February flew by and all of a sudden it feels like Spring! The sunshine lately has been life giving and it’s getting us all sorts of excited for our upcoming trip to Palm Springs. But first, here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to recently…
The highlight of our February was Valentines Day Weekend which included a marathon of celebrations beginning with the wedding of our friends Marcus and Colleen Vanderheide in Chicago. By way of magic and good luck they pulled off the most stunning black tie affair while still complying with state ordinances. We had a blast toasting to their next chapter and very much appreciated the timing of the event allowing us a romantic night away without kids over the holiday weekend.
That Sunday we joined our kids at my parents house to celebrate both my moms and my sister-in-laws February birthdays with dinner and dirt cake - the kids choice. My mom spoiled the kids with fun Valentine’s Day bags packed with candy that Jeff and I also took advantage of.
February brought lots of snow here in Michigan which had Jeff and the crew at DJs busy at work. Apparently the kids prayers at dinnertime for snow did not go unheard. Ironically, the weekend of the big snow storm Jeff happened to be out of town for his annual guys ski trip up north. And instead of heading to my parents house with the kids for the weekend like we originally planned (there was no way I was risking the drive south on 131) we hung back at home which gave me the time to finally write the Pontiac House Story.
The plentiful amount of snow also provided solid ski conditions for the kids who’ve been taking lessons at Cannonsburg for the past 6 weeks. They’ve worked hard and as a reward we’re taking our first family ski trip to Schuss Mountain this month. Watching them learn to ski has me all sorts of giddy thinking about what our future family ski trips might become.
The kids have also been working hard in their classrooms and both recently celebrated 100 days of school with pajamas and pancakes. Natalie is well on her way to reading (mind blowing progress this year) and loves doing artwork. We had her conferences two weeks ago and we were very proud to hear she’s, “a great friend to all her classmates and gets along with everyone she encounters.”
Thomas will celebrate his 4th birthday later this month and he’s already asked for a lemon cake and balloons. Grandma Kladder has been informed and plans to deliver on both requests during our visit to Palm Springs in a few weeks. Thomas is still obsessed with his wooden train set that he received for Christmas which has become a permanent staple in our dining room. He builds a new track every week and he’s getting pretty fancy with his routes.
Lent is upon us and this year I decided I’d practice by adding something instead of giving something up; I settled on doing Yoga twice a week for 20 minutes after the kids are in bed. Yoga is not part of my usual routine which means (as a Type A person) it disrupts my ‘normal’ and creates the space for me to reflect. I’m going steady so far and was even joined by Jeff for one session last week.
With the lifted restaurant restrictions we’ve started venturing back out for dinner and drinks again and are loving the new scenes in town. So far we’re digging GR Noir which is the new jazz-wine bar on Division that has wine on tap (much like Reserve) and hosts live music on Wednesday and Saturday nights. We’re also thrilled about the updated Mertens Prime (formerly New Hotel Mertens) which is now a true French steakhouse. We were impressed by their fancy beverage cart they use to make cocktails table side. Knoop is another new hot spot inside the Canopy Hotel downtown. We loved the atmosphere and think it’s perfect for apps and drinks with friends. Also, for the first time, we finally made it to Max’s South Seas Hideaway for the most-fun post dinner cocktails. We also really loved Post, the newly opened wine bar connected to Buffalo Traders - we’ll certainly be back. And holy moly… MDRD is incredible. Fancy tapas with the best view in the city. I included some pics of the fantastically plated items we ordered.
Last, the butterflies have arrived at Meijer Gardens and we wasted no time in visiting earlier this week. The brand new entryway is now open and it’s pretty breath taking. The new construction is very modern and extremely spacious. We were impressed! The kids were super excited about the butterflies and held hands the entire walk through - melt my heart!
Warmer weather is right around the corner! See you in Springtime!
