Birthday weekend.

It was a busy weekend at our house; the N-boy had a birthday on Saturday and then the parentals stopped by for a short visit on their way back to Nebraska after visiting my grandpa in Ohio.

The N-boy decided he didn't want anything super crazy for his birthday this year, so instead we spent the day doing fun things together. First up was a trip to Garwood Orchards to pick apples! 

We went with Fujis, since they're good for both eating and baking. 

It should be noted that for once we showed GREAT restraint with the picking of the apples. We've gone apple picking several times now, and we (well maybe just I) have a tendency to get super excited about the actual picking process, but forget that we need to actually use all of the apples we pick. 

Not even a full 1/2 bushel! 

Birthday apple cider was also acquired.

On the way back home we were both a little hungry and stopped in downtown LaPorte to try and find something to eat. We turned a corner and walked right into this:

This slightly random fair went on for blocks and included food, vendor tents, classic cars and a cute little train that drove up and down the street for the kiddos. I did attempt to convince the N-boy that the fair was a celebration in honor of his birth. He didn't seem to fall for that. 

But he did accept a birthday bratwurst.  

I crashed on the couch with the cats when we arrived back at the house, getting a couple of hours of rest and reading in before the parents arrived and took us out to dinner. It was a good day, and I think overall a great birthday weekend for the N-boy!

(long) Weekend Recap.

Wow. What a crazy-busy-festive long weekend we had. I kept forgetting that today was a holiday, and kept being pleasantly surprised when I remembered that I didn't have to get up and go to work this morning! Here are a few of the adventures the N-boy and I got up to this weekend! 

Saturday.

The N-boy decided that carrying a 22 pound watermelon home from the Farmer's Market was a good idea. 

A very hot and humid run outside. 

Bike ride to the library.

Brother in law, Sister in law in law and cutest baby on the planet arrive. 

Baby demands FroYo.

We break open the Maker's Mark that I hand dipped in Kentucky last fall. 

Sunday.

Marshall County Blueberry Festival. 

Lemon Shake Up.

Happy baby.

Balloon glow.

Monday.

Morning baby time before they headed home.

Unpictured from today: buying cat litter, doing laundry and collapsing on the couch to catch up on the interwebs.

Hope everyone is having a festive labor day! 

Art Beat

Yesterday we braved the 90 degree heat and walked to downtown South Bend for Art Beat 2012. Art Beat is an event held each summer that features culinary, performing and visual artists all from the Michiana area. The Momcat and I actually thought about trying to exhibit our fabric bowls from Prairie Sewn Companion there, but decided that we weren't quite ready for that yet, especially for a show that took place so soon after Orientation.

Looking towards downtown. 

Last year the N-boy and I were quite successful at Art Beat coming home with about six new pieces of art for the house, including urban decay photographs by Stephen Martin for the living room and urban graffiti by CAD for the addition. This year...not so much. We did get one more urban decay piece for the living room, but that was it. It seemed like there was A LOT of jewelry this year. It felt like they expanded the number of artists overall, and maybe they expanded too much too fast.

We ended our adventure down at the culinary artist tent where we each enjoyed a frozen slushy (coffee for me, watermelon for him) from the Purple Porch Co-op. We also got information from them about how the co-op works, as we're looking into getting some of our food there.

 Slushy from locally grown watermelons. 

Overall Art Beat 2012 was a little disappointing, although perhaps some of that can be chalked up to our great success from last year and the oppressive heat. I'm still happy we went though, since it was one of the items on my Summer 2012 Bucket List and I always enjoy the energy that surrounds events that highlight local artists. 

fuel.

As part of our grand adventure this last weekend I found a vegetarian/vegan/raw restaurant called fuel in Kalamazoo, Michigan that was only a few miles from the Air Zoo. 

We both started with coffee. The cream and sugar came in these super cute little square dishes. 

I so want these little dishes.

For lunch we had two different dishes: the crabbish cakes and the egg scramble. I even tried a bite of the crabbish cakes and was happy to find they didn't tase anything like seafood. Which I suppose makes sense given that they are "crabbish" cakes and not actual crab cakes.

Maybe all seafood should taste like something else. 

This jam was some of the best I'd ever had-it was this berry concoction of sweet gooey goodness.

We were both really happy with both the food and the experience. One of the things we wish we had in South Bend was a truly vegetarian restaurant (like our favorite restaurant in Madison, the Green Owl). fuel had good vegetarian cuisine, and we both really like the local and eco friendly cuisine. Although we probably wouldn't drive up to Kalamazoo just to eat there, we'll definitely be back the next time we're up that way. 

Weekend Recap: Air Zoo.

The N-boy and I had a festive and busy weekend. We started off by each doing our own thing with colleagues and friends. Saturday brought a morning of babysitting adorable children followed by a little DIY adventure.

Sunday, however, I planned a secret day of adventure for us. I didn't tell the N-boy where we were going at all, but just gave him directions step by step in the car. We headed north into Michigan where our first stop was a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called fuel for lunch. More on this tasty adventure tomorrow.

Our next stop was the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into the zoo, but since I knew the N-boy (and his brothers for that matter) are interested in planes I hoped it would be fun.

There were three levels of tickets: $8, $12, and $15. We decided to go with the $15 tickets as that would grant us unlimited access to the entire museum, including the various movies, rides and flight simulators. 

This ticket package was definitely a good decision. The planes were very nifty, although I was definitely a bit disappointed in the space section-it didn't seem to be organized well and there was no natural flow. But the various rides and simulators were definitely the highlight for me. Especially the flight simulator where we made the plane go upside down! 

A very small man in front of a very large world. 

Гагарин.

Hot air balloon ride! 

Very large sneaky plane. Don't ask me what its real name is. 

We ended the adventure with a stop at the Root Beer Stand. 

All root beer should be served on a tray that attaches to my car. 

It was a super fun day, and a great end to a busy weekend.

Did you do anything particularly festive this weekend?

Silverhawks baseball game.

So after our failed attempt to go to a game on Friday night we made it last night for the Silverhawks verus the Peoria Chiefs.

Swoop. He's a little creepy. 

We're a little creepy too. 

It turned out to be a beautiful night for a game-not too hot. It was also nice that the stadium wasn't too crowded. And that the Silverhawks won. 

It was also a good night for yummy ballpark food.

I'm not actually sure why the N-boy likes going to games with me. I get rather distracted and don't always pay the most attention to the game. I have lots of fun, but it just doesn't hold my attention the same way that hockey does. 

The below look is either right after I started my tirade (again) about why I think that the RBI statistic is stupid (Think about it-they get credit for the guys who are already on the bases. Which really comes down to how good the coach is at lining up the batting order). Or when we were discussing if I or one of my other coworkers would made a better war lord. 

I feel sorry for him too.

Despite my random observations at the game, we both had a really good time and enjoyed getting out of the house on a Saturday night. It was a festive evening, and nice to do another activity from my 2012 Summer Bucket List.

Cambodian Thai.

We had a rather epic fail last night when we tried to go to the Silverhawks game, arriving only to discover it was Boy Scout night and that the game was sold out except for lawn seating. We weren't really feeling the lawn, especially in an atmosphere where I was going to spend the entire game muttering under my breath after the Boy Scout's latest announcement, so we decided to get tickets for the Saturday game and head out to dinner instead. [The Boy Scouts could learn a thing or two or a million from the Girl scouts.]

Moving on.

We ended up at Cambodian Thai, a small hole in the wall type place in downtown South Bend. I'd never actually eaten in the restaurant before, as we've always gotten take out (an experience that taught the N-boy carrying take out on a bike is a challenge). It was good food and a nice evening, even if it wasn't the original plan.

Chicken curry. 

Drunken noodles.

Fish Ladder of Fun.

We've had a full week now back in town. Luckily the weather has cooled off slighty after the heat wave and we've been able to get outside and not melt into a sticky puddle of goo. We went for several walks this last week, enjoying the beautiful path that runs along the river. 

A sculpture, the dam and the South Bend Museum of Art. 

This week we also discovered the Fish Ladder. 

I had absolutely no idea that such a thing as a fish ladder existed until the N-boy pointed it out during one of our walks earlier this week. From what he knew, the fishies swim upstream through the ladder since they can't swim up over the dam in the above picture. Personally, I'm just impressed that the fish can swim upstream. And that the N-boy had that random piece of knowledge.

The sign is less than helpful for the fish ladder novices among us. 

This sign seemed more useful. Fishing in the fish ladder is cheating. 

Does your town have random, yes amusing, things like this? 

Summer 2012 Bucket List.

I know the summer is already almost half way over, but since the N-Boy just got home from Russia it feels like it's just starting for our family. We kicked off his return to the U.S. with our epic (epic for us, anyway) road trip, but now that we're back in South Bend we're looking forward to finding things to do around town for the next month and a half. I fully admit that we spend a lot of time whining about how there is nothing to do in South Bend. And no, while there certainly aren't quite the same options that existed in Washington, DC, we need to remember that there are reasons we moved from that city back to the midwest. We need to focus a little more on taking advantage of the opportunities that exist here.

source

Here's what's on my Summer 2012 Bucket List. 

1. Go to the Tri-Way Drive In. 
2. Go to the South Bend Museum of Art.
3. Go to the zoo. 
4. Go to the Marshall County Blueberry Festival. 
5. Go to a Silverhawk's game. 
6. Go to Art Beat.
7. Attend an outdoor concert, or maybe two. 
8. See a movie or performance put on by DeBartolo. 
9. Explore more towns on the Lake Michigan coast. 
10. Go to the Warren Dunes.
11. Go to a show at the South Bend Civic Theater.
12. Go for a bike ride on the Prairie Duneland Trail  and the Pumpkin Vine Trail.

Now admittedly, we've done some of these things before. We've been to baseball games and on bike rides, to the Civic Theater and to the Drive In. And they were lots of fun, not too expensive and easy to schedule. Hopefully having them all written down will help us remember to do them and take advantage of what our community has to offer.

What's on your summer bucket list?