Natalie enjoying the Great Lakes Garden (water pools) at the Lena Meijer Children's Garden.
We are very sad to report the closing of one of our favorite happy hour spots, Mangiamo! It's where Jeff and I shared our first date and where we celebrated the night of our engagement. And more recently where we 'happy-hour'd' with neighbors. They're closing their doors as a public restaurant and will transition to an events space. They can take away our happy hour lawn... but they can't take our memories!!!
True story, we started brainstorming ideas about Halloween costumes already. Real talk, it's only two months away. Fall is on it's way, folks, and we're doing our best to soak up all the last bits of summer that remain by spending plenty of time dining on patios, enjoying Fredrick Meijer Gardens and, surprise, golfing. We've got lots to catch up on...
The first week of August kicked off with our annual neighborhood block party. Last year we were confined to one of our backyards due to the never ending construction of our street, but this year the kids had free reign of Rosewood covering the newly paved avenue with side walk chalk and water balloons. There was a bounce house, tons of food and a piñata. The high was certainly watching the plethora of kids playing together which is only meant to escalate as babies continue to make their debut. The low was breaking my toe which isn't even a good story: I accidentally kicked brick edging on our sidewalk while walking. I spent two hours in the ER waiting for them to X-Ray and reset my left baby toe, only to send me home with 3 rolls of tape and Tylenol.
The toe breaking wasn't the best timing - the next morning we headed out for a week long family trip to the U.P. where it would have been ideal to have full use of my foot. Read more about our trip HERE.
We recently enjoyed a few summer nights (and mornings - Natalie LOVES the children's area) at Fredrick Meijer Gardens listening to music in their fantastic amphitheater. FMGs is regularly open late on Tuesdays but during the summer there's an added bonus with free concerts (for members) featuring local bands that are completely kid friendly. We also had tickets to Twiddle & Railroad Earth last week Monday which was a Rosewood Neighbor outing. FMGs remains a Grand Rapids gem.
Last weekend we headed towards the lake shore for a summer party with Jeff's clients in North Muskegon. My mom took the kids for the night allowing Jeff and I a night out together. Our Friday night was countered with dinner Saturday with the kids and Jeff's parents for Restaurant Week Grand Rapids at Reds at Thousand Oaks. Dinner was excellent and was followed by an evening boat ride at the lake. And Sunday we snuck away yet again for some day golfing while a sitter watched the kids for a few hours.
This week I've been in Chicago for work shooting video with Microsoft. I love traveling for shoots and spending my days on set. Jeff does an incredible job holding down the fort while I'm gone - he's the champion of Dads - and we've got great support with daycare and our sitters. I'll likely be doing a bit more travel for work the remainder of this year with trips currently planned for both L.A. and Munich, Germany in the next month.
Heading back to Grand Rapids today with more outdoor patios on the forecast for our weekend. Have a fabulous weekend!
On Set in the Steelcase Chicago Showroom with partner Microsoft.