A Girl & Her Hat

On my way home from the Cinci lunch I had to go right past the outlet mall. So without going out of my way, even a smidge I was able to find a cute little hat for our cute little redhead. What do you think, is it possible that Trevor has the longest set of eye lashes on any toddler that you've ever seen? The final picture is the two of them chasing each other thru the kitchen with the coveted airplane ride-on vehicle. Still the fave of the house. Now it has to be shared among three children. Whoa boy!!

Road Trip: Cinci

We'd just pulled into our driveway, had dinner with the WonderPeeps and just before I went to sleep, I saw that two of my BCO sisters were making plans to have lunch together. So what's the logical thing to do? Invite myself to join the fun!! Here we are at Frisch's on the northside of Cinci. From left to right we have "Deb-from-Ohio" and "Mom2two" and myself of course. Mom and her genuine family were on their way to King's Island, so we made a happy little party with the Big Boy.

Ohio: Our Wonder Peeps

We made it thru the wild west of Chicago on our midwestern road trip and have arrived safely back to Ohio. First stop on the agenda: Pataskala -- to see our Wonder Peeps!! Wow. What amazing growth takes place in a month's time. Our twinsies are up and both walking up a storm and WonderBoy is a virtual chatterbox. We went out to dinner, which is always exciting. With man-on-man coverage -- it was a breeze. We went out for ice cream cones to conclude a perfect reunion. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Chillen's got Shoes!!

All God's chillen's got shoes! Put on your shoes and we're gonna dance all over God's heaven. Heaven. When we get to heaven gonna put on our shoes and d-a-n-c-e!! PROGRESS. They've got shoes AND faces and happy little 'pennant-flags.' Guess where the idea for pennant flags came from???

June's Final Boating Fun

Picture postcard weather: 78 degrees.

Slight breeze.

Just enough bounce in the waves to make you smile.

We continue to 'learn' how to boat.

Today's lesson was an A++++++

This is departing from Sturgeon Bay Marina, before my camera's battery gave out.

Bought new sunscreen -- more fun ahead!!

Painting with Shadows

This is my bike's SHADOW on the morning of my final ride.... if you look closely in the lower right hand corner you can see the bike's actual tire. I had so much fun 'making' this photo. The sun was perfect!! I'd just concluded my ride and was coming down the final hill toward home, off of County Road ZZ, when I happened to spot how perfect the shadows were. So then it was just a matter of locating a suitable canvas. I found the perfect backdrop at the fire station: sweet parking lot gray.

In the three weeks that we've been up here I have now ridden 310.4 miles!! YIPPEE!! Setting a good pace of 100 miles per week. We'll see if I can keep that momentum as the summer continues to unfold. The next piece of the agenda is to head to Ohio for a couple of days. I need to squeeze those babeez of ours and listen to what WonderBoy has been up to................ So our bikes will be safely stowed away, until our return.

Water, Water, Everywhere

I realized that I hadn't really taken any sunny day photos of our marinas-in-the-area. The top two pictures are at the end of our block in Sister Bay. The third picture is in Ephraim, one village south of us. These were taken as we were driving down to Sturgeon Bay. I didn't even get out of the truck. When I say there's beauty everywhere, I'm not exaggerating. You don't even need to stop and pose the picture -- just click as you're driving along.

Rock Cairns for the Cure

Back at "Pebble Beach" to build rock cairns, for this afternoon's art therapy. I'd forgotten how steep the beach is. The crystal clear blue water is the same. This year I've added my 'CURE' hat. I've continued to add to it's photo album on Facebook -- of the many images of my hat making the rounds of the Door. I'll have to see if I can mount a slideshow of all of the images at some point. Beyond my technical know-how at this minute.

Every pebble, a prayer.

Wonderful Life, Indeed

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but measured on what takes your breath away...... now who said that??
There are so many breath-taking vistas up here, that it becomes typcial to see beauty in every direction. How can I bottle it up and savor for other seasons??

Sunset: Rays thru Clouds

After attending the afternoon concert in our pavilion on the shore, we hopped into our pick-em-up truck and rambled down to Peninsula State Park for this year's newest original AFT show entitled, "Cheeseheads, the Musical." The title alone is enough to make you smile! We've gone to their new shows every season, but we both put this one very high atop our list of favorites --moving it in front of "Packer Fans from Outer Space" and even our perennially favorite, "Men on Ice." This song & dance extravaganza was perfectly cast, had an uplifting story and ensured leaping from our seats with proper 'cheese-head' cheering, when directed from the stage. Two thumbs up. No, FOUR thumbs up.

We chose the early show, so as not to miss the sunset. We got back to our pier just in time to see one lone sailboat trolling back and forth across the bay. Cue the sunset music. Last night's edition featured the peeking rays of sun slicing thru the dark cloud bank. Glimmering reflection, singular orange band of color: nice & tranquil.

Copper Box

Summer has arrived!

Concert-in-the-park, Wednesdays begin.

First to perform:

"Copper Box".

Disco-Polka, Waltzes, Irish Jig.....

A challenge to categorize, a joy to hear.

Energy & serious instrumental talent!

Weather: picture postcard perfect.

Bathing suits, if you have plenty of sun screen.

Rural Life: Agriculture

Sights along my Wednesday bike tour. Today I rode for over 33 miles -- bringing my total to a nice round 300.3 miles in just under three weeks. The biggest news of my cycling career: today, for the very first time, ever, drumroll please: I passed two cyclists going up a long, gradual and then steep, steep hill heading out of our village! My adrenaline surge was the biggest thrill of my riding career. There are two people on this peninsula, who ride even SLOWER than I do. Congratulations, to me!!

Door County, while curently quite famous for it's travel/tourist industry and it's amazing support of the arts was originally an agricultural bastion, noted for it's cherry orchards and all the fixin's that emerge from cherries. The rolling hills are dotted with working farms, many of which sport their '100 Year' placard with pride.

Flower Power

Grow! Grow! Grow! Everywhere you look there are blooms a plenty. From the cultivated gardens @ Pipka's Gallery-- at the end of our block, where her peonies have museum-like opacity to daisies emerging along the roadside..... the county is growing. This photograph makes me want to really learn how to paint. I think I'd give this picture to Monet as source material..... I can nearly imagine what he would create. Maybe it's time for me to get some paints??

I must, must, must finish this current book project before I launch another interest. I'll put a big star by this photo as my reward.

These daisies are literally growing in the actual gravel along side the road, this whole county is in bloom today. I've long admired daisies for their simplicity and sincerity. To watch them grow from gravel is indeed amazing to consider. Just how is that possible?? These were growing at the foot of the street sign: "Sunnyside Lane." Fitting. Very fitting. Gotta love daisies that grow in the gravel of Sunnyside Lane!

Scenic Sunset

Another sunset worth sharing with the world. This one had some amazing over-lays of pink mixed in amidst the cloud formations. Most of the razzle-dazzle emerged after the sun was officially 'set' and below our horizon. That's when things got especially memorable. Many folks had departed before these were taken -- thinking that there wasn't gonna be much to capture. Another lesson in "delayed gratification." Patience. Ya just never know, until the fat lady sings.