Slow July Fouth

This sign welcomed me back to the Farmers Market Saturday morning for my second donut shift of the season.

I was the outside coffee server, working 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. and this was my breakfast. It was a holiday so it was a pretty light day. Regardless, I was a bit achy after standing for three hours. Andy was the first donut captain then left to play golf. Needless to say, he gets home, falls asleep and there, again, our day is shot.

Meanwhile in Florida, L sent a video and pictures of the Air Force doing a fly-over at Epcot. They flew over Magic Kingdom too, but she was working in the Members' Lounge at Epcot.

A closer look.

I had planned to grill out Italian sausages for dinner but it was raining with no chance of letting up for two hours. Good thing our local pizza shop was open!

Trellis troubles

A heavy rainstorm blew through yesterday afternoon and once it was over, Andy took some garbage and noticed our trellises by the garage got so heavy with rain they were falling over.

He used some butcher's twine to tie them up and secure them to the garage. It may not be a permanent solution but it might be.

I did notice our milkweed have lots of flowers this year. No Monarch sightings yet ...

but the bees are enjoying the coneflowers.

Happy Fourth of July

I chose this "patriotic puzzle" because the Fourth of July was coming up but once I opened it and saw that it wasn't completely taken apart, I had second thoughts.

It's features Keystone, S.D. and it and it had all of its pieces. That was a good roadtrip with the kids. I had printed out multiple choice trivia questions for the long car ride, having them answer which president on Mount Rushmore was the correct answer. We also ended up with a flat tire, ate a lot of Little Caeser's pizza because there weren't a lot of places in town to eat, and watched the July Fourth Mount Rushmore fireworks from our hotel room.

That trip also gave me one of my favorite photos ever of the kids at the monument. We used a "happier" one from the same photo session for our Christmas card that year, but this one tells a better story of that hot day.

The cats

My cute jungle cat. Should I tell Piper the plant is fake?

Ruby has a knack for looking scared in photos.

Summer in bloom

Our former neighbors planted daisies in their yard years ago and I've been trying to coax them into our yard ever since. They're spreading pretty well and they're blooming.

And the coneflowers have started to bloom.

Hard to miss this chicken and hen that's about to bloom. It looks ... very happy.

Lots of choices

Planning my church lady birthday dinner next week and trying to decide on the table linens. I decided against this white tablecloth and tossed it on the floor. Within a few minutes, Piper was resting on it.

I chose a red tablecloth (have to get those wrinkles out!) and moved onto the glasses ... matching, different? We'll need one for water, right?

This is the plan for dinner - catering from our local Mexican restaurant to serve at our house. This is what E and D ordered for their rehearsal dinner - chicken and beef fajitas, Mexican potatoes, refried beans, rice, and it comes with chips, salsa, sour cream, tortillas, and pickled carrots.

Successful mahjong night

Here's Andy revealing his first of two mahjongs Monday night, We were playing at a table of three with Allison's friend, K. She won one game, as did I, so we were all winners!

An interesting choice for someone to being airplane bottles of Fireball for the treat table. I brought Rice Krispie treats and they were a hit even though I used Christmas red, white and green Krispies (they don't expire until August so it was all good).

My mahjong.

Packing up for the night.

Our three winning mahjong ducks to add to our collection.

Belated b-day dinner

Almost a week late, but B got his birthday dinner yesterday.

He chose an Italian restaurant, Il Porcolino, in the Loop from a google search. B and I had the chicken parmesan, Andy had spaghetti and meatballs and Cindy had the chicken and penne. It was all very good.

The waitress asked us if we were celebrating anything and I blurted out "B's birthday" before I realized he wouldn't want a bunch of singing and dramatics. The waitress said not to worry and after dinner, brought him ice cream with a candle. We all shared it and it was tasty - chocolate and cherries.

Family pic. After dinner we drove B home. THe Pride Parade was in his neighborhood earlier in the day and the people-watching was incredible. Lots of people having a fantastic time.

It was a beautiful night so I suggested we walk and show Cindy the Riverwalk. That's a huge flag hanging on the Wrigley Building.

Eventually we stopped for a beer while Cindy got an iced latte. Andy pointing out nearby buildings for Cindy.

Right in front of a Riverwalk sign.

I think a lot of people will be enjoying this fountain later this week.

At church that morning, we celebrated the 100th birthday of one of our members with a fellowship hour luncheon on the front lawn.

I brought a tray of ham and turkey sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls. We had quite the soread and celebration - and the weather was perfect. Supposed to get close to 100 this week so we're bracing ourselves.

So. Many. Yard sales.

Cindy came up Friday afternoon and we were out of the house by 8 a.m. Saturday to go to Lombard's community yard sales. The dirst one we stopped at was raising money for Relay for Life and was just asking for a contribution. Cindy found this Rdio Flyer wagon for the gandkid - and a bunch of other things - and donated $25. The wagon sells for a lot more but they were happy to get rid of it.

This was our haul at the end of the day. Cindy's big bargains were the wagon, Vera Bradley travel bag for $7 and a yard sprayer for $5.

I didn't spend over $2 on any single thing. These two flamingos were $2 each. Andy said we're one step away from white trash lol. I got a Longaberger bread basket I don't need for $1, a Luminara flameless candle for $1, and a dozen red napkins for $2 (among other bargains). These people were ready to sell.

Cindy's things all packed into her car.

And the early birthday presebt she brought along - a big bag of Take Five candy bars and a koozie with our high school picture on it. They're building a new high school so the one I went to will be demolished soon.

Crinkle fries

Andy got a hotdog from our neighborhood hotdog stand the other day and was shocked to see they've switched to crinkle fries. He didn't seem to mind too much as he ate them all.