The Institution put on a great Independence Day celebration this year.
They provided lemonade, popcorn, watermelon and entertainment by Wil Yancy.
Although we're not really into the old-time music, we thought he was an awesome singer. At one point, Bruce wondered aloud if Wil was actually singing or just lip syncing.
And, he really knew how to play the crowd. He even got Grandma to sing a few bars.
The family sitting next to us brought along their kitten. They said he was one of a litter of barn cats, but the only one with six toes. Uuber cute.
The fireworks were donated from many local vendors. And, Tim the maintenance man, who is also Grandma's guardian angel, was the pyrotechnician.
After so many years living in this area, this is the first time we've made it to the annual Father's Day Fly-In at the Mishawaka Pilot's Club.
I enjoy watching the planes fly over our house in the summer (the Pilot's Club is just a mile or so away) so it was a real treat to be able to see them up close.
Their $5 breakfast included scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and OJ. It really didn't occur to me until after we ate, that this event is a fund raiser. I ate very quickly so we could get in line for a plane ride. For some reason, I thought the pre-event publicity signs, posted like Burma Shave signs along Mishawaka Road, said "free" plane rides. But, alas, this is a fund raising event so I had to run down to the Speedway's ATM to get some cash.
In the seven minutes it took me to get cash and return, Bruce had almost talked himself out of going on a plane ride. We had discussed, earlier in the week, that we should do it together. That way if something bad happened, it would happen to both of us at the same time.
When it came our turn to go up, some random kid ended up going with us. Not sure why his parents would let him ride alone, but he was quite content counting all of the "lakes" (actually ponds) we flew over. I found myself acting like his tour guide, pointing out the various landmarks below.
Our pilot was named Auggie. He's a master pilot and flies a corporate jet for a living. He said his son is also a pilot. I'm pretty sure the Rolls Royce we saw in the parking lot belonged to Auggie.
Here's an aerial view of hundreds of Hummers lined up between the train yards and the Mishawaka Pilot's Club.
Below is a video of the first six minutes of our plane ride.
Put in Bay is just a short ferry ride off the coast of Port Clinton, Ohio.
We had packed our bikes in the back of the van with plans to peddle around the island, but after so much walking at Cedar Point on Saturday, we thought we'd be more comfortable seeing the sites of Put in Bay riding in a golf cart.
I'd highly recommend this form of travel as it's a fast way to get around (judge the speed by the way my hair is blown back in this photo), easy to park and, as long as you follow the rules of the road, you won't have any trouble. We rolled through a stop sign late in the day and the local police officers pulled us over to let us know that the same rules that apply to cars also apply to golf carts.
We visited Perry's Memorial, the Butterfly Farm, the local winery, the South Bend Chocolate Company and had lunch at Clawdaddy's at the Boardwalk.
We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary at Cedar Point so this year we returned to celebrate our 5th.
During our first trip we exchanged anniversary cards and -- not sure the odds of this happening -- we had bought each other the exact same card!
The weather was absolutely perfect and the lines were not too long. It was a great way to spend our anniversary. We went on several roller coasters and even went through a haunted house so I can cross that off my list of things to do this fall.
We celebrated the end of summer, as well as our 5th wedding anniversary, at Cedar Point and Put In Bay.
I took off the afternoon from work on Friday so we could get an early start on the weekend. We drove over to Ohio and checked in to the Holiday Inn Express in Port Clinton, OH. (Follow this link and scroll down to read my hotel review.)
After getting a free hotel room upgrade, we drove to downtown Port Clinton and enjoyed a fresh fish dinner at Bootletters Waterfront Grille. I had the trout dinner and Bruce had the walleye. The restaurant was on the waterfront and the sunset was beautiful.
10. Renting a canoe and paddling down Baugo Creek 9. Wine Tasting at Tabor Hill 8. Visiting Fernwood Botanical Garden 7. Aqua Aerobics @ Potawatomi Pool 6. Golf 5. Chicago Air and Water Show 4. Cedar Point 3. Riding my bike 2. Painting the garage door 1. Indiana Beach
While strolling through downtown South Bend's Art Beat Thusday night, we saw a one-man steel drum band, flaminco dancers, violinists and many artists selling their work.
Stretched between the Morris Civic plaza and Wayne Street were thousands of people enjoying a pleasant summer evening of performing, visual and culinary art.
After work tonight, I picked up Bruce and we traveled through Amish Country to pick up a wooden goose for my Aunt Joyce Ann. Many interesting sights along the way...
Horse-drawn Amish buggy making us drive really, really slow.
Amish horses enjoying their day off.
Amish lady bike rider -- wonder if she's wishing she had a car. Or, wishing that we didn't so she wouldn't have to breath our exhaust.
Amish biker gang -- note the gang colors on their do-rags.
One of many beautiful Amish flower gardens we drove by.
Amish kids playing outdoors because their PlayStations don't work (no electricity) and they don't have MySpace pages (no internet connection). They all appear to be fit and trim.
Blue Gate Restaurant on the town square in Shipshewana. I think this was the only business in town that was actually open for business at 6pm this evening.
Shipshewana Auction Barn. Not much going on here now, but on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this place is packed with people and animals.
Crowded parking lot in front of Yoder Department Store in downtown Shipshewana.
The first couple of miles of my drive to work is usually spent trying to shield my eyes from the sun. This morning it was a bit hazy and the sunrise was pretty fantastic.
This evening, we had dinner with Judy & Lynn and Rick & Renee up at Pete's @ Simonton Lake. Monday night they serve all-you-can-eat frog legs.
After dinner, we stopped at Rick & Renee's place to visit their devil dog, Rupert. I took about 20 photos of him and this is the only one that wasn't a blur of brown fuzz.
As I was chasing the little terror around the yard, I noticed that this evening's sunset was just about as incredible as this morning's sunrise.
We enjoyed music by the Elwood Splinters Blues Band at Beutter Park in Mishawaka with friends Tim and Lula.
We even had an opportunity to chat it up with Mishawaka Mayor Jeff Rea.
Not sure what was more enjoyable... friends, music, beautiful park or rooting for the baby ducks as they swam for their lives to keep from getting sucked down the waterfall.
Today is our neighborhood's annual garage sale day. It's such a cleansing feeling to get rid of the stuff we've picked up along the way but no longer use. I *sort of* subscribe to the theories "bring something into the house, get rid of something" -- "don't use it in a year, get rid of it" -- and "no clutter allowed."
But, since I'm married to a natural hoarder, it's sort of a game of give and take. So, as I'm giving (selling stuff at the sale), Bruce is taking (buying stuff at neighbors' sales.
Today he brought home an electronic keyboard and a clapper. If you don't know what a clapper is, you're much younger than I am. It's a devise you plug into the wall and then plug an electrical devise into it. Then, when you want that electrical devise to turn on, you clap your hands twice. Clap once to turn it off. So now Bruce's challenge will be deciding what to plug into the clapper. Not the TV, it already has a remote. Not the microwave or computer... they're always on. Hmmmmm.... such a dilemma.
The best part of neighborhood garage sale day is actually visiting with the neighbors.
Monday I took a vacation day from work to join our visiting guests for a trip up to Weko Beach, on Lake Michigan in Bridgeman, Michian. Even Bruce -- "I'm not a beach kinda guy" -- had a great time.
Although it's almost August, the water in Lake Michigan was not even 70 degrees. We did brave the elements and take a plunge -- here's a picture of Dave and Kelly to prove it.
The water really felt great after sitting in the 90-degree sun for a while.
Some joker (Bruce) threw a handful of popcorn near sleeping Dave's head just to watch the seagulls come in for the kill.
The waves were only three-inches high, but if you squint your eyes and open your ears, it's easy to imagine being on the beach by the ocean.
Hey Kelly, it took me hours to figure out how to tie the balloon without popping it. You know the whole lack of opposable thumbs thing sort of slowed me down.
Saturday afternoon we went to John's annual hog roast.
He cooked a 250 pound hog and there were many delicious side dishes.
Evansville friends, Dave and Kelly are up for the weekend, after moving daughter Heather back to Purdue. They had a great time meeting our Osceola friends.
Someone brought this little dog to the party. It was so ugly it was cute. They said it was a full blooded chihuahua.
Dave was the winner of the Corn Hole game.
But, Kelly and Sharon were the winners of the Euchre game.
The Institution put on a great Independence Day celebration this year.
