Category: 2014

So, this post is a fantastic example of what it’s like to go anywhere with me. Absolutely anywhere.

We spent Labor Day weekend up north in Bellaire because Justin’s aunt and uncle own a summer house there – not because Short’s Brewing Company’s pub is located there. That was just a happy coincidence…

We wanted to get outside and take a walk, so we went to Glacial Hills, a nearby nature preserve, and hit the trails. Our hike began normally enough – we walked along, enjoying the scenery and the shade.

I was minding my own business when suddenly, an object with an interesting shape called to me from the forest floor. It was covered with pine needles and sticks and I wasn’t sure what it was exactly at first. But once I realized what I’d found, I held it up, victorious, and presented it to Justin. The smile on my face must have been a mile long.

It was a dirty, disgusting, broken chair, covered in at least four kinds of animal urine. 

“The forest wanted us to find this! We have to pose with it!” I shouted. My excitement was tangible.

Anyone else would have told me to drop the chair and drop dead, but because he loves the snot out of me, Justin just sighed and sat down while I set up the self timer. After five years, he’s grown quite accustomed to my ability to find a photo op anywhere.

One man’s trash is this photographer’s portrait prop. Simply stunning, if I do say so myself.

Another candle on the cake and another trip up north to celebrate the occasion. We spent some time outdoors in the cute and cozy town of Copper Harbor, way, way up in the U.P.

Witch’s Hat Depot, the sweet little train station of South Lyon, all lit up in the witching hour.

Since my sister has always believed that she’s actually my mother, I decided to spend Mother’s Day this year with her. Our original plan was to take Gracie and Kaden to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, but apparently everyone else in the lower peninsula of Michigan had the same idea. So instead of waiting three hours to enter a zoo we’ve already visited countless times, we hopped back on the highway and high-tailed it to Portage to tour a zoo where they swap the animals for airplanes – they call it the Air Zoo.

After a brutal winter, we were thrilled to get outside on Easter Sunday and enjoy the first warm day in what felt like at least a hundred years. Tradtional Easter egg hunts are all well and good, and we did one of those, but afterwards, we started a new tradition – a confetti egg smash. Why just search for eggs when you can explode eggs instead?