Hoppy Easter

This post is belated because I was waiting for these adorable mugs to arrive!  I spied one (along with its matching child’s size version, too) at Grandma’s house while we were visiting last weekend and I fell in love.  They’re from Sur La Table, my favorite kitchen-supply store, so we hopped on over on Saturday while we were out running errands.  Unfortunately, they were only available online (and incredibly marked-down), so Grandma treated me to four for my Easter table.

img_3138

The bunnies even remind me of Grandma–she was a librarian and with the glasses, it just fits!

For our annual Easter trip to Grandma’s this year, we chose to leave a day early to spend some extra time with Emily and Dan in Dayton.  We ate pizza, the boys played laser tag, Nora played in her water table, and Emily and I hit up Whole Foods for their wine tasting and to pick up some treasures for me to take home.  It was a whirlwind of fun and–as usual–we were sad to go.
img_3133

Nora and I matched when we woke up on Saturday!  We ❤ coral and turquoise!

img_3134

On Saturday, we spent the day with Grandma.  Our first order of business each time we come for Easter is to get her glass table and umbrella out of her shed, clean it and eat lunch in the fresh air.  Afterward, we ran some errands to help her take care of replacing her water filter in the fridge and salt for her water softener.  We ended the evening at Eddie Merlot’s with Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave, who invited us to join them for brunch the next day after church.

Grandma, Andrew and I joined Uncle Dave’s family at the golf club for brunch.  We got to meet Chloe, Hannah’s (far left) daughter who turned one year old in January. Luke (far right) is a senior at Purdue majoring in engineering (like his grandfather, father, uncle and cousin, Andrew).

img_3136

img_3135

Until next year!

annual late-August trek to/thru Dayton

Andrew and I took off Friday at lunch to drive to Dayton, OH, for our friend Brett’s 4th annual Parrothead Open golf tournament, which is a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis.

We arrived just around dinnertime, and after saying good he to my other half, I did what exactly what Andrew would have done if our roles were reversed: I ordered a pizza. Except that mine was the kind topped with ham and pineapple…something strangely hard to find here in WNY. No one, and I mean NO ONE sells Hawaiian pizzas around here. It’s been (slightly) rough.

20130826-175547.jpg

I ate on the way to Indianapolis, another two hours down the road. I got into grandma’s at about 9:30 and after some visiting, we went to bed.

Our Saturday was filled with the usual activities, like shopping. We hit The Container Store, Allisonville Nursery (where the house-planting bug hit BAD), and Crate and Barrel. There were some other smattered around in there (hello new cheap Old Navy shower shoes), and we finished up at the local library, where I was instructed to check out some Great Courses for Andrew.

20130826-180154.jpg

Twelve giant CD boxes later…we headed to SoHo, grandma’s new favorite coffee shop, for some quick bites of gelato. Later that evening, we joined Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave at an Italian place in Zionsville–so quaint! We had a blast sharing things family-style and talking about Italy and our recent trip there.

The next morning, grandma and I just about opened Bob Evans at 6 a.m.

20130826-180513.jpg

I had my ‘first breakfast’ of a veggie omelet, biscuit and fruit and sent the leftovers home with grandma before heading out to pick Andrew back up in Dayton.

‘Second breakfast’ was to be at Casa Diercks, where I got to hold sweet Madisen.

20130826-180704.jpg

We enjoyed yummy goodies and the company of our dearest friends, minus Emily, who was in Columbus at a conference.

20130826-180938.jpg

The boys started playing with the Nerf gun that Dave ‘modified’ to improve its firepower. Shocking, I know.

20130826-181143.jpg

We stayed well after we said we would leave, and made sure to get one giant selfie of the group:

20130826-181241.jpg

Bestest friends ever 🙂