A big, deep breath!

I've taken a lot of heat lately for the lack of blogging...like this is a competition or something?

Ok. To start- the boards are over!!! (At least for now...) It felt great to be done and the celebration afterward got a little out-of-hand for this old momma. Here's the beginning of the end...Fred sits back and smirks knowing that we're all goin' down from here.

Katie and Joe needed very little persuading to come drink with us on Monday afternoon. I mean, why not? The Wit rooftop was super swank!
What a supportive family! Joe is responsible for the ensuing hangover...paybacks are hell, Joe.
The size of my smile is directly proportional to the number of cocktails consumed...fascinating.
I don't know why I didn't capture these group shots earlier in the night!
Maria's currently gallivanting around Lithuania before I start the new gig, (we hope she's not searching for a new job). Before she left, she made us an awesome dinner to celebrate T's 1/2 birthday.
Happy Birthday, buddy! He promptly grabbed the balloon and stabbed the stick into his eye. I sense this kid is going to be accident-prone.
Still working on "sit". Right now it resembles somewhat of a yoga pose.
BIG news...no more swaddling! Turns out T's a side-sleeper. I applaud his efforts to correct his flat head.
I nursed the hangover on the way to Michigan where we enjoyed the simple life up north for the week.

The floorspace at the quaint, little cabin was filled with Tommy's array of toys. It was like an obstacle course trying to make our way from the deck to the bathroom, which was how we measured consumption.
Frankfort, MI where Tommy's great-grandfather grew up...awesome day for a tour of the beach. Amazingly he didn't reach for the shades once after I explained the concept that squinting will surely lead to unwanted lines and wrinkles.
The water was exquisite...too bad we didn't bring the suits.

What do big boys eat?? AVOCADO!
Don't let this photo fool you- he ate the entire bowl.
Aunt "T" and Uncle Willie babysat one night so Pat and I could go to our favorite restaurant in Traverse-- Stella Trattoria...OMG, it is soooooo incredible. I wonder if they've ever considered a second location in Flossmoor? While the cats were away, Tommy got to go for a ride on the golf cart without a seat belt or a helmet; safety features which we will definitely enforce on future rides.
The Clown Band made an appearance for the annual Copemish Heritage day- Tommy watched from the back where he pondered why roughly 1/3 of the band members were dressed as women?
The waitresses didn't know what to think, but as you can imagine, they simply did as they were told. Who would question this guy?
Getting ready for the Copemish Day parade, where there were twice as many folks in the parade as there were watching it.
"Which hand should I throw the candy with?"
Lisa, Wells and Anna happened to be driving by on their way home from Canada, so they stopped for a little dinner and bonfire extravaganza. Anna protested the picture-taking as she clearly needed to stretch her legs after a long day in the car.
Stay cool!