[1758] Sunday catch-up
So Michigan has been pretty excellent so far. I flew into the Kalamazoo airport a little after 7 on Wednesday night; Mom picked me up and we hung out together until Dad came home, whereupon we hung out more, catching up and planning our trip to the Smokies. I had an atlas, but Dad had Google Earth on his iPad. So cool. We both got kind of giddy over it. I think Mom was very amused to watch us play with Dad's new toy.
On Thursday we picked up Gr'ma and Papa about 10 a.m. and drove west to South Haven, a gorgeous little harbor town on the shore of Lake Michigan. We had lunch at Clementine's, and then walked over to Black River Books, a few blocks down, where we browsed gleefully for quite a while. Mom ended up with a history of the American involvement in "The Great War," published in 1919--I've only read a little but it's a fascinating perspective on WWI, written at a time when everyone thought it truly would be the war to end all wars.
On our way home we went to The Cheese Lady, and got fontina and fresh chevre and an amazing ginger-and-mango stilton. The fontina is for the trip, to eat while hiking with herb-and-olive-oil baguettes. We used the fresh chevre on Thursday night, mixed with orechiette pasta, pesto, and stir-fried zucchini, asparagus, and onions. We served it with a fresh citrus salad, and had the stilton and sweet oatcakes for dessert.
Then Mom and Dad did some landscaping work while I picked up Captain America from Redbox, and then Dad killed a monstrous wolf spider in the basement so we could watch it. (The movie. Not the dead spider. Mom and I stayed in safety on the stairs while Dad slew the beast.) They enjoyed it enough that Dad admitted at dinner on Friday that he'd been thinking about it during the day--like, if vibranium is the hardest substance on earth, how did Howard Stark forge a perfect and polished shield?
So on Friday we went to see The Avengers. :)
Actually, first, Mom and I went shopping on Friday. We'd heard good things about the Grand Rapids mall having a wider selection of professional clothing than the shops in Portage, but found that wasn't really the case. Still, I got a gorgeous green cropped jacket at Dress Barn and three blouses at J.C. Penney's, while Mom got a blue heathered tweed suit-jacket at Macy's. Back in Kalamazoo, we went to lunch at Shawarma King and then continued shopping. I got sunglasses and a scarf at Target, blood-red capris at Kohl's (and a couple of new bras), and a navy cardigan (my first!) at Coldwater Creek.
I attribute the success of our marathon shopping trip to our shared willingness to walk into a store, glance around, and decide that no, there's nothing here that interests us. Let's move on! We thereby save valuable energy for the stores that do interest us, and get a little extra boost from each successful find. ;)
Friday for dinner we made pizza, and then went to the Avengers. On Saturday I lazed around a bit, but Mom and Dad worked hard--Dad edged the driveway and sidewalks and mowed the lawn and had some Church meetings, and Mom cleaned and worked on her Sunday school lesson and did some work for her job. Eventually I helped out with some vacuuming and grocery shopping and list-making. We picked up Gr'ma and Papa for dinner at El Gallo Blanco, a fabulous Mexican restaurant up in Kalamazoo that reminded me quite a lot of El Gallo Giro in Provo, only much nicer and with cooler meat options. Dad and I got samples of the birria (stewed goat), and barbacoa (steamed beef cheek) and decided on the goat, which was AMAZING. Some of the best meat I've had in my life. Dad had a burrito; I had the platter, with rice and beans and tortillas on the side. I ate my leftovers for breakfast this morning. >.>
Dad got up early this morning to bake bread and muffins for our trip. We're packing tonight and leaving tomorrow morning. I probably won't blog while we're gone--no internet access in the mountains, and cell access may be iffy--but will try to write up some blogs and take pictures to post when I return!
On Thursday we picked up Gr'ma and Papa about 10 a.m. and drove west to South Haven, a gorgeous little harbor town on the shore of Lake Michigan. We had lunch at Clementine's, and then walked over to Black River Books, a few blocks down, where we browsed gleefully for quite a while. Mom ended up with a history of the American involvement in "The Great War," published in 1919--I've only read a little but it's a fascinating perspective on WWI, written at a time when everyone thought it truly would be the war to end all wars.
On our way home we went to The Cheese Lady, and got fontina and fresh chevre and an amazing ginger-and-mango stilton. The fontina is for the trip, to eat while hiking with herb-and-olive-oil baguettes. We used the fresh chevre on Thursday night, mixed with orechiette pasta, pesto, and stir-fried zucchini, asparagus, and onions. We served it with a fresh citrus salad, and had the stilton and sweet oatcakes for dessert.
Then Mom and Dad did some landscaping work while I picked up Captain America from Redbox, and then Dad killed a monstrous wolf spider in the basement so we could watch it. (The movie. Not the dead spider. Mom and I stayed in safety on the stairs while Dad slew the beast.) They enjoyed it enough that Dad admitted at dinner on Friday that he'd been thinking about it during the day--like, if vibranium is the hardest substance on earth, how did Howard Stark forge a perfect and polished shield?
So on Friday we went to see The Avengers. :)
Actually, first, Mom and I went shopping on Friday. We'd heard good things about the Grand Rapids mall having a wider selection of professional clothing than the shops in Portage, but found that wasn't really the case. Still, I got a gorgeous green cropped jacket at Dress Barn and three blouses at J.C. Penney's, while Mom got a blue heathered tweed suit-jacket at Macy's. Back in Kalamazoo, we went to lunch at Shawarma King and then continued shopping. I got sunglasses and a scarf at Target, blood-red capris at Kohl's (and a couple of new bras), and a navy cardigan (my first!) at Coldwater Creek.
I attribute the success of our marathon shopping trip to our shared willingness to walk into a store, glance around, and decide that no, there's nothing here that interests us. Let's move on! We thereby save valuable energy for the stores that do interest us, and get a little extra boost from each successful find. ;)
Friday for dinner we made pizza, and then went to the Avengers. On Saturday I lazed around a bit, but Mom and Dad worked hard--Dad edged the driveway and sidewalks and mowed the lawn and had some Church meetings, and Mom cleaned and worked on her Sunday school lesson and did some work for her job. Eventually I helped out with some vacuuming and grocery shopping and list-making. We picked up Gr'ma and Papa for dinner at El Gallo Blanco, a fabulous Mexican restaurant up in Kalamazoo that reminded me quite a lot of El Gallo Giro in Provo, only much nicer and with cooler meat options. Dad and I got samples of the birria (stewed goat), and barbacoa (steamed beef cheek) and decided on the goat, which was AMAZING. Some of the best meat I've had in my life. Dad had a burrito; I had the platter, with rice and beans and tortillas on the side. I ate my leftovers for breakfast this morning. >.>
Dad got up early this morning to bake bread and muffins for our trip. We're packing tonight and leaving tomorrow morning. I probably won't blog while we're gone--no internet access in the mountains, and cell access may be iffy--but will try to write up some blogs and take pictures to post when I return!