Hallo-Winnie

Who's Top Banana in this house?

The Great Phoenix Adventure

This is the Groom and the Bride, in case you didn't know...

I don't know if you heard the news, but Melissa got engaged.  And she planned herself and Eric a big ole wedding.  Being involved in the wedding meant that you were in for a long weekend, full of activities.  

Required attendance at the Oktoberfest party.  Ugh, the things we did for this Bridezilla!

Getting pretty with some extra accessories.

They are married!  At least someone is happy about that.

Squeezing in to fit in the limo (and the picture)

On the dancefloor, nearly all night.  

It was a long weekend, I was tired in the end, but I had a great time celebrating Melissa and Eric's nuptials and I'm incredibly happy for the Schein's.  

Cheers to the Newlyweds

Family road trip to Bloomington to see Layne and Hana get married.  It was a lovely wedding, and we had fun taking over the dance floor at the reception.  Oxender style.

Time for One More Trip

The weather this year was kind of all over the place, so it was hard to predict how late in the season we could squeeze in another camping trip.  But we timed it just right because it was nice during the day and chilly at night, perfect for cozying up next to the camp fire.  We all contributed to the meals, and even made out to the tail end of sunset.  It was a lovely way to wrap up the summer season.

Pittsburgh Trifecta

August seems a bit early for football, but this is when things just start heating up.  The Pittsburgh Steelers training camp happens to take place about an hour outside of Pittsburgh and about 10 minutes from a really nice state park.  So we decided to save on the hotel costs and camp out this year.  So Keystone State Park provided the backdrop for our long weekend in West Pennsylvania.  Since we were going to be in the Pittsburgh area so early in the football season, we were able to catch a Pirates game before their season wrapped up.  And they won it for us.  How thoughtful!

Great seats.

I think I'm a legitimate Pirates fan now.  It was so fun to be there!

We got to spend the last day of Training Camp checking out the Steelers and hoping as many of them as possible would stop and say hi and maybe sign Eric's football.  But it was a rainy last day, and the players were probably as uncomfortable and cold as we were, so though a few good sports stopped by, we didn't get to see everybody.  But it was still cool to see them that close.

Troy came out and autographed a few things, but he did not stop and sign anything for us.  Still cool to see him that close.

Ryan Clark spent more time with the crowd than anyone else on the team.  He gave away tons of his stuff and entertained everyone while he was waiting for practice to begin.

Lamarr Woodley showed off to the crowds during practice.

We got lucky and saw Ike Taylor while we were on our way out to our car.  He was so sweet.  Not quite the same guy we see on the field.

Because our trip got cut short last October, we had some free tickets to Kennywood.  And the Zuzeks couldn't let a free deal go unredeemed, so it was off to Kennywood to act like kids again.

Breaking the rules on the Turtle.

And of course, we took in a Steelers preseason football game as well.  It was a productive, busy weekend in West PA, and we can't wait for our next trip again in December!

Chicago Style

The ladies on Jackie's stoop

The boys have found the beer.

It has become a bit of a ritual now to head to Chicago some time in August and hang out with my beloved RKD peeps.  This August was no exception.  Hanging out at Jackie & Joffrey's for a classic BBQ before heading to Navy Pier for an obligatory touristy viewing of the fireworks.  It ain't where you are, but who you're with.  And when you're with Arcadia friends, you're in good company.

Interlovin

The Fourth of July was on a Wednesday this year, as you may know, and I just don't have enough vacation time to afford to take that whole week off and go camping.  Someday!  So we did the next best thing, we took the weekend after the 4th off, and headed North to get away from the sweltering heat of West Michigan.

Here's a tip for you...if you buy a car in the winter or early spring when it's too cold to worry about the air conditioner, check it anyway.  We didn't check it out and it turns out that ours didn't work.  And the previous owner conveniently didn't remember to tell us that.  So on a day when the temperature gauge read 101 degrees F, we rolled the windows down and headed out on the open road.

Luckily for us, the temperature did drop as the weekend progressed and we had great weather for our camping trip.  We went swimming, checked out the Traverse City Cherry Festival, and took in a show at the Interlochen Fine Arts Camp.

Bingo at the Cherry Festival.  I don't know how many games we played, but we never won.

Prairie Home Companion Live at Interlochen.  It was a lot of fun to see everything that you can't see on radio.

It was a successful camping trip in the end.  But whenever I plan them, they usually are.  :)

Campfire dinner - Hobo Packets.  Because yes, I'm awesome at planning camp dinners.