The Other Team...

We recently spent a beautiful summer evening at a Royals game. Now, I am a born and bred Minnesota Twins fan, but unless that's who the Royals are playing, I'm OK with supporting the boys in blue. That said, it would be much more fun being a Royals fan if they at least had a song, but I guess you need have played in a World Series in the last 20 years to have one of those.

Ok. I'm done.

The evening was great!

Someone even got a ball! Even though it came from Oakland's dugout! :)

We brought Michael's parents with us to enjoy our great tickets!

We ate ourselves silly and enjoyed the beautiful renovations to the new stadium!

Zach Greinke was pitching, which was fun to watch...

...and lead to a winning game!

The perfect end to a great evening!

Muddy Mahem!

So....there is clearly a reason people hire professional landscapers. Up until this weekend, we didn't know what that reason was, because we consider ourselves to be amateur landscapers. Very amateur. We are constantly building walls, moving dirt, adding plants, moving plants, killing plants, you get the idea.

Over the weekend, we started here:


...transferring plants around our yard to better suit their sun/lackthereof needs. We fixed this area too: And this one (turns out my beloved hydrangeas don't do so well in 12+ hours of 100 degree hit and direct sun):

Oh, and we uprooted the rhododendrons here and moved them to the backyard, replacing them with much more colorful (and hopefully tougher) plants.

So you would think the 12 hours of labor, 3 trips to home depot and 2 people it took to do all the above would have been enough for one weekend. You'd be wrong. We also decided to dig up this little area to add some interest... ...and absorb a bit of extra water.

Due to the slight water problem we decided to avoid a rotor-tiller, and instead overturn all of the soil ourselves.

That was a bad idea.

It just kept getting wetter and wetter and wetter...



Until the plants we were trying to relocate started to float. Something about a sump-pump drain.

Well, after much effort, we finally finished:

And when you can't see the standing water, it looks ok. But...we've still not settled the mounds of muddy mayhem quandary.

Maybe we'll figure that out next weekend.

WHAT Were We Thinking???

We had the muddiest, sloppiest, back-breaking-ist weekend EVER!! It was hilarious and exhausting and we have no idea what's going to happen now! We may have that "lakeside view" I've always wanted in a home...YIKES!!

However...I couldn't, for the life of me, get the photos to upload last night!! So...I'll try again to night!

If the computer isn't under water, that is.

Who Knew?

Turns out, Michael has a creative streak!

A few weeks ago, he heard an ad on the radio for a photo contest. The contest was sponsored by Corona and a local lumberyard, the winner of the contest would get a new deck.

This normally very "type A", non-creative guy was inspired.

Apparently frugality trumps a lack of creativity.

So...he loaded up a cart in Wal-mart, buzzing through the aisles of my least favorite place in the world on. a. mission.

Then he got home spent hours arranging the perfect photo op. The contest instructions were vague. Show Corona in a photo and caption it. The best photo wins. This was his submission:

"Man and His Two Best Friends"

This was his other option, but we decided the view from the back was better.

In the end, he didn't win. But we had a ball trying! Anyone wanna come over for a cold Corona?

Um...I think we may have a problem.

Yeah. This little fur-ball is now living in our house.

I'm not exactly sure how it happened. And I'm not sure what to think of the kitten.

Neither is poor Oggy.

Sure, it's cute and cuddly and precocious...all the things kittens are supposed to be..

But I know that one day it will turn into a cat.

However, my reservations may not matter...because the boys in this house are adapting rather well.

Uff da.

Michael Goes to Michigan

My dear sweet husband is a Kansas native...hence we've set up our home sweet home in this very land-locked state.

I'm happy as a lark to be here, assuming I get a regular dose of this:Water. I love it. And there is no better place to enjoy it than Michigan! So...we decided to head there and spend time with my family that lives there while reveling in the cool fresh air and the crisp, icy water!

I was so excited to bring Michael to all of the places I love (poor thing got might tired of driving all over Northern Michigan), starting with beautiful Mackinac Island.

The locals say they get tired of going...but I've been many, many times. After all, who can get tired of a view like this?

The Island is full of beautiful bluffs...charming buildings...

Historic sites...

...and just generally terrific scenery!

The water is crystal-clear and turquoise.

I just couldn't get enough of the pristine water....

or the delectable smell of northern pine forests!

But the BEST part was the company! Grandma DJ came with us! Even though she's been there a hundred times and has almost NO vision, she was ready and rearin' to go! She chowed ice cream, got man-handled by tourists and gave us several good laughs.

After leaving the island...

...we headed to the cottage,which may be my most favorite place on earth! We relaxed on the deck with a cup of coffee after our day on the island...

....then after dinner, settled in to watch the beautiful sunset. Michael couldn't believe how LATE it was. You forget that northern sunsets in summer go long past 10 pm!

I think this is my favorite photograph...I love the reflection in the water.

When the night finally fell, it was supremely peaceful. Well, other than the quest of the local mosquitoes to drain us.

The final "you've got to come see this place, I think it's my favorite" spot I had to show Michael is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore.

You hike through the woods and come out here:

It's terrific! Jumping down the dunes is tons of fun...

...but quite a hike back up!

A beautiful spot that I was privileged to share with Michael! Great scenery, great time with Grandma...a great trip!