Summer Fun

This summer really has not felt much like summer at all so far.  Stephen and I have been working like crazy, and the weather has been not very summer like.  We've managed to squeeze in some fun though.  

Sunday actually felt like summer.  Our friend Mike has a pontoon that he took us out on in the morning and afternoon before our softball game.  This is in the canal that connects the Black River and Lake Huron.  

This is on the St. Clair River heading toward the Blue Water Bridge.  

Stephen loves being in the sun.

Our friends Mike, Brooke and Kate. 

Here is one from the weekend before when Hank and Mary came to visit with Spencer and Lucas.  Even though it was kind of chilly we went to the beach for a few hours.  The boys were even brave enough to get in the water.  

Some More Summer Fun

Here are a few more pics. 

Stephen and Molly.  Molly is the greatest!  Stephen is ok, too.

These are two of my friends from the Y, Rebeca and Miki. 

Stephen and I went out for a really nice dinner for our two year anniversary in Lexington, MI to restaurant called The Vintage Grill.  It was delicious.  After dinner we took a walk along the lake.

Stephen and I also joined a softball team with a bunch of our friends.  Our team started out great, beating teams by like 10 or 13 runs.  The last three games have been horrible, we are in a slump for sure.  Maybe we need to start doing two Jager Bombs before the game instead of just the usual one.  

Forever ago...

Over Memorial day I went to Virginia with my mom, dad and my sister's best friend Colleen to visit Shelby for her 24th birthday.  It was a fun time.  Here are some pics.  

Colleen and Shelby at Monticello.

The fam (minus SRT, he was absent this trip because of work) at Monticello.  It was really beautiful.

Walking through Thomas Jefferson's vegetable garden.

Colleen and I at the Capital Ale House.

Shelby and Caleb at her birthday dinner. 

Happy Birthday Janelle

Happy Birthday Janelle.

Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid. 

Goethe said that. Whoever the heck he is.

Hope you have a fabulous birthday.

Happy Birthday!!

She grew up a valley girl, hardly a worry on her mind

Met a Michigan man, handsome and kind

Her birthdays have come every June 9 since 1953

Had just 19 before she added her first kid to the family tree

"Why not four more?" she said to Hank.

“Sure, Mary, we'll have the Lord to thank.”

She left California and headed to Clare

Tears flowed but she persevered there

After nights in Yosemite, the beach and Mexico

She must have wondered "what’s this white stuff, snow?"

Trips to Spring Hill, the West Coast, the Beaverton tavern

Hours on road trips in a gray station wagon

The pets included Chi-Chi, Autumn and Sunshine

She witnessed her kids succeed in the Jack Pine

First the farm and on to Schoolcrest

Then to the woods where her husband shoots pests

She’s a dedicated member at First Baptist

At the gates of heaven, she'll surely past the test

She learned to love from a woman named Jereann

It's the unconditional kind, the only she understands

To see her is to witness four-feet-eleven

But to see her heart, she stands over seven

She’s matriarch of a growing group of children

There are many Taits, and more than one Herman

Ask anyone of them and they’ll say she’s a great mum

She’s the Queen of this particular kingdom

So Happy Birthday Mary Tait

For our next moment together, we just can’t wait.

Help the Taits...

After the death of Sophie Tait, a tan-colored pug, Hank, Mary and Christina are getting a new dog, a cockapoo.

Here's the problem: They don't have a name.

That's where you come in: What should the dog's name be?

It is a female, by the way and it arrives June 20.

Some ideas:

-- Sasha. It's a horrible name for this particular blogger to say, but it is timely given the occupants of the White House.

-- Ayn or Rand. Nice and simple. Meaningful.

-- Peter. Just to throw people off a bit.

-- Lucy. It is fun, human and short.

-- Sophie Two. But that may confuse the young ones.

Please share your ideas. I hear it is with Mary where the ultimate decision lies.

(By the way, I'm not sure I can explain that picture, but my guess is that the dog is Jewish. So perhaps Mara is a good choice.)