Illi-noise

The kids and I headed out to Illinois to crash the party at Sonia's house -- my parents were there to attend her ballet/tap recital, and although we couldn't stay long enough to see the recital we decided to come anyway.  Poor Corey had to work pretty much all weekend, but we hope to bring him next time.  I didn't bring my camera, but I stole some shots from Erin.

I know someday these girls will rather die than wear something made by Mommy/Auntie Niki, but until then I'm going to make them as many things as possible.

On Saturday, we went to the Arboretum to let the kids work out some energy.  Grandma JoJo found some blossoms she liked.

Charlotte took photos of EVERYTHING.  She was like the paparazzi at a red carpet event.  It was a little ridiculous, actually.  Thank goodness for digital cameras.  We would be broke if we had to buy that child film and develop those pictures.

Grandpa Spike and his little cuties!

I have no idea what was going on here.

We made the kids wear their age shirts.  Again, I resolve to be thankful for every day that they will wear one of my creations, because I know those days are numbered!

I love it when Petey actually wants to walk holding my hand.  It's a rare treat.  (Sidenote: wow -- I have a LOT of hair.)

Sonia got a little love from Petey, too.

Yes, Erin and I dressed all matchy matchy as well.  We are twins, you know.  We did it on purpose that day, but then we accidentally both wore nearly identical outfits the next day.

Dandelions by Zach's tree!

 Another one of Grandpa Spike and his darlings.

Possible Christmas card photo?  Maybe if they go into Witness Protection . . .

We hauled our bikes 300 miles, but Peter only had eyes for Sonia's scooter (and her cool cape).

At least SOMEONE rode her bike!

NUTBURGER!!!!

Grandma JoJo got the kids all some vinyl sticker books.  Charlotte really loves her dress-up book and every day asks me if she can "do the book where I can dress up my girls".  Sonia was very helpful in teaching Charlotte the wonders of the vinyl stickers.

Rochester Heritage Days Car Show

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do was attend the car show at the Heritage Days car show in the Municipal Park in downtown Rochester.

Love the red interior in this late 70's Corvette.

The owner kindly invited Peter and Charlotte to sit in it.

We found my dream car - a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire.

I've always like the interiors on these . . .

1934 Chevrolet.

Dig this Ford hot rod.

No car show is complete without an early Mustang.

I've always been a fan of the steel wheels and dog dish hubcaps.

Good old Dodge Dart Swinger.

1975 Corvette.

I've always liked these wheels.

1962 Corvette.

The interior of this Plymouth is all business.  

I love the lines on the '69 Mustang Mach I.

This Packard made Peter sad.  I have no idea why.

Peter thought this Opel GT was the exact right size . . . for looking at himself in the rearview mirror.

I've always liked the machine-turned dashboard in the old Trans Ams.

Peter liked the Trans Am.  

Peter sought out this Camaro and struck a tough pose.

I've also aways liked the wheels on the 80's Camaros.

Peter and I were looking at these two T-Buckets, and . . .

. . . the owner invited Peter to sit in it.  

Rochester even showed one of their Charger police cars.

There were also lots of tractors - this Farmall is gorgeous.

Finally, would a car show in Rochester be complete without Rochester's pride and joy, the Bookmobile?

Connie goes to preschool

Charlotte's preschool class invited the family pets to come to school last week!  Sounds like complete chaos, right?  Well, people were allowed to bring cats and other smaller animals in cages for the first bit of class, and then dogs came to the parking lot behind the school for a little dog show at the very end of class.

I opted NOT to bring the Pacey Cat and Rocky Cat because I was trying to get us packed and ready to leave for Illinois right after school, but I did bring Connie.  I tied her cutest pink scarf (the one NanaB made her to wear when Charlotte was born) around her neck so she would be looking her best.  I had no problem coaxing her into the Big Red Van.  For whatever reason, she has fallen in love with the van and tries to weasel her way in there every chance she gets.  Yes, that resulted in her accidentally getting locked in the van for several hours last fall, but it did nothing to tarnish her love for the van.

There were eight dogs waiting to meet the kids.  Things got a little hairy when one particularly squirrelly dog started mixing it up with some of the others, so I put my camera back into the car to avoid any DSLR mishaps.  I did get a couple of shots of Connie waiting patiently for her chance to get loved on by 23 little preschoolers.

The teacher called up each dog one by one and had the student introduce the dog, tell what breed he/she was, and the age of the dog.  I probably should have prepped Charlotte on the answers to those questions.  The kids were really impressed when I told Charlotte to tell them that Connie was probably about 10 years old.  They all said "ooooooooh!"  (I guess 10 sounds ancient when you just barely turned 5, huh?  She was the oldest dog there, actually.  One had been rescued from a box in a marketplace in China though, so Connie's Nashville roots didn't earn her any admiration.)  The teacher asked Charlotte if Connie did any tricks and Charlotte and I just laughed.  Um, no, unless you consider escaping from a sturdy crate a trick.  Then, we led each dog down the line of kids so they could pet them.  Connie seemed to like the attention, but she probably would have liked to have a little more time to sniff each kid in turn.

I had to giggle when one of Charlotte's teachers said "looks like Connie went to the groomer recently!"  I asked her if she meant that Connie had gotten the scarf from a groomer, and she said no, it was because Connie's coat was so gorgeous.  Ha!  I think Corey washed her with some dish soap a month or so ago, but other than that Connie hadn't been brushed in ages.  She just has a naturally shiny coat.

If Petey's class gets to bring pets to school when he goes to First Friends next year, I will try to bring at least Rocky in a cage.  Connie will definitely be coming back because she was such a good girl at this Pet Day.

Corey's Grand Rapids Brewery Tour

For Christmas, Stephanie, Don, Quinn, and Maisie gave me a "Grand Rapids Brewery Tour".  Grand Rapids is one of the nation's leaders in the craft beer industry.  (It took us a while to finally line up a free weekend, but we made it!)  There are an embarrassment of brewery riches on the west side of the state.  For my tour, Stephanie and Don laid out an itinerary, spotted me some money for beer, and took care of the kids for the day.  I took Niki along, and it was fantastic.

On the way to Grand Rapids, we busted out the Big Red Van's wireless headphones for the kids for the first time.  They loved it, and Niki and I loved cruising on the freeway without listening to the kids' movie or shows the entire way.

Stephanie and Don lent us their new Jeep Wrangler Safari.  Lots of fun to drive . . .  We stopped first in downtown Grand Rapids at Grand Rapids Brewing Company and Hopcat.  They weren't open yet, so we looked around and kept on driving.

We headed up to Founders Brewing, the big dog in town.  Founders is internationally known, and it has a huge beer hall.  They are in the middle of an much-needed expansion.

Here is the list of beers on tap Saturday.

 

Niki and I ordered four.  We had (in order below):

1.  EXP 7272 (American Pale Ale);

2.  Solid Gold (Extra Pale Ale);  

3.  Pale Ale

4.  Dirty Bastard Scotch Style Ale.

We also had the world's largest plate of garlic cheesy bread.

Niki preferred the EXP 7272.  I liked the EXP 7272 and the Dirty Bastard.   The beers were excellent, but the experience was just so-so.  The lunch crowd arrived right after we did, and service suddenly crawled to a stop.

Next stop was Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids' East Hills neighborhood.  

Brewery Vivant is in an old church building, and featured mostly Belgian-style beers.

It was a fantastic venue for drinking beer on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Detail on the stained glass.

The food here was more upscale -- we had a selection of cheeses, chutney, and roasted nuts (as compared to more typical "bar food" at the other two locations).  They paired perfectly with our beer selections.  The tastes (both beer and food) at this brewery were decidedly more complex than the other two breweries.

You can see the colors of our beer much better in this photograph.  Our beers, from left to right, top to bottom:

1.  Solitude (Abbey Style Ale);

2.  Farm Hand (French Style Farmhouse Ale);

3.  Menage a Trois (Oak Aged Beer - aged in a Jack Daniels oak barrel); and

4.  Triomphe (Belgian Style I.P.A.).

The Farm Hand was wonderful, as was the Menage a Trois - the oak aged beer had an incredible finish - hard for me to describe.  Don says that Vivant often has different oak aged beers on tap.

After this, they also gave us a tasting of the Black Rabbit (Black I.P.A.) and Big Red Coq (Hoppy Belgo-American Red Ale).  We wound up bringing Don back a growler of the Big Red Coq.  We will return.

During our tour, Stephanie and Don kept us posted on the fun the cousins were having.  Here they are, playing baseball in the backyard in the rain . . .

Happy cousins in the garage . . .

And then things began to get nuts (right before Peter fell asleep on Pink Bubba in the middle of the kitchen):

Back to the action.  Niki and I made our last stop at Perrin Brewing Company in Comstock Park, north of the city.  This place was way off the beaten path, but like the others, JAMMED.  You can see the poles holding up the wires for hops to grow up to the left of the building.

This was a very industrial facility - loud, bright, and very fun (even though it looks dark in this picture).

We ordered the fried pickles (they were fantastic), and four beers (left to right):

1.  Gateway (XPA) (Pale Ale);

2.  Black (Black Ale);

3.  Lightweight; and

4.  Honey Rye.

They were all good.  Niki preferred the Gateway XPA.  The Black, for being a Black Ale, was surprisingly light.  All of these beers were lighter on the tongue than those of the other breweries.  We will return to this one, too.

There are many, many other breweries in Grand Rapids that are on our list - we'd like to try Grand Rapids Brewing, Harmony, and the Mitten . . .

After our tour, we had a wonderful evening at Stephanie and Don's and spent the night.  When we left on Sunday (mid-morning), it was 44.  This is the middle of May . . .  

Ahh - living in Michigan.  Cold beer.  Cold weather.  Great company.

Happy Mother's Day to my Niki

I'm not sure what I can say about Niki, NanaB, and Grandma Jo that I have not already said on this blog or in person . . .  but all I know is that Charlotte, Peter, and I owe the wonderful lives we lead to them . . .