Diane Rehm is my Oprah

I have to admit that when she has authors on it makes me want to buy their books. Twice in the past month and a half I bought a book within minutes of listening to the Diane Rehm's Show. The first was Cokie Roberts' Ladies of Liberty the second James P. Carse's A Religious Case Against Belief. Both quite interesting (at least as much as I have read).

End of Vacation

Well we just could not be more lucky. We had two beautiful, perfect weeks at the cottage (as you have seen). No more pics to post but I will just say that Saturday was another long, sunny, hot day on the beach and we just kept hoping it would never end. Sadly, it did and on Sunday we packed up, cleaned the cottage so my parents could move in and headed home.

Robin headed back to work for a short four day week and I had another few days of leisure. And by leisure I mean doing things around the condo that have not been done in 12 months and hanging with Bailey.

We stopped and saw Patty and Cira (or Kee-Kee)on Friday before they headed for Birchwood. We hadn't seen them in a bit so it was really nice. Patty looks great for being about 30 days from her due date. Cira, of course, is just about the most precious little lady out there.

We spent the 4th with Robin's parents and took Bailey to the annual Lake Orion fair. It was fun but Bailey is not much for rides yet and of course I had to over pay and under perform at the carnival basketball and pitching games. I did win Bailey a blow-up Superman bat and a pink ball (I think they gave me pink to send me a message). We got up this morning and rode into LO for breakfast. Bailey got a little impatient but it was a perfect morning for a ride. A note to all my friends who were so antsy to move out of Michigan following graduation: if you didn't spend a summer here you missed it, this state is beautiful.

I hope everyone had a nice 4th and has enjoyed the daily vacation entries. I will do my best to keep up with the rest of the summer and try to put up more pics from events over the past few months.

Day 12: 6.27

We are getting near the end of the trip. But that is not stopping us from having fun.
Robin, Mike, Bailey and Mom and Dad Bailey headed to the bakery for a little breakfast at the Luisa's Cafe (attached to the Bakery). We had a beautiful beach day that included much more swimming for Bailey and I. The highlight of the day was dinner with Dave, Katie and Rudy as they were on their way to Katie's parents lake house in Michigan.

Day 11: 6.26

Who could have more fun than yesterday. Well we tried. We got up early and, while it was cloudy, headed down to the outlet mall, The Lighthouse, for some shopping. Aunt Lonnie had to leave after shopping and Dad Bailey (Papa) arrived shortly after we got back. The day was turning into a nice one and we wasted no time getting to the beach for some of our favorite things:

Rock Throwing:



Swimming with Dad:


We finished off the day with dinner at the Red Arrow Roadhouse and icecream at Oink's. It was a perfect Birchwood day.



This last video is how Bailey eats icecream: a bite from mom - a bite from nana - a bite from mom:

Day 9 and 10: 6/24 and 6/25

Tuesday was a low key day at Birchwood. We pretty much hung out, went to the beach, did some reading and puzzles. Nice and relaxing.

Wednesday (6.26), however, kicked off three days of non-stop action and fun. Starting with a trip to Shedd Aquarium for Robin, Mike and Bailey. It was going to be a bit of a rainy day so we hit the road. Bailey slept on the way there but was ready to do and see the sea animals. We had so much fun seeing big fish, turtles, snacks, the bulga whales and the dolphin show.

Robin and Mike always love coming back to Chicago and talk about how much they miss it every time they are making that drive north on LSD. Sarah, Katherine, Nicole, Wes and Libby braved a dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe where we were able to eat with the elephants, gorillas and tropical birds. We were tired by the end of today!

Day 8: 6.23

Day 1 of week 2. Man do we feel lucky to be here for two weeks. The weather was a bit chilly today but from Bailey's perspectives the new guests were a big hit: Nana (Mom Bailey) and Grandma Lonnie arrived Monday morning. Bailey ran around the cottage for 30 minutes screaming when they got here.

We did make it to the beach but not for too long. It was a very typical Birchwood day: reading, puzzles, good food and a movie.

Days 5 thru 7: 6.20 - 6.22

We had quite the weekend down here in Birchwood. Sarah and Duke arrived Thursday night from Chicago. We had a relaxed evening and got up for some beach time in the morning. Katherine and Keely got there mid-morning on Friday and came right to the beach. My parents (Gami and Bumpa) stopped by and picked up Bails so the adults could play. Next to arrive was my friend Rachel from grad school and finally Wes and Spencer arrived just in time for dinner.

And play we did: poker (I was the big winner), golf at Pebblewood Country Club(I was the big loser) for the guys and the girls got into a game called Loaded Questions.

As tradition we grilled on Friday night and went to dinner on Saturday night, Brewster's in New Buffalo was the spot. It was really quite nice.

We had a bit of rain and a bit of aging, as a result we never made it down for a beach fire. Nonetheless, good times was had by all. A perfect end to the first week. Let's get going on week 2!