A Different World - Part 2

Rimini is a beach town, a tourist destination. Although it was the beginning of the off season when we got there the water was still a pretty happening place when the sun was shining.  Contrary to what Americans perceive, not everyone goes topless.  You pretty much do whatever and wear whatever, from swimsuits to skives to business suits you see it all down at the beach.  Many locals come by after work for a walk, bike or run along the shore before heading home to make dinner.  The variety of shells is amazing and you find lots of pieces of stone and terra cotta that washes up as well probably from some ancient ruin or shipwreck.

Amongst my perusing of hotel tourist literature and a by chance sighting during a bus ride I was delighted to find the Ceramic House also know as Casa Ugolini, a private residence on the Via Flaminia owned by Cesare and Susanna Minelli Ugolini.  Cesare was an antique dealer and ceramics collector who created a masterpiece using tiles and ceramic pieces set to be discarded from local sites around Rimini.  Although this was not open to the public for tours it was quite the sight to behold from the street.  If you'd like to find out more click HERE for a great video tour and description plus some other photographs.

Another very cool find was an archaeological dig site.  Years ago when Rob was here for previous training this particular spot was a construction site with the usual orange net fencing surrounding it.  Apparently when they went to begin a new structure they discovered the ruin of the Surgeon's House, plus an even older development underneath that.  The Museo della Citta oversees the site now and it is part of the museum admission.  They've covered it and built walkways across so you can see everything quite well.  Unfortunately my photos do not do it justice in the least.  I did however find a couple videos on YouTube should you care to know more. 
Click and enjoy!  LONG VIDEO  -  SHORT VIDEO

My visit through the museum was quite interesting.  I went on Wednesday morning which was the free admission day only to find the place virtually deserted except for myself, two art students, and a couple museum lady guards.  They are quite particular about the order you go through the museum, or maybe they just want to make sure you see everything.  If I started to drift off course one of the ladies would come down and "scuzi" me into the section I should be at first.  They did not speak English other than "photo ok, no flash" again contrary to what I was told that "everyone pretty much speaks English".  Not the case my friends.

The exhibit about the Surgeon's House had descriptions in English and were excellent.  As I toured the upper floors I quickly discovered that was the only exhibit with English explanations.  There was an amazing display on the Crucifixion of Christ with art ranging from oil paintings to ceramics to wood carvings, paintings on wood, stone/marble, and metal work.  Then, bam, a retro advertising lithograph display!  Another area of marble and stone carvings and pieces, lots of mosaics, tapestry, furniture, all incredibly old then....hello....a contemporary photography exhibit, which was fascinating!   From there I headed over to the Piazza Cavour to check out the open air market, which is basically the Italian flea market where all the shops have someone out selling off overstock for cheap.  Not exactly the second-hand shops I was hoping to find and due to their crazy sizing I didn't purchase much.

One day I took an extensive bike ride that went along the canal and totally tripped on kitchen gardens.  I live in a rural area and people have all kids of gardens and crops but I was just so enamoured with these plots.  I watched in fascination as an elderly man came out of a his garden gate across the canal and trucked down a good 20 meter incline with a couple watering cans to fill in the canal.  They do not use heavy gardening equipment like we do in the states, at least not on a small scale. This guy had to be at least in his 70s if not older.  He probably jumped on his bike later that day and pedaled to his favorite local hangout to converse with friends as well.  Elderly people in Rimini are in great shape!  Loved seeing old ladies in their skirts and sensible shoes tooling around on their bicycles.  That's one thing I wish was more feasible to do in my little town, get around by bike.  There's plenty of places to go and bike ride but to conduct your day to day business that way just doesn't work.

One other thing I'll tell you about Italy.....it's got some great knockers!  From antique to modern, great style and designs.  Super fun.

That's all for now.  Next time I'll share a little about San Marino and of course a few more photos.

O1011011

Usually when I take the boys to soccer I bring either the dog or my bike. Last week, I don't know what came over me, I brought both. The bike trail is not paved for very long before it turns into a wooded one-track trail. I kept the dog on the leash on the black top because typically I pass very few people during that time. However on the wooded trail I've never encountered anyone so I took off the leash so Jake could run along beside me, freely. I took it down to second gear, still got a great workout, and gave Jake a fantastic workout as he kept a good 6-8 mile an hour cantor for nearly 4 miles total trip.

We've had some great warm fall days lately but they are getting colder, fast. Starting to make my last rounds around the property with the mower. At the moment it's rainning so that will have to be put on hold until things dry out again. Rob (and helpers) got a huge garage project finished, straightened it and repaired the roof. Still hoping to get a couple windows changed out before the snow falls. A deer jumped out and hit Rob's car last week, that was pretty exciting. He calls me semi-panicked, more concerned about me bringing the van and some tarps down to get the deer than the condition of his car! Unbelievable. It wasn't dead and was still moving around so he didn't mess with it. Thankfully. The car is drivable but the passenger window is toast and covered with plastic for the meanwhile.

The boys' soccer game for Saturday got rescheduled to Friday night so they were able to do another elementary open race in Reese. Usually this meet has a gorgeous sunny day for it but not so this year...it was chilly and super windy. The Dream Team ran like (with and against) the wind for another 2-mile course and everyone placed in the top 20, Dylan was 10th, Ben 12th and Ethan 13th all with times in the 16 minute range.

Permission slips are approved and copied, ready to be distributed next week. Music is ordered. Hoping for a great turnout during after school choir. I'm thinking of asking members of the community choir to help us out on a couple songs......

1 Week til FREEDOM

I have really been relishing these last days of my summer but am looking forward to having the boys occupied by school endeavors once again. If I hear the word 'bored' one more time I don't know exactly what I'll do. You'd think with 11 acres to explore and shelves of toys to build with and games to play they'd never have a dull moment but yet.....

--

Sunday Ben and Ethan accompanied me on another bike outing, this time we started in Leonard on the Polly Ann Trail and went all the way to Oxford and back. If we rode some sidewalks or dirt roads a bit south we could hook up with the Paint Creek Trail and then to the Clinton River Trail or Macomb Orchard Trail. Someday we'd like to make an all day adventure of it and ride the whole route, not sure if it will happen this year. The day was clear and comfortable, although I had my camera the batteries had died so I didn't take any pictures which is fine, without it I am able to stay more "in the moment" and just enjoy the experience. The boys always make me laugh and we also get into some philosophical discussions along the way as well. I genuinely enjoy spending time with them and I know that too soon they will be grown and gone so I am savoring every moment.

After haircuts (and color for me) with the "Best Stylist Ever!" we made a spontaneous trip to the Detroit Zoo. My mother kept yearly memberships with three organizations: the Zoo, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Greenfield Village/Museum, in memory of her birthday coming up I purchased a family membership, as we made our way around happy thoughts of our visits there kept coming to my mind, the stroller days, the train ride enthusiasm, the winter visit for Ben's birthday one year, sneaking and peeking in the back building at the baby giraffe that was still sequestered, and the conversations about various animal husbandry as mother was always a wealth of knowledge and loved to share with the kids and get their thoughts on things. Dinosauria was in its final days so we perused through there as well.

Who's that little prairie dog? Fox found a friend in the butterfly house.

Fox participated in his first high school cross-country meet and did amazingly well making the jump to a 3-mile race. He placed 12th (medals were given to the top 15) and had a finish time of 21:11. The second meet was much bigger with a ton more runners, he said his ankle was bothering him a little he had a decent time but didn't medal. This week they'll run in Brown City and I will attend with camera at the ready! He picked up his Freshman schedule: AP Prep English, AP History, Intro Physics, Intro Chemistry, Health, Phys. Ed., Geometry, Current Events, Woodworking I, Intro Business, and Critical Reading & Writing. This is over three trimesters mind you but looks like a challenging but fun year is ahead for him. He's also interested in joining Model U.N. but has emphatically refused to participate in Forensics again. Ugh. I tried.

My beloved daughter and oldest child has finally flown the coop. She has moved into an apartment with friends halfway between where she works and goes to school, with my blessing. They are not charging her much to share the place, the location is ideal, and she really wanted to branch out on her own but is not into experiencing dormitory life. So be it. Her schedule is complete and financial aid in place so for the fall semester she'll be delving into Intermediate Guitar, retaking Intro Theater (part of the GPA clean-up plan), Music Appreciation, Digital Photography, and Interpersonal Multi-Cultural Communications. Wow, sounds like an enjoyable schedule. As incentive to make school a priority Rob and I proposed that if she got nothing less than a 3.5 we'd forgive her car insurance payments for the winter semester. She was all about that! Now that she's paying more of her own bills she definitely knows a good deal when she hears one. Getting her own cell phone plan was a slap of reality for her when they required a $150 deposit because she has no established credit.....she went with a pay-as-you-go plan.

Robert is on his third week in a new job, closer to home which allows him to return home every night whereas before he stayed in an "apartment" at the shop during the week and was only home on weekends. This new position also has much more opportunity for advancement, profit-sharing, 401K plan, and a medical/dental/vision plan. Hallelujah! Neither Rob or I has had medical insurance for many years so this is a real blessing. I haven't seen a doctor since I walked out of the hospital 10 years ago after delivering Ethan. Thankfully I am a healthy individual and haven't had need for doctors but it's nice to know I'll now be able to have a once-over just to confirm all is well. Rob definitely has some issues that need to be addressed so I'm sure he'll be taking advantage of all the services offered.

My second motherless summer has brought a new sense of peace about being "on my own." Exercise, yoga, meditation, and inspirational readings have been a great help to keeping things in perspective. I am so grateful for my mundane little life, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no major upheaval. Learning to appreciate each moment as it comes and release expectations has made a big difference, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't have any goals or aspirations but I'll get there, when I get there and that's just fine. Who knows what tomorrow holds....I'm just living today, today.

X + Y = Zen

We set out on a gorgeous day with perfect, end of the summer Michigan weather, what I technically refer to as not-to-hot-not-to-cold. The sky was clear, there was a slight breeze, the air was full of delicious smells; fresh cut grass, brush burning, wildflowers, grilling. Our goal was to forge the Paint Creek Trail, starting at the Rochester Hills Public Library and heading toward Lake Orion. If we made it all the way it would be 8.9 miles. Ben, Ethan and I were on bikes while Fox took the time to get his daily run in. We all started out together, Fox running along rhythmically, the rest of us cruising by the fields of Joe Pye Weed, Queen Anne's Lace, golden rod, and swamp bamboo (I don't know the real name, that's just what it looks like to me). There weren't many on the trail, we stayed together for a while, I gave Fox a 3-mile heads up (using my handy dandy odometer) and whizzed past him to catch up with the little guys. When biking with kids I try not to set any mile goals, on the Paint Creek you've got cross roads every mile or two so we can decide whether to continue or turn it back around.

First photo stop. Playing around with sun placement.

the teenager was too cool to be snapped today.
you may have noticed in the other photo i had to keep him in dappled shade so as not to be recognizable....







Second photo stop.

Victory is ours....let's go all the way was the concensus at every cross road so we kept the wheels a-rollin' except for to quench yer thirst, or just have a break to act like a big hambone!

We had several deer sightings throughout the ride, staying for a while to admire this one that was just helping itself in someone's backyard garden. A fairly large doe wandered right out onto the path and crossed between us and Fox.

Pulling into the CVS parking lot in Lake Orion the feeling of victory was in the air. The boys ate the rest of their lunch by the bikes while I ran in for some more cold water and an energy bar. Now that I'm in the flow of riding more I'm trying to resist rewarding myself with ice cream, it's really tough on beautiful days like these. But I was a good girl, energy bar only. I'm also limiting my Starbucks Peppermint Mochas: 1 every 3 weeks, instead of 3-4 a week! Yikes.

The boys groaned as we began to set off for the row back "now we have to ride all the way back." (add a little bit of whine when you say it). No worries, I assured them, "it's always faster going back." As we made the return we crossed paths with Fox again who was now just walking. He made it up to Adams Rd. and then had turned around. When we pedaled a while past him Ben realized how close we were to the park and exclaimed "man, it is faster going back!" "Didn't I tell ya!"

Fox was now moving at a far slower pace so we had time to rest those tootsies in a sweet shallow creek. Ethan made no hesitation, pulled his socks and shoes off and waded on in.

Ben, however, was a bit reserved about the whole experience. I knew he was dying to, but this is a kid who will not take his socks and shoes off if anyone is around because people might see his feet! Still haven't got a full explanation from him of why it bothers him so....

However with maturity comes boldness and when I turned around after oogling over some ducks and taking a few snaps, he threw caution to the wind and took the hard way (over the rocks instead of the sandy beach) in. Don't you love the umbrella in the background.

Pokey, McPokester finally meandered his way to the end of the trail and I loaded the bikes on the rack while the boys ran into the library for a pit stop and water refill. We made it. Over 20 miles logged, from trail to tooling around the park. Good times. Very relaxed, not on a schedule. We averaged about 8.2 miles an hour, I kept it on low gears the whole trip. It didn't feel like much of workout but my thigh muscles gave me what for later in the evening! I took an Aleve, put some Tiger Balm on, went to sleep; good as new in the morning. It must not have been too much of a push for the boys either, Fox went out for another walk on the property that evening plus Ben and Ethan had soccer practice and didn't miss a kick. Guess we'll just need to up the anti next time (nudge, nudge). I did get in a good ride around Imlay City while the boys were at practice last night. I only did 8 miles but for the start of the ride I kept it in a high hard gear and then toward the end of the ride I took some long incline stretches and finally had to pop it to lower gears. Felt like a good work out on that run.

Hhmmmm, where else can I venture with my beautiful blue bicycle........???

Ultimate Outing

Wow, finally got through all my pictures and selected a few to post but it was really tough. The boys had a great time both camping in Port Austin and at 4H Mystery Clue Camp which I will post about later but for now I'll just share about my adventure out west. For years Rob has been trying to get a business trip together that I could tag along on but for one reason or another it never came together, the stars finally aligned and two clients committed and got their deposits in for work in northern California AND it just happened to come together during the same week the kids would all be gone so that made making arrangements for them all the easier.
--
We headed out early on a Sunday morning, me not having flown in close to 15 years, was a little apprehensive about all the new security in place. I fit everything into a carry-on bag and had another large purse with my in-flight essentials, iPod, new Yoga mag, gum, journal, etc.


We got through check-in with no problems, at the gate we heard over the loud speaker Rob Parton to the counter please. Thinking it was about all the tools in his suitcase we were a little nervous but we get up there and the attendant says "we need to change your seats, we're going to bump you up to first class." What!? Apparently there was gum on the seat and since we were traveling together and there was room we got bumped....cool!


Flew into Houston first, made a very easy connection and then made our way to San Jose unfortunately back in coach which felt veerrrryy cramp after our roomy accommodations on the first leg. Arrived early and safely, got the rental car, checked into the hotel, he showed me where the shop was, we picked up a few supplies, had some food and chilled out for the night.
--
Monday morning I dropped Rob at the shop, found a Starbucks had my peppermint mocha and spinach/egg/feta wrap then drove a few minutes away to the cute little town of Campbell. Rented a 3-speed bike from Treads and pedaled across the street to a park where I caught the Los Gatos Trail, spent a couple hours riding it to both ends, one just stopped in the middle of the city, the other direction went into a state park, probably did a little over 20 miles total. The weather was perfect, sunny but not to hot with a little breeze. I was amazed to see man-eating sized dill along the sides of the trail, dill is a weed in the true sense of the word in this area. The trail at one point runs behind an industrial area and during their break employees would come out and get some exercise in.

After I was done riding I turned in the bike and explored the artsy downtown area, there was a kaleidoscope shop that was incredible, a retro second-hand store, soda pop/candy shop where I found some wacky packages for the boys (remember those?), and neat mystic type place where I couldn't resist purchasing some new incense and 'healing' stones. Picked up Rob at the shop and had a fantastic dinner of middle eastern food at Dish-n-Dash just a stones throw from the hotel.
--
Tuesday after dropping Rob I headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There is a ton of stuff to do there and I planned to check out several of their gardens but the weather was cold and drizzly so after perusing the Japanese Tea Garden (incredible) and the Botanical Garden (Free that day!) I decided to take the adventure inside at the deYoung Museum of Art enjoying Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris exhibit. Being by myself I splurged and did the audio tour which was quite interesting, providing background and commentary from fellow artists and family members. Picasso was a bit of a scoundrel in his personal life and his very early work was extremely 'normal' and beautifully done. There was a painting of his first wife Olga that was stunning which made me wonder if it was more challenging or easier to present his subjects in such a grotesque state ie: cubism. There was quite a bit of sculpture by Pablo as well, elementary but interesting. Some men were practicing their Tai Chi and some women their fan dancing in the park. The tea garden was inspirational and calming, I loved all the stone pieces and was in awe of the amount of bonsai. In one of the pictures below a gardener works carefully on a shrub, and I thought my gardens were a lot of work!

The botanical garden was phenomenally done and there was so much that I took photos of I couldn't even choose, a few I'll post along the side bar because I just loved to colors, absolutely dazzling, my camera can't even do them justice. After Rob got done we drove 'inland' toward Fresno, to a not-so-small rodeo town called Clovis. Here it was HOT! but lucky for us they were having a cool spell.....
--

Wednesday after getting Rob to work I drove northward to enjoy Yosemite National Park. My timing was perfect as I pulled up right as the entrance gates were opening. I'd been told you can wait hours in line just to enter the park. Once you pay the toll it's 34 miles into the valley at 25 miles an hour an a gorgeous and winding road. I rented a bike and off to the trails I went marveling at the waterfall, rocks, river, and stone bridges. The weather down in the of the park was perfect.

I had to stop when I went by the stables so I could pet some horses. There are such wonderful animals, I miss having them around the property, there hasn't been I horse I've met yet that doesn't love a good nose rub or jowl scratch. On my way I went around the loop one more time but by now the trail was getting very congested with more and more visitors and between you and me their trail etiquette was crap. So I turned my bike in, picked up a few items at the gift shop and started the long and glorious drive out of the park noting to self that I must return with the whole family sometime. When I got back to the shop I almost passed out from the heat. I don't know how Rob survives working in that type of heat all day. Although he really didn't want to do anything I coerced him into going out to dinner at Tahoe Joe's a local steakhouse and it was fantastic, I was satisfied with the appetizers and salad let alone the dinner!

Thursday I did an adventure closer to 'home'...the Chaffee Zoo and the Fresno Art Museum. The zoo was small but very well run, they had educational talks and feedings going on nearly every half hour. I caught part of the bird show and was impressed to see several teens working as volunteers, pet a stingray and had a great chat with one of the keepers about their care and breeding, fed a giraffe, and smiled like a dork for 20 minutes watching a chimp swing back and forth and a mother orangutan maneuver around with her little baby.

The art museum was rather small but had a nice variety of pieces. In the lobby as you first enter was a huge sculpture orchestrated by two high school teachers and put together by their students that brought attention to the homeless issues in Fresno. Another gallery had renderings for an eco-village intended to be built from reused materials and provide shelter for the homeless. There was also a gallery of woodblock prints, some modern paintings, and an eclectic mix of sculptures. This was my last day on my own since Rob finished his work successfully we then headed back to the coast and stayed in Pismo Beach for the night.

--

Friday we got our belongings together, had a big breakfast at Denny's and jumped on Highway 1 for a beautiful drive up the coast. Our first stop was to check out the elephant seals, laying on the beach, barking, molting, flipping sand, flopping to new spaces, and some floating in the water, very interesting to watch.

Next we pulled off at Ragged Point to stretch our legs and fill the tank with some $5.44/gal. gas, the only place to fill up for quite a ways. The overlook was outstanding and I went crazy over all their flowers and plants.

Moving on our next respite was in Big Sur an artists' community that Rob knew I would go nuts over, which I did. I snuck a few pictures of the artwork but I didn't want to take to many for fear they would find it intrusive. There was a cool stage area where they have concerts and dance performances and one artist made several 'spirit nests' out of tree branches. If we didn't have to travel home by plane I would have bought some art but interested I took several business cards to maybe purchase by internet in the future and splurged on a gorgeous silver and amethyst ring. Rob found the real estate listings for the area intriguing from a couple acres of land for $3 mil. to a fully built, off-the-grid compound for $17 million. Yea, no problem....

We finally came off the road in Salinas, to rest up for our return home which was long, cramped, and hot. Flying all night long is tough, I didn't sleep at all, so I was pretty trashed the next day. I'll spare you all the gory details but let me just say, Phoenix Airport -- BOO! Our last jump from Chicago to Detroit I sat by a woman with a newborn who was bringing him to meet her husband's parents in Dearborn. She was so worried about him crying, but he settled down quickly and slept the entire short flight, we started talking near the end of the trip and I even ended up holding him while she got her belonging together at the end of the flight. Her husband hasn't even seen the baby in person yet, only by Skype because is in Dubai taking care of family business and she is staying in San Francisco (better medical and safer). I can totally relate to that phase and am grateful I had family to help me when the kids were babies.

Although it was a fantastic adventure, there's no place like home. I'll write more about what we've been up to later. Hope everyone is having a fabulous July.

Hello Goodbye (Lennon/McCartney)

Not really feeling very blog-a-tive today.

Hardly even spoke except when I was coaching.

Swim lessons,

push mowed,

watched 24: Redemption

while it rained outside my window,

went down to coach,

good practice.

Another edit magic photo from my bike ride archives.

Maybe Tuesday I'll feel more conversational.

Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Larry Williams)

The boys and I were fortunate enough to get out for a bike ride even though rain was predicted. We headed out across Leach Rd. and caught the Clinton River Trail this time heading west, instead of east traveling past the Twist & Dip, the church, the Lumber Yard, Avondale High School, the I-75 overpass to Opdyke Rd.; from there we turned it back around and headed back but instead of taking the trail all the way we veered off through the neighborhood over to check on cousin Emily who is nursing an injured foot. Amazingly the kid plays seriously aggressive soccer (goalie even) and has never been majorly hurt, but two days at an academic camp and she trips down some stairs and fractures her foot! Anyway, she must have hung out at a friend's house while mom and dad were working so we just said 'hello' to their massive dog Otto through the window and pedaled back on down the road, caught the sidewalk on Auburn and rode that home. We only caught a little spattering of rain for about five minutes but the rest of the day was clear.

Chilled for a little bit, Ethan jumped in the pool, ate a little, then went over to GTC for a rather warm practice. I only had three of my boys there last night and everyone was behaving pretty well, we even worked together with some of the upper level teams since everyone was low in numbers. Pretty typical for summer. Alex was dropped off at her friend Anna's before we went down to Rochester, the two of them hung out then she went to church with them. Apparently the numbers there were pretty scare last evening also.

Rob is putting things in place to work on the roof this weekend. I'm believing for the weather to cooperate although 30%-40% chance of rain is predicted, but who knows where it will actually fall. Hopefully not over North Branch. Well, it seemed as if another normal end to a long, semi-tiring day but no, as I was just yards from pulling into Kings Mill, going northbound on Lake Pleasant, I stopped because the vehicle in front of me was turning left into his house. He had to yield for a car coming in the opposite direction so we actually came to complete stop. He turned, I started forward, heard tires squeal, then felt the impact from behind. A twenty-something gal didn't give herself enough room to stop and clipped me on the back passenger corner, lost the back panel and the tail light cover, the back door is also unable to open. Thankfully everyone was alright but since a good samaritan who pulled over after hearing the impact, quickly called the police I had to sit there for another hour and deal with that at 10:30pm. Ugh. The call was really stupid since we both only had PLPD and neither would be making any claim. But, ok, thanks mister. I wish I would have been bold enought to say a call wouldn't be neccessary. I thanked the Lord last night that we were blessed and protected. If she would have hit us straight on we really could have been hurt as some friends of mine know all to well.

Then to make things seem even more ominous when Ben went to let the chickens out this morning one was laying dead in the coop. Yuck, that's never a fun thing to deal with. I feel like I'm experiencing some sort of karmic fluctuation. Let's hope it's only temporary.

END NOTES:

- Song chosen for today's title is not written by the Beatles but is on the Live from the Hollywood Bowl album.

- Yes, I do make up my own Friday-Fill Ins

- I make my collages with Microsoft Picture It! Photo Premium 9

Biking - Baseball - BFF

Well it has been a jam packed week so far. Monday the boys and I got out for our second bike ride of the summer starting at my in-laws house where we have our bikes stored we caught the Clinton River Trail across Auburn Rd. from their house and rode northeast toward business district of Rochester where the Paint Creek Trail hooks up with it. I guestimate we did about 10 miles total. It was a good day, warm but not sweltering but everyone looked forward to a plunge in the pool when we returned to the house. I let the boys comandeer the camera for the most part, although Ben didn't really want to take any. I took the pix of the sign and the boys on their bikes. Since the boys are leaving for a week long camping trip we won't get out together until after the 4th of July. I may try to take a ride on my own though if time allows.

Tuesday the boys had their friend Jesse over to play which helped make the day go by quicker for them. Ethan had his last baseball game of the season and as far as I know he wasn't selected for the All-Star Team but that's fine, it was fun just to be nominated at this point. While we were at the game Fox and Ben hung out at the North Branch Library and spent some time on the computer and selecting books. When they were done they walked over to the fields and found us. It's nice that they are older to give them opportunities to show their independence. Fox has also been a great helper around the house taking on many more chores and tasks without complaint. Since I don't do regular allowances the kids know that if they help me out without grief I will at some point show my appreciation financially. Alex worked at BK from 4-8 so I had to drop her off and pick her up since we had a game. Next she works the same shift today and tomorrow but will get to take the car since I'll be home working away on my editing project.

Wednesday I got the boys packed up for camping in the morning so I could drop their bags off at my in-laws when we were down for gymnastics. Rob is going to drop them off this weekend since I will be in Big Rapids attending my brothers much anticipated Deck Party. After a few errands in Lapeer we stopped by my friend Michelle's house for a visit. I caught her finishing a new garden project and starting a sewing one. You'll have to check out the pictures on her blog http://smilewinknod.blogspot.com. I'm sure I did most of the talking but being such a good friend she took it in stride! We always cover such interesting topics and can speak freely about our opinions without worrying about offending which is awesome. From there we headed south, stopped by the Rochester Hills Public Library so the boys could log their hours and pick out some new books. Fox already reached the first bench mark of 5 hours and got his free ice cream coupon, Ben and Ethan have another hour to go for their coupon. Ethan jumped in the pool real quick before we had to get over to the gym, which was incredibly hot. So hot we let the boys have some sprinkler time at the end of practice after they did some killer conditioning. After practice we boogied over to Tangles so Anna (another BFF) could give us all a good buzz cut!

So far so good for me, hope your week is shaping up nicely!