.


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Cobwebs

On my way to work this morning, I spotted 2 SUVs that were quite...festive. They were adorned with cobwebs and racing in a construction zone.


And yes, it is that dark when I leave for work.

So. Tired.

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Oh, baby!

Today, I got to see this little peanut:

Madelyn (6 weeks) and Katie (excuse the horrible iPhone pic!)

This is Katie's baby, Madelyn Grace. She is absolutely beautiful, just like her mom.

Madelyn on the way home from the hospital

Welcome to the world, little one!


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Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Hubs and I have some new neighbors!  Welcome to the neighborhood, Steve and Patti!

Patti waving from her new living room

Of course, we had to celebrate this spectacular event. So we headed down the block to the brand spanking new Lemon Tree Grocer.

Stephen attempted to move this pumpkin the first time he saw it - no joke.

The cool thing about Lemon Tree is that it's not an ordinary grocery store. You can literally pick out a steak from the meat counter, pay for it, and they'll grill it for you for free. And then serve it to you on the patio.

Not only that, you can have coffee, beer, and wine on the patio.

It provided the perfect setting for lots of discussion around Bacon Fest (again), the holidays (again), and wood hauling (again).

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Dutch Fest - The Best Fest

Dutch Fest.


Up until a few weeks ago, I never even knew it existed.  But it does, and it is WONDERFUL.

Now, I must post a bit of a disclaimer here:  Mindy and I got there late...but we actually didn't.  It was supposed to end at 4, and we got there at 3:15.  Most everything was packed up, or in the process of being packed up.  (This is the Dutch, remember.  They are serious about being on-time, which translates to, "ends at 4 = completely gone by 4.")  It is because we got there "late," that I cannot say that we fully experienced Dutch Fest in all its glory, and therefore cannot provide a truly accurate review.  What I can say, you ask?  Simple:


Dutch. Fest. Rocks.


As tardy as we may have been (or not), we did what any little heritage-starved Dutch girls would do in a virtual cornucopia of Dutch-related foods and products.  We ran like mad for the ticket booth, bought an armful of tickets, and hightailed it to the Dutch food booths.  And then we stuffed our faces.



You see, we don't often get Dutch foods anymore.  Moving away from Mom and Dad has virtually cut off our supply of Dutch rusk, stamppot sniebonnen (totally spelled wrong), chocolate hagel, oliebollen, and the like.  We were ravenous.  And we were in the Disneyland of Dutch.


We even got to partake in something we have never had before: Poffertjes.

And, people?  Let me tell you.  The Dutch *know* their food.

Once we had quenched our thirst for all things delicious, we meandered to the other section of Dutch Fest - the shopping.

While this may not look like Oak Brook Mall or Gurney Mills, to us, this was the holy grail of shopping.  Delft, hand-crocheted kitchen rags, wooden shoes, Dutch dolls, Dutch cookies...it was all there, and all housed in adorable mock Dutch storefronts.  Well...sort of.  Most of it was already packed away in boxes.  But we did manage to score some free kettle corn (free is among our people's most cherished words) and windmill cookies.

Our lesson for next year?  Arrive early.


Which is around 6:30AM, Dutch Standard Time.

Mackinaw in the Fall

So, Mackinaw in the Fall?  Flipping BEAUTIFUL.


Just check out these pictures.
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Sunrise over Lake Michigan...this was the view from our hotel room.

 


The first full day there, we went on a fall colors tour of Mackinaw.



Holly and her mom were excited for the trip!

We ended up having a PRIVATE tour of Mackinaw - we were the only ones that showed up!

Our first stop was to an organic farm that had pig races.

I couldn't believe how much the pig's eyes looked human!

I could make a ton (literally) of butternut squash soup with this.

I'm not sure what these were, but they had an awesome color.

The view from our trolley was fantastic.

We got to see lots of Lake Michigan

The next stop was at a pumpkin patch that had some darn good hot cider.

Later that day, we visited Fort Michimackinaw (Yep, I totally spelled that incorrectly).

Holly was scared half to death by the musket demonstration she didn't realize was happening.

Even the old church was beautiful.

Holly got ideas for craft projects with her nieces.

And these dudes were just creepy.

The Mackinaw Bridge was WAY bigger than I expected...

And lit up like a Christmas tree at night.

Sunsets over Lake Michigan are pretty amazing, too.

The next morning, we headed out to Mackinac Island on a beautiful, sunny day.

We took a carriage tour of the island to see all the sights.

We also visited Fort Mackinac.  I think the fall colors amazed me more than the fort itself!

I had such a great time with my Holly Wolly and her mom.  I can't wait to go back...but my waistline can sure use a nice, long break from the fudge!

Want to see more?  Check out these pics:

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