suburban hobos

After a couple hours at the beach, our Labor Day ended with dinner with our friends Marshall and Mary who were condo-sitting for some family.  Their place has a spectacular view of the lake and city.  After dinner we took a walk down to Grant Park for Maggie to see Growing Power’s garden.

Happy Labor Day weekend. It’s Friday afternoon and we’re about to meet some friends from Parkview at a favorite Mexican restaurant in downtown Glen Ellyn. Tomorrow I spend the day in Nashville with Maggie’s sister, Catherine and her fiance, Daniel. I get the privilege of officiating their wedding in October, so we agreed to spend the day together in Nashville (a halfway point if you consider I’m flying and they’re driving) to talk wedding and marriage stuff. Should be a really good day.  Maggie will spend the day with some good friends before picking me up at the airport late in the evening.

Also, at the risk of being laughed at, I need so share this photo of Gabby the cat. Apparently she likes the same books I do, which would explain our camaraderie.

On Thursday Maggie and I met at Millennium Park after work for a picnic dinner while listening to jazz. And then last night we had some friends over for dinner. The photo at right was our picnic-like appetizer. The tomatoes came from our container garden and our friends’ garden.

Today (Saturday) has been a slow day. We rode our bikes to the Green City Market again and then waited around the apartment for the mattress guys to replace our defective mattress. We’re both looking forward to a mattress without a valley in the middle.

Tomorrow we’re both meeting people at Starbucks before the service. A friend from Parkview called this afternoon to say that he’s driving out for the church service and then lunch afterwards. Later that afternoon I’m meeting some friends for a film and dinner.

And right now? We’re sitting in the backyard enjoying a breeze that seems to be carrying away the heavy heat and humidity. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

We took advantage of the great weather this weekend to spend time at the beach. On Saturday we rode our bikes to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. I think we decided that this was the best farmers market we’d ever been to; tons of locally grown fruit and veggies, milk, eggs, delicious cheeses. After stocking up, we met Rachel and Dave at the beach for a picnic while watching the Chicago Air and Water Show.

Yesterday we stopped by Fox and Obel for picnic supplies on our way to the Warren Dunes in Michigan. Maggie dropped me off at the beach and then went blueberry picking for an hour or so. The rest of the afternoon was spent munching on delicious food, reading and floating in the lake.

For our out of town friends, don’t you think you should come for a visit so we can treat you to a tasty picnic on the beach?

We spent the morning at City Farm helping with some weeding.  Very cool spot and satisfying to get our hands dirty.  A quick video recap of the morning…

Yesterday Maggie and I spent the day in Michigan. First we drove by a blueberry farm and bought 10 pounds of freshly picked berries. So delicious. After stopping by another fruit stand we drove into Warren Dunes State Park for the first this summer.

I told Maggie on the way home that this is one of my favorite places. It’s such a peaceful spot. I love the tasty picnic lunches we bring with us (olives, cheese, pesto, and lots of fresh fruit). Yesterday the water was really warm so we got in and threw the frisbee for a while. Later on Maggie floated in the tube. Overall, a really nice day.

We had a really nice time in Oregon last week.  I’ve posted a very brief recap at Signs of Life, but it seems appropriate to post more photos here.

Maggie also had a good visit with Megs in Calgary, but since I wasn’t there she’ll have to tell you about that.

I dropped Maggie off at the El stop early on Friday so she could take public transit to the airport.  She’s off to spend a few days with her friend Megs in Calgary.  I leave tomorrow afternoon for Portland where I’ll be staying in a hostel until Wednesday when Maggie and my sister join me.  We’re going to upgrade to a hotel and then join my mom’s side of the family for a reunion on the Oregon coast.  Should be a really fun week.

Now I’m in pack, clean, and replace the cell phone that broke today mode.

My little sis Mary and her “special friend” John came to visit this weekend:) David and I had a really fun time hanging out with them, getting to know John, and showing them around our lovely city. We had a very full yet relaxing time (except for the evening we walked a total of about 5 miles to see the fireworks, which wasn’t so relaxing…David and I haven’t quite worked out how far away things are yet). On July 4 we had a leisurely morning, and then took John and Mary to our favorite Chicago-style pizza place, Lou Malnati’s. John reported that he liked it very much. We then spent a few hours wandering around the (free) Lincoln Park Zoo, where we were mesmerized by a polar bear doing laps, laughed at the meerkats, and where the birds decided to have some fun and poop on me. I really got the full zoo experience. Later we went on our 5 mile trek - we took the bus and the el downtown, stopped for a quick Thai dinner, then walked to Navy Pier where Mary and John rode the ferris wheel and we watched fireworks, then took a different, much longer route, back to the bus. Mary and John are very good sports.

We all had a good long sleep the next morning, and had a big breakfast late in the morning out in the back yard. We then head to the beach for a glorious few hours of lounging under a perfectly blue sky, reading, swimming, and loving summer. We ended the day with a picnic and the (free) symphony downtown at Millennium Park, one of our favorite summer activities.

Thank you Mary and John for driving all those hours to come visit us! We loved having you!