We returned home late Sunday afternoon from the extended holiday weekend spent with family at the lake. The kids were absolutely exhausted from 3 full days of constant play and Jeff and I weren’t far behind them when it came to bedtime later that evening. We spent our time laying in the sun with books and cocktails, competing in a pretty heated tournament of bags, grilling every kind of meat and the girls were in the water nearly the entire time. Grandpa even took them out in the boat a couple times for tubing - the girls don’t care about water temps. Thomas was happy just wearing his lifejacket and tooting around the patio - fine with us, kid. Easier to watch you that way. The gents got out of the house Sunday morning for a round of golf at Thousand Oaks and the ladies enjoyed sips of espresso from Mari’s recently gifted machine - her Mother’s Day gift - and spent our time catching up since we were all together last. Our skin is sufficiently ‘sunned’ and our minds recharged from the solid break from the usual. It was the best start to summer on the lake!
Last week Natalie wrapped up her first year at Grace Church Preschool and she’s already asking about when she can go back. Next year she’ll return for full days for which she’s already prepared with her new backpack and lunch box that she got from her Grandma & Grandpa Smith for her birthday last month. Grace hosted an end of the year family picnic in the school playground, which thrilled Thomas - he’s been eyeing the slide and new sandbox all year and this was finally his chance to partake! We are super grateful for Natalie’s teacher, Miss Jill, and her team on staff. They represent all of the things you’d want inside your children’s classrooms… and then some. They make our world better!
Cirque Du Soleil’s Crystal came to Van Andel Area earlier this month and we took the kids to see the show and it was pretty incredible. The near two hour long show was incredibly unique and flat out mesmerizing. Thomas can attest to this, he sat still on my lap completely still for almost the entire first half. Then he would clap and say, “all done?” at the end of each song. The show was a mix of ice skating, acrobatics, dancing and circus acts like juggling. Both kids inhaled popcorn for dinner - it was a good Sunday night.
This month in golf: I, along with my stellar team, won our first tournament of the season! The outing was a ton of fun which was amplified by the sunny weather and great company. The theme (there’s always a theme with us ladies - it’s more fun that way!) was Team Spirit so naturally, team’s blue or green blood became known! This is my 3rd year golfing with the Women’s Association at Watermark and despite my stagnant scores, I’ve gained a ton of confidence on the course.
Jeff, much like his father, never has a shortage of golf in his life. This month, in addition to his regularly scheduled league once a week, Jeff was able to golf in two outings, take a couple trips to the range, squeeze in a round with his Dad as well golf 9 holes with me and two friends for a double date followed by happy hour snacks and drinks - which is my favorite part of golf… the social aspect.
Something new! We recently checked out The Comedy Project. Have you heard of it? It was on Kickstarter in 2016 to raise funds for their brick and mortar and it’s now open! They’re located on the Westside just across the street from Long Road on Leonard Avenue. They’ve got shows every Friday and Saturday night as well as some on Mondays and Thursdays. We got tickets at the door ($15/piece) for their ‘CTRL, ALT, DEFLECT’ Friday early show and died laughing! It’s all local comedians doing improve, short skits and even some music based comedy. Jeff and I are huge fans of comedy entertainment and highly recommend you check them out. Heads up, their liquor license is not yet approved, but coming soon. So grab a drink across the street at Long Road or Mitten Brewing beforehand to kick off your night right!
We’re kissing May goodbye this weekend and heading straight into June which brings lots of fun things - my birthday included! Here are a couple things you might want to get on your calendar too:
ON DECK - Things we’re looking forward to:
Festival of the Arts kicks off a week from Thursday. If you like ‘street meat’, live music and people watching head downtown between June 7 and 9. See you there!
The One in Five Marathon is Friday, June 7th and I’m near peeing my pants in nerves. I cannot wait to be done with my leg of the relay and look forward to no more running this summer! A very sincere special shout out to my neighbor ladies for continuing to both invite and encourage me to run. You girls are the best.
Tuesday night you’ll find us (weather permitting) at Fredrick Meijer Gardens for their first Tuesday Evening Music Club concert. It’s free to members and it’s our favorite concert venue in town! Next week May Erlewine and The Motivations are playing.
POSTSCRIPT - Stuff we’re into lately…
Lake Life Vodka from New Holland is our new official drink of summer! We appropriately made Lake Life Lemonade this past weekend which was quite tasty! The recipe is:
1 oz. Lake Life Vodka
1 oz. Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup (do 1 oz. if you prefer sweeter drinks)
1 oz. Lemon Juice
Shake/Strain/Pour over ice in Tom Collins glass
Top off with Soda Water
MoKAYA is our new favorite go to in town for thank you gifts! With Natalie’s year end party we stopped in for a few boxes of incredibly beautiful chocolates for her teachers. A box of 4 (of your choice) for $11.
