A couple of weekends ago I went to Aaron and Stephanie's to celebrate Aaron's 28th birthday. We went to Big Cedar Lodge to walk around and take in some nature. We had gone there three years ago and loved it and I have always wanted to return there. It is so pretty in the fall with the leaves turning colors and the harvest displays.
The picture below was taken from one of the highest points at the resort....
This picture makes me laugh........while taking a break in these comfy lounge rockers and looking out over the resort and the lake I snapped a shot of Aaron talking about how pretty it was. But with his hand movements, I'd rather say that he is waving to his subjects while looking out over his kingdom! And, Stephanie looks like his queen giving her approval!
Aaron's "kingdom" !!!!!
We snatched a few colorful leaves to put in an apothecary jar.............
Snatcher Stephanie securing her leaves........
Aaron exploring the land.........
Climbing out of a hole........
We found this beautiful shaded pergola to snap a few pictures of each other............
This bridge was a pretty place to stand and listen to the waterfall............
Beautiful landscaping at Big Cedar Lodge..........
The turtle pond is one of my favorite spots. This guy made me laugh while he was doing some back leg stretches while taking in the sun...........
Happy 28th birthday Aaron ! Love MOM
Click here to get to Big Cedar Lodge's website.
Aaron, Sierra and I took a short walk on a trail around Lake Springfield on Saturday. I captured this beautiful picture of a bee and monarch butterfly. We started our walk at this old bridge that crosses over a small section of the lake...
Sierra loves to go exploring with Aaron........
Milkweed plants were abundant on this trail. The pods were in various stages of drying out and I could not resist picking the dried ones to split open and release the seeds to blow in the breeze. As a child this was a favorite past time so it was fun to reminisce..........
I love how this picture turned out and how on rare occasions my camera will take such a clear sharp picture.......
On our visit to Chicago this month, we had to make a visit to Chinatown. I wanted Katie to experience the different culture and how Chicago has such a big community compared to our part of the country. We took the yellow water taxi from downtown to Chinatown for $4 each. It was a nice quiet ride where we could relax for a few minutes and look at the buildings along the water way. We got off at the Chinatown dock that looked like this....
We had to navigate our way through some apartment buildings but eventually got to this section of Chinatown that looked fairly new......
We went in one of the markets and looked at all the items that were for sale. There were dozens of plastic and glass containers selling roots and antlers and dried fish by the pound...
We then crossed over a busy street and entered the older part of Chinatown. We visited another small grocery store where we did not take any pictures but they had a large tank full of huge bull frogs. There was an attendant standing by the tank to make sure no one took pictures.
There were also many little trinket shops full of the traditional Chinese merchandise..
We took the El train to get back to downtown.
On our visit to Chicago earlier this month, Gino's Pizza was on our to-do list. The Pizzeria was on Superior and our hotel was on Ohio so it made for a quick walk the first day we got into town. We came in on a Sunday and Gino's did not open until noon, but at 11:30 the line was starting to get long! We timed it pretty good and only had about 15 people in front of us.
We got seated at the front window and could watch the crowd as we waited. We were anxious to try these famous deep dish pizzas with their secret "cornbread like" ingredient crust. We decided on a supreme with one half having pepperoni and the other half being sausage. As we waited we took in all the sights inside the restaurant. We knew this was the place where one could write their name on the wall (or the chair, or the railing), but we did not think to bring anything with us. It looked like most people used a white paint pen or brought their own bottle of liquid white out.....
The pizza was huge and there was no way the three of us could finish it off......Katie and Judy were fans of it and I did not care for the crust or the sauce that much but was glad to experience Gino's Pizzeria!
While visiting Michigan for Jacob and Annie's wedding, we (Russell, Susan, Judy and myself)made the short drive to Notre Dame's campus. We ran into Stacy and Luann while we were there and waved and shouted from the car! The campus was beautiful and breath taking. The grotto was my favorite spot. We are not Catholics, but we lite a candle and said our silent prayers. The experience is one I will never forget.....
Russell was going to take a picture of us girls, when a passer by offered to take a picture of all of us..........Funny us girls are all sporting our black sandals!
I liked this statue............
We only stayed around the grotto and these few buildings.....
Russell liked the "GOD COUNTRY NOTRE DAME" above this door..........
We just kept staring at the buildings, they were so fascinating.........
If we ever go back to visit Patti and John again, I'd like to see more of this beautiful campus....
Millenium Park in Chicago had a cool, serene, tree covered area that we took full advantage of when we discovered it. The temperature had climbed higher on this day than the previous day so we were glad to find a place to sit down in some shade and relax for a few minutes. We were wishing Papaw would have made the trip with us so Katie made a sign to show our wishes.........
The shade of the trees made for some pretty picture taking so we took full advantage of any lighting that was flattering !!!
Katie's always saying, "Mom, make a silly face for this picture"..............
Me and sister-in-law Judy.........
Cloud Gate (or the Bean) is one of my favorite attractions in Chicago. I still can't figure out how it was formed. Everytime I visit it I look for seams. I like taking pictures that shows the reflection of the Chicago skyline.
And then of course we had to do silly poses for the camera.....
Me and Katie above and Katie with her Aunt Judy in the picture below....
