Toaster's new toy

Toaster's been into refinishing guitars. This is his latest one. I think Yoshi likes it too.

Kindergarten orientation

I was the only lame mother with a camera, so I could only take sneaky photos, like this. Love the teacher and found a couple moms I think I want to befriend.

Parade

One of the cool things about Elmwood Avenue Festival is that they end it with a big parade, mostly of kids, but also of musicians. I love the tiny bit of gray in the trumpeter's hair. So sexy.

Waiting for daddy

Yoshi gets very nervous when either of us leaves the car and goes into a store where he can't see us. : )

Midnight

I finally got some photos and a video of Midnight, Yoshi's girlfriend. She lives down the street. The two of them are so adorable with each other. But in this video, Yoshi gets jealous bc Toaster is playing with Midnight, and not him. : )

Rainy set up

We got set up just in time for the rain to pour down on everyone else. Guess it was worth getting up at 5:30 a.m.!

Teasing Mr. Alligator

"Can't catch me!" (Anna taught us that song. So cute! and morbid, since the alligator eats all the monkeys...)

Hot dogs and my baby

What better way to end the week but with hot dogs, fries and your honey.

Early to bed

Tonight it's early to bed for me. Maybe a little tv, some light reading...

No longer smoke-free

The entire URMC campus went smoke-free a couple years ago, but it recently created a couple smoking areas. Now people are smoking all over the place. (People were staring at me so all I could get was this out-of-focus shot -- sorry!)

Harvest

Joe picked a couple vegetables from our (lead-filled) garden today (we're not eating any of it this year). I don't think the peeler is the right size for that carrot. Ha!

Breakfast in bed

I had everything I needed this morning. I always make cinnamon toast when I'm sick. And the Sucrets are my savior.

Bev Cleary

I scored some books at the library's book sale today. Who knew the college library would have Beverly Cleary?! Anna and I are currently in love with Ramona.

Chinese

Still not feeling well, so we ordered Chinese take-out, one of my favorite comfort foods to eat when I'm sick. It's always chicken lo-mein.

What's going on here?

This is not my car and where's my sister? (We've got a rental for a while until the car gets $7,500 worth of body work done -- long story, but everyone's fine.)

Roses

I always like having fresh flowers in the house. It's very calming and makes me happy when I see them.

Farmers' Market

I spent some time today getting lost amongst the produce.

Miss you already, Anna

Anna left to spend the week with Edie a few hours ago. Dinner was very quiet. We miss her already.

Fancy tea

Anna and I finally got around to painting the tea set she got for her birthday.

Bill

I think we got some of the effects of Bill today. It started to pour right as my haircut was through. I got a little wet running to the car. This is the view from my side window.

Fresh tomatoes

A woman who used to work at the paper dropped off tons of tomatoes from her garden today. I used these tonight in a pasta dish I made. They were so delicious.

Chalk Drawing

Despite the work not being done, we decided to christen the sidewalk today. I think Parker might've gotten more chalk on her bum than on the sidewalk...

Almost done

We just need our driveway back and our lawn reseeded. It feels like it's taking forever!

Laundry

I've done three loads of laundry since we got back last night. How does it pile up so quickly?

Ugly plant

Our adopted ugly plant is looking a little less ugly these days.

Sunrise

On our last morning we watched the sun rise. It was cloudy though, so we missed that beautiful moment when it first comes up over the horizon. It was still beautiful.

Our final meal

Every night, Marco cranked out pasta on his pasta machine. We ate amazing food. On the last night we had noodles with Toaster's homemade pesto and cherry tomatoes.

Pop up

I want to learn how to make a pop-up book!

Ice cream at the beach

After a long day at the beach, Toaster treated me to some soft serve. I am looking pretty happy here. : )

Sidewalk

I couldn't decide between this one and another one that the "cone" was in focus. I figured since I was showing off my sidewalk, I suppose it would be better to use the one where the sidewalk was in focus.

All worn out

Anna slept for the first half of the ride home. Even through the border!

Sunset over the bay

We watched some of the most beautiful sunsets over the bay from our porch.

Cottage weekend

Joe's aunt's cottage has a fabulous little beach and about 12 feet of stand-able depth water before it drops off into the deeper lake.

Five Guys

We always stop at Five Guys for burgers and fries as soon as we get to the beach. It's becoming a tradition.

I hate packing

I always bring too much and I can't decide what to bring. It takes me forever. And yes, those are four pairs of shoes in there. Yeesh. I need help.

Live one!

I got so many great shots today, but I had to show you this. We found a dozen shells, too!

My signature bread

I realized tonight while baking this bread that it's become my signature dish. I always wanted to be known for something. I got a special request for this from Gina and Marco.

Curbs

I left to take Joe back to work after lunch, and this was the scene.

And when I came back, curbs! (Can't wait for sidewalks and a driveway. It was not easy bringing groceries in through that obstacle course.)

Cicada

When Edie and I were little we would hang cicada shells all over our shirts. Anna and I tried to find some today. We only found two, but we found a live one, too! (I didn't bring that one home for the photo...)

Heather is the best friend eva!

Today I got a surprise package from my bestie...


And a card made by me!
Inside was a homemade banana cake...

I had a piece immediately. It was freakin' delicious. I licked the crumbs off my fingers...


And now I have this whole cake to eat. Yum! I have the best bestie ever!

Stowaways

I only planted pink impatiens, but these purple petunias popped up just in the last week.

Clematis

Our clematis was very happy this morning in the sunshine. She loves her spot by the mailbox.

India Arie/John Legend

India Arie opened. Wow. She was awesome.

John Legend opened in the crowd and then made his way to the stage. Very cool


Our friends Enid and Mike came with us.

I have a feeling your friend Tina would be rather jealous of this audience member, whom I'm sure was thanking her lucky stars she chose the black dress instead of jeans since she ended up on stage.

The encore was probably the best part of John Legend's show.