Only 2 Days!

This is what only 2 days left in Connecticut means to me:

1) Getting to spend two more days with my parents....

My mum and I went to an end of summer Connecticut classic- the Guitars Under the Stars concert:

This is me getting lulled by a guitar

You can't see the guitars or the stars, but I promise they are there!

We also went to one of our customary stomping grounds....

Whole Foods

What!  A California Raisin by the grapes.... weird!

2) And it means..... Packing!

Don't worry, I'm bringing more than just multiple seasons of various TV shows... I think.

The Shore

On Wednesday my mother and I spent the day at the beach.  If you drive southeast from my parents' house in Windsor it only takes an hour before you hit the shore of the Long Island Sound.  There were a fair number of people who had the same idea- it was a beautiful day.  Here are some pictures capturing our fun:

The Bathing Beauty, a.k.a. Baba

The beach, too far away to see our green and white umbrella

Sea Life

A sand castle captured in time before the waves washed it away

The Epic Boat Trip

What you've heard is true... 

On Labor Day, my father and I went on a 17.5 mile boat trip down the Connecticut River.

And it was wonderful.  

It was restful being on the water, talking to my dad and enjoying the call of the sea... or river.

We spend our best time together on the water, sometimes silently and sometimes like this...

About an hour into the trip I dramatically hollered, "Dad, there's a log in front of us!  We won't suffer the same fate as the Titanic!  This won't be our ice berg!"

To which my dad replied, "Well I should hope not.  I'm no Brad Pitt."

Puzzled, I responded, "Dad, Brad Pitt wasn't in Titanic..."

"Well he sure acted like he was."...

Priceless.

Our trusty metal canoe

Candid shot

The Sea is in his heart.

Lobster Dinner

I have never experienced lobster outside of Red Lobster.  And while Red Lobster can and may be a good restaurant... that lobster can't compare to what I had for dinner tonight.... in my own home.

This is what I believe to be my lobster's final school portrait... before I ate him.

...Sorry if that grosses anyone out... I wish I could have drawn a tie on him though.

Making Kim's Tomatillo Salsa

Here's another adventure for you today.  Even if you're the biggest risk taker or tough guy out there, you love tomatillo salsa.  Kim gave us her recipe and we made some today, so this is in honor of her!

If you've never seen a tomatillo, here's one for your viewing pleasure.  It comes with a special husk that you have to peel off before you use them for salsa.

This is the tomatillos, garlic and Serrano's before being roasted.

Some more ingredients...

Putting them all together...

And, voila!

Adventures in Connecticut

If you're like me, you've probably spent time wondering what life in the northeast is like.  Before my parents moved here, I had no idea.  Well, I had my assumptions... from watching Christmas in Connecticut.

And in general, Connecticut is very nice.  Sometimes, or should I say, always... I wish I knew more people here, had more connections and could interact with people my own age.  But I'm grateful to experience what I can.  The best thing about Connecticut will always be the adventures I go on with my parents.

Here is one.

My dad has always been into boats.  He builds them, uses them, talks about them and dreams of sailing all night.  Recently, he has been expanding his tallow making services.  Tallow is a fancy name for animal fat and is used by marine men for many different reasons... I can never remember what those are. Nevertheless, in order to make tallow, he has to get the animal fat from someone.  My mother and I went on a tallow obtaining adventure with him to a beautiful farm 30 minutes from our house.

Drying Barn for Tobacco

And the animal fat is obtained!  Wow...

The Mountains

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds his people,

from this time forth and forevermore.

It's good to be home.  It's good to have some time with my parents before I leave.  And it's good to be surrounded by reminders of faithfulness.

Niagara Falls

This past weekend some of my family and I traveled to Niagara Falls, Canada.  We spent two nights and one full day there.  It was so much fun!  Here are some snapshots of the fun and beauty!

From left to right: Ephraim, Zeddicus, Kim and Adam

My mum

Maxwell

The Upper Peninsula

My life began on a peninsula and I'm heading over to a new peninsula.  I thought for prosperity's sake, I should show you some pictures of my original peninsula and my homies there.

The Upper Peninsula

My first house

Teal Lake

Baba, Ann, Max and Tommy

Shirley's New Title

Yesterday, I realized that I've been sitting on a goldmine for my whole life.

My mother has been a grandmother since before I was even born, but we've only ever called her the classic, "Grandma."  I've always envied friends who call their grandparents by unusual names like: Gee-Gee, Grannie Annie, NaNa, etc.  And even though my mum isn't my grandma...

I decided to rename her yesterday for all of the grandkids.  I decided to take a step to make a change.  Be the change you wish to see, as they say.

It was a closed poll, until we started discussing it at my brother's kitchen table.

The winner is: Baba

Short for the Russian term for grandmother, Babushka

(It wasn't even an option, but I wrote it in later)...  Things just work that way in the voting world sometimes...

Grubby... So misunderstood

Memory #4: Grubby revolutionized Sky Ranch.

There is a story behind Grubby.

Two summers ago, some friends and I were in Brookshires in Van, TX.  On the way out, a claw game caught my eye...  That's never a good thing.  We approached it, I wasted 2 dollars and then sighed as we left the store defeated.  Before we even got out the door, a lady approached me and asked if I wanted some stuffed animals she won from a claw game in another grocery store.  She was apparently an expert at winning claw games.  I said yes and left with two ugly stuffed animals.  One was a pink and purple crab...  And the other was Grubby...

Later on that day I attached Grubby to a stick with some pink duct tape.  And a star was born...

Thanks to Andrew I now have a Grubby to take to Dubai.

The Case of the Great Toad Detective

My mum and I arrived in Hazel Park today to spend some time with my niece, Kimberly, and her family.  The most wonderful thing happened: we arrived just as a very important detective job was unfolding.  I am so lucky!

Yesterday while at a party my nephews, Zedd and Ephraim, caught a toad and made a home to keep him in forever.  I have to say, it was very nice.

But apparently during the night, the toad "Frognella" escaped... maybe through this hole that was on the top of his home.

(Really, Kimberly let him go while the boys were out... shhhh)

So suddenly Zedd and I found the need to become very intense detectives.  Our intense detective faces are pictured here...

So, Zedd and I had a conference and came up with a plan to either a. catch Frognella or b. give up on him forever and find ourselves another toad.  After briefly looking for him throughout the house, we decided on b.  So we constructed what I like to call a Toad Resort.  This all-inclusive get-away would lure any toad within half a block straight to Zedd's house on Caledonia.

All-inclusive means that it even comes with a wide variety of food choices.

To conclude, we have not found any toads wandering into the Resort yet, but at least one of us knows what really happened...