Category: 2011

Like a school kid, I’d been looking forward to my summer vacation since February. We booked our flight to Vegas on a Sunday afternoon while yet another blizzard blew through the Midwest. Knowing that the trip was on the horizon got me through the countless hours I spent shoveling snow this past winter. It seemed to take forever, but finally, our departure day arrived and we were on our way!

I’m always really excited to watch my bag being loaded onto the plane because, well, it means my bag is being loaded onto the right plane. Look! It’s the hot pink one in front! There it goes!

About ten minutes before our section began boarding, we decided to kick off our vacation with a celebratory beer. We knew we didn’t have a lot of time, so of course we ordered the largest size available and drank as fast as we could. Afterwards, I stood at the gate feeling a little light-headed and wondering if I was seeing things. So I leaned over and asked Justin, “Am I cuckoo or is that a bird hopping across the floor?” He confirmed that no, I wasn’t crazy and yes, that was a bird scurrying through the McNamara terminal. I guess even if you have wings, sometimes you feel like letting someone else do the flying.

Taken from an electronic-device-usage-friendly 33,000 feet, the clouds cleared as the night moved in and the almost full moon rose over the wing.

Viva Las Vegas! I’m not much of a gambler, but I get a kick out of the fact that you can play a few rounds of video poker before you’ve even grabbed your bag from luggage claim. On our way into town, I managed to get a shot of the famous Las Vegas sign through the windshield of our moving rental car. And no, I wasn’t driving.

Just a thought, but maybe they call it Sin City because of all the so-good-but-so-bad-for-you food. Who needs casinos when you can get a slice of pizza in New York and chase it with a crepe from Paris?

In preparation for my upcoming two week vacation out west, I wanted to try out the new lens I’d gotten specifically for the trip. So I took my nephew Kaden to the park and let him run around on the playground for a while. He was thrilled to be treated to some special play time, but little did he know he was actually modeling in a photo session. Ha ha ha…

We each had our objectives… I was interested in how this lens performed in low light and how much depth of field it provided on wide angle shots while Kaden was interested in climbing. I think the arrangement worked out well for both of us, and we got some cute shots for his mom in the process.

This spring, Justin had an idea. He wanted to try a different way of gardening, one that claimed to be less work and grow more in less space. The method is known as Square Foot Gardening and the concept is to create raised boxes for the soil which allow for more efficient planting. Even to me – someone with no gardening experience whatsoever – it sounded like something with promise and would work better than traditional single-row gardening.

We were excited to get started, but the uncooperative Mother Nature plotted to delay our efforts. Winter really overstayed its welcome this year and spring began as winter, part two. Once the ground finally thawed, we got to work clearing the space. It’s just 625 square feet surrounded by a chicken wire fence, but it’s about to get a makeover! Any good makeover starts with the ‘before’ pictures, so here they are!

To block the ground from the sun and prevent the unwanted growth of weeds, we rolled out a layer of black plastic. On top of that, we placed 4’x4′ wooden frames and filled them with a special mixture of top soil. This is the most critical step in the square foot gardening system. You have complete control over the quality of the soil, instead of using whatever dirt your yard happens to have and being stuck with whatever condition it’s in. For walkways in between the boxes, we laid some cedar mulch.

Our garden partners, Alex and Marci, stopped by one afternoon to help finish up the construction projects, but our outdoor work came to a sudden stop when we heard the sound of tornado sirens. Before we were forced indoors, Alex and Justin were able to add some peat moss to the soil. 

In square foot gardening, each plant is allotted space based on how many squares they need to grow. Some plants require lots of space, some don’t require much at all. Either way, you need to know how much room to allocate. We used some twine to mark off the squares in the boxes, and then we were ready for planting! I was so proud of my newly planted corn-babies that I had to have a photo with them in their nursery.

About a week after their seeds were planted, the corn-babies popped up! It was a little silly how excited I got over them… I could spend hours in the garden just watching them and they seemed to grow taller by the minute! 

The tiny tomato plant reaches for the trellis and the green pepper is off to a good start.

Several varieties of peppers were planted and the marigolds were added to provide protection for the tomatoes from garden pests.

Once everything was planted and all the trellises had been assembled, the garden was good to go! We just watered it daily and let the sun do the rest! 

I could be wrong, but I think the 2010-2011 winter was the longest in Michigan history. Though we didn’t get our first snow until just before Christmas, it didn’t stop snowing until almost Easter. That’s great if you’re a school kid hoping for a snow day, but it’s not so great if, like me, you drive a Mini Cooper. So when the dogwoods in South Lyon started to bloom, I took it was a very welcome sign that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck in the driveway anymore, at least for a few months anyway.

My niece Gracie turned nine this year. Her birthday is actually in February, but with the blizzards that month brought and the fact that elementary school kids tend to spend the entire month trading viruses, it seemed like a good idea to hold off on throwing her party until the weather had warmed up a bit and everyone was healthy enough to attend. When the big day finally arrived, we had a celebration that was worth the wait. Take a look at what we put together for her party!

The main attraction for the party was the swim time booked at the local high school pool, so a luau was the natural choice for the theme. While the kids were busy swimming, I was down the hall transforming the drab high school cafeteria into a festive tropical paradise.

Gracie chose purple and pink as the colors and hibiscus flowers as the element to tie everything together. Ukulele music filled the air as the kids entered the room.

Paper lanterns spelled out “Happy Birthday” against a grass table skirt.

The sand castle cake had ice cream cone towers, graham cracker turrets and chocolate hazelnut seashells as accents.

Water bottles with custom labels paired with packets of hawaiian punch were offered as refreshments.

The party invitation and a printed sign welcomed the guests and personalized purple lollipops displayed in a tray of sand served as favors.

Here’s the guest of honor, posing proudly with her cake.

The kids couldn’t wait to get close to the table and check out the sweets.

Everybody lined up with their leis for a group shot before enjoying some pizza – not your standard luau food, but at a party, you’ve gotta give kids what they like!