"Saturday Continued....."

Claire brought us a few "tasty treats" from a Chicago sweet shop, called "Candyality" (http://candyality.com).  Besides a couple of other sweet confections, she saw these and bought them for Don......his all time favorite candy.

After Patrick and I shucked corn, I asked him to be our "master griller" so he began getting the grill ready for heating up the brats.  I'd already boiled them in beer and onions so they only needed to be heated through and have the grill taste added to make them even better.  ;)

While he and I got things going in the kitchen, Abigail went upstairs and sat down at Don's piano. It is a digital player piano so he turned it on and she was delighted!

Of course, she had Aunt Claire close by......

We got the food on the table and all sat down to a "Summertime Feast".   This was our first family gathering at our new house.  The first gathering by anyone for that matter.  ;)

Abigail was quiet, watching and listening to all the family banter.  :)

When the main dishes were cleared and dessert about to be served you can bet that Abigail had already found her way onto Aunt Claire's lap.  ;)  We had brats for everyone but Claire is a vegetarian so of course she was served veggie hot dogs.  ;)

I love this photo!  Can't you just see the mischief behind those eyes?  ;)

Have I mentioned that Abigail adores her Aunt Claire?  ;)

After eating, Abigail went back up to Grandpa Don's "music room", finding this time, his guitar, strumming it like a Bass string instrument.  :)

And the music didn't stop there!  She also added chimes/tones from Don's meditation bowl!  As attracted to musical instruments as Abigail has shown, we all hope she will take will eventually take lessons in her choice of instrument.

This concludes our Saturday family fun.  Patrick, Julie, and Abigail drove up again the following morning to join us for brunch........so more family photos to come!  ;)

"Family Gathering......"

With last weekend being a long holiday weekend, my daughter, Claire, drove up from Chicago on Saturday.  About 15 minutes after she arrived, my oldest son, Patrick, arrived with wife, Julie, and daughter Abigail.  Unfortunately, my youngest son, Sean, was not able to come down from Petoskey, having to work all weekend.  He is a chef at "Chandler's" in Petoskey, and Labor Day is the last "hurrah" of the tourist season.

Abigail had not seen Aunt Claire for quite awhile (a year ago April?), but it didn't take her long to warm up and become best friends once again.  Here they are with Julie going through a book of photographs I was given for my birthday, which "stars" granddaughter Abigail.  ;)

Family member Yoda, came along, too, and was quite intrigued with Sam (Samantha), our parakeet.  He looked but didn't do more than that.   :)

Claire had just gotten back from Cancun, a birthday trip to herself, and brought Abigail a couple of presents.

Before Don took "the girls" for a tour along his newly blazed paths, he took this photo of Patrick and me husking corn.  There "might" be a tiny bit of family resemblance.  A "tiny" bit......

Don took Abigail, Julie, and Claire out to show them "The Chairs".......an area set up for "Bambi watching".  ;)  Yes, we made sure Abigail has her own special chair.

Mom Julie and Aunt Claire made themselves right at home, too!

Not any doubt that Abigail thinks her Aunt Claire is REAL special, is there?  ;)

To be continued.....

"Rob's Last Full Day......"

After the balloons drifted over and Rob awoke, Julie stopped by on her way to a doctors appointment in TC to say hello.  As you can see, I found standing in the sun extremely warm.  ;)

After getting ready for another day of exciting adventures, we drove to "Hofbrau's", in Interlochen, for their famous Sunday Brunch (http://www.hofbrauinterlochen.com).

Brunch was delicious and we, as usual, we enjoyed it very much.  We recommend it if you are in the Interlochen area on a Sunday morning.  :)

After brunch, we drove up into "Old Mission Peninsula" (http://www.oldmission.com).  We stopped at the General Store (although no photos were taken), then stopped at "Old Mission Lighthouse" (http://www.michigan.org/property/old-mission-point-lighthouse/) where numerous photos were taken. :)

Yes, Rob is a "sun worshipper"......

Don and Rob walked all the way out to where the current water level is......we had been at the lighthouse a few years back before the open winter of 2011 (?) and the following drought that summer.  The water level was MUCH closer to the lighthouse at that time.  Believe it or not, this year it is quite a bit higher than last!  Hopefully, we will get a good amount of snow again this winter, plus rain, to bring the water level back up where it should be.......

While the boys walked out to the waters edge, I stayed at the lighthouse and "people watched", finding a very nice shaded seat at the picnic table.

The water colors were extremely beautiful that day.....

After leaving the lighthouse, we drove back into Traverse City and took Rob to "The Filling Station" (http://thefillingstationmicrobrewery.com), another one of our favorite places.

Here we are mapping out Rob's drive home via the Upper Peninsula......

We had a wonderful time with Rob.......we hope he finds time to visit again soon.

"Rob Missed Them........"

After Saturdays activities, we didn't have the heart to wake Rob up when we heard the hot air balloons being filled over at the airport.  We hoped he would wake up on his own, but unfortunately, he didn't and missed them.

It was the 2nd ones turn to drift over our house.....

"The 5th Annual Traverse City "Summer" Microbrew & Music Festival"

Rob's visit continued with being our guest (in honor of his upcoming birthday) at the Traverse City Summer Microbrew & Music Festival (http://tcbeerfest.com).

Here we are patiently waiting in Line #2 to take part in a "favorite home brewers taste test".  This is after Don and Rob had stood in line #1, tasting 8 "home brews" while I sat in the shade and "people watched".  Each line had 8 home brewers who enthusiastically spoke to each of us about what they did to create their "signature beer".  At the end of each line we were asked to vote for our favorite one in that line by placing the small taster cups in a bucket.  I believe that the winners prize in previous years was to have his or her beer featured in one of the microbrew pubs.

Yes, Rob is a "Beer Connoisseur".  Here he is with his "voting cup" letting all those subtle flavors tickle his tastebuds.  ;)  Truthfully, even I, normally not much of a beer drinker, found several that I thought were very, very good.

The "Voting Station"......a set up of 8 containers for each line of home brewers.

Yes, the Grand Traverse Pipes & Drums were featured early in the Festival.......

We also ran into Kristin (whom we met several years ago when renting a condo at The Grand Traverse Commons) and her boyfriend, Jason, along with her brother and his wife.

As you can see, we had beautiful sunny day, ending in this exceptional sunset.  The Festival took place on the front lawn of Grand Traverse Commons.............a couple of its spires silhouetted against the colorful sunset.

As the sun began to sink and the daylight faded, the numerous beer, wine, and cider booths began turning on their lights........

The main stage hosted a variety of music during the entire Festival.  The final group was the world renowned, "Wailers"..........

We had a wonderful time!