Family check-in

I got a texted picture from each kid Saturday so let's do a family check-in.

Being on the East Coast, L was first with a picture of Sully at the vet. Uh oh. He ended up with some nauseau medicine and allergy meds so he stops scratching himself. L and W leave for Colorado to visit his mom on Tuesday and wanted Sully in better shape before their roommate, T, is left to watch him. Probably a good idea.

Then B texted a picture of a waffle he made in the waffle maker we gave him for his birthday. Looks delicious. In addition to the waffle maker we gave him vegetable oil and waffle mix so he was all set to make breakfast whenever he got around to it.

E and D have been getting some work done on the condo so she sent a picture of the backsplash tile they had installed. They also got new can lighting in the kitchen (no more fluorescent lights) and will have the cabinets resurfaced next. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

It was Saturday so Andy was golfing. Here's a picture of the group at the 19th hole. He shot an 84 - his best of the year at Old Oak - so he was happy.

And, since it was Saturday, Allison and I hit a few yard sales. I got nine Waterford napkins (they make napkins?) that are a nice fall color for $2 and these red Crate & Barrel Westerly plates were a quarter each. I thought there were only 11, but Allison found the twelfth! And the woman only asked for $2.50 for them. Either she couldn't do math or she wanted to give me a deal. She even had me to take a free plastic Christmas platter. She really wanted to get rid of her stuff. I plan to use them for my candy cane-themed family Christmas dinner this year. (Red plates, white tablecloth and the opposite for the "kids" table. It's all coming together.) I know these plates would have been at least $2 each at Goodwill and saw them online for $10 a plate. Yikes.

On the way home I saw this truck with plates that said "Weldgod" which made me think of W who's a welder. At least that's how I interpreted them. Sometimes you just don't know. If the person is a welder, though, they must think pretty highly of themself.

Seattle and Schaumburg

We had a pretty slow Sunday. Our first order of business was taking E and D to O'Hare for their flight back to Seattle.

L took my car and drive to fhe Schaumburg area where they went to Mitsuwa, the Japanese geocery store, Woodfield Mall ...

and visted with her friend, T.

I noticed our "ditch lilies" are blooming.

Uh oh. E left her keys. I didn't notice but she texted and said they were on the back porch. She was correct. Guess we'll be mailing those tomorrow.

Cousin C’s wedding

Saturday was Cousin C's wedding!

E was part of the bridal party ...

as was L. Andy was golfing (surprise) so I drove them downtown in time for their hair and makeup appointment ungodly hour of 7 a.m. At least traffic was light.

We had W and D with us and managed to get B and all got to the wedding on time. A true miracle. Traffic was ridiculous.

I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony but this was during cocktail hour. They changed the ceremony space into the reception space by moving in completely set tables. What?!?

The mariachi band - very, very loud.

All dressed up.

Beautiful table setting.

How cute is this? The salad had croutons in the bride and groom's initials. I haven't seen that before.

Delicious dinner.

The bride's family.

The girls with Aunt Allison.

Andy was pretty proud of this picture he took of the Rookery staircase. It's a popular shot, but this one was his.

Welcome party and more

L and W did a bit more sightseeing Friday, going to the Museum of Science and Industry.

They spent a lot Thursday for rides around the city so they purchased a weekly transit pass. It will let them explore more of the city and they have several days so buying the pass was a good idea.

They then went to the top of the Sears, I mean Willis, Tower. W repeatedly said he is scared of heights, but he overcame his fear for a fantastic view. We've had a lot of cloudy and stormy days but they chose a clear day to do this.

E and D arrived early Friday afternoon and are staying at the house. The girls and their men went to Pilsen Yards for Cousin C's bridal party dinner.

Allison, mother of the bride of course, with D.

Then we all met up, with B too, at C's apartment building for a welcome party. Our hosts.

The party was in a common area of their building with an outdoor patio. I think we were on the 32nd floor.

Which provided a great view of the lake and Navy Pier...

and the river in the other direction.

The kids.

and us.

Cousin S, his wife, E, B and D.

One surprise was that L's high school friend, N, lives in the building and knows the groom so he said it was ok if she joined the party so she and L could catch up.

Even prettier as it gets darker.

B took the el back to his apartment so we drove the other four home. It would have been a tight squeeze with four in the backseat so D took one for the team and rode in the trunk.

Quilt block puzzle

This puzzle made me think of our quilter, E. It fit on my puzzle board so all of the pieces were there ... and I didn't take one cat photo during the entire time I put it together. Maybe they've decided my puzzles aren't interesting.

I loved how the puzzle named every quilt block. I even recognized a few. This was a fun puzzle.

Random moments

All dressed up for a wedding on Memorial Day weekend in Virginia. They look so nice.

L on Memorial Day getting acquainted with a horse at Fort Wilderness.

And winning an award the next day for generating the most sales leads in the second quarter for the resorts team.

Here she is with her friend, J, who she met years ago working for Journeys in Lombard. He's since moved to Florida and works for DVC too.

The peonies are really late to bloom this year. This one is trying to bloom, but not quite there.

Early Mother’s Day gift

I never know what to tell the kids I'd like for Mother's Day but this year I asked for a mahjong set. I had the one lesson at Allison's church (and won my first time playing, beginner's luck) but maybe with this I can practice and start going to meet-ups. I do have several friends who are interested in learning how to play.

Snow in Issaquah

E sent this picture of her parking lot Friday morning. They're used to snow in the nearby mountains, not so much in Seattle and its suburbs. People were being bad drivers, she said. At first glance, I thought she had sent a black-and-white picture but then I noticed the yellow fire hydrant.

Family photo

I printed a few more pictures from E's wedding and found a nice "family" frame for this one. It's everyone from E's side of the wedding who attended the ceremony.