St. Joseph Getaway

If there's one town the Gwynnes love to visit, it's St. Joseph, Michigan. Since we honeymooned there three years ago, we've managed to visit each summer. Sometimes, it's been for a day. Other years, we've spent a weekend. This year, we were able to take our first mini-vacation of the year with 3 days in the area. We drove up after church last Sunday and arrived in time for dinner.

One thing I love about staying in downtown St. Joe is the ability to walk everywhere. We were within walking distance of many restaurants, cute shops, and, most important, the beach.

Every year, the town has a different theme and displays various sculptures around downtown. This year, we enjoyed their Barnyard at the Beach!

Dinner our first night in town was at a new favorite (for us), Clementine's. It's right on the river and provided a great view of the boats coming in from a day on the lake.

After strong thunderstorms came through on Monday morning and postponed our plans for the beach, we drove an hour north to Holland, where we enjoyed lunch (and a slice of Snickers pie for dessert) at Russ'.

The Silver Beach carousel opened last year, but we enjoyed our first ride this year. We shared our ride on the peacock, which is a bench that rocks back and forth (think of it as an extreme rocking chair). I felt like the thing was going to launch me off the ride! It was super fun. We'd received an extra token, so I made sure to spend my second ride on the University of Michigan horse. I was the only person on the ride, so I had fun being the VIP, as the announcer referred to me.

We stayed on the seventh floor of the hotel, so this was our view from the room. Beautiful!

On the way home on Tuesday, we stopped for lunch at The Stray Dog in New Buffalo. Our favorite part is the patio on the rooftop. My favorite part of this particular visit was being asked if I was 21. This was music to my ears, considering I'm mere months away from a big birthday (and it's not 21).

Fourth of July

Our 4th of July weekend was a good one this year. It had just the right balance of fun, relaxation, time with family, and time at church.

We began the fun on Friday night with dinner at Red Robin and dessert at McDonald's with our BOGO coupon for iced drinks. It was nice enough to sit outside and enjoy some of the illegal fireworks being shot off down the road.

On Saturday, we relaxed and did our grocery shopping before heading to church for the Saturday evening service. Our special guest at church was a former Marine who's written a book about his experiences fighting in the latest war. He was the most humble man! I was very inspired by his story and look forward to reading his book.

After church, Dave and I tried a new kabob restaurant. We didn't get kabobs, but we really enjoyed our gyro plates. Look at all that food! It was delicious.

Dinner was followed by a movie at our local drive-in theater. We learned that you need to apply bug spray when attending a drive-in movie. Our legs and arms will never be the same, thanks to all the mosquitoes that feasted on us during the film. Ick!

Sunday was filled with teaching Sunday school in the morning, talking to Dave's parents and napping in the afternoon, and spending some time at the pool in the evening. It was another gorgeous day.

We woke up early for a holiday so we could attend a parade near my aunt and uncle's house in a nearby town. The parade was only 45 minutes long, but it was fun.

We always sit at the beginning of the parade route, but this year it was the staging area for all the emergency personnel and their trucks. Talk about loud!

I remember seeing this junior high marching band in parades when I was a child and thinking they were so grown up. Now they look tiny! This band always impresses me. They have a talented group of students.

My dentist (who played at our wedding) was a part of the parade this year.

After the parade, we went to a local breakfast joint for brunch. This photo is especially for my dad, who Dave calls, "Pop."

Considering our experience with mosquitoes earlier in the weekend, Dave and I wanted to make sure we kept them at bay when we went to our town's fireworks display. These bug bands seemed to help.

It was very difficult to get up this morning to go to work! Fortunately, I don't have to wait much longer for some more time off to enjoy the summer.

Storms

Exactly two weeks ago, I was waiting out a storm in the basement of a local library. Storms were forecast for the evening, but my friend Brittany and I went to cheer on our friend Leanne at her softball game. We could see the dark sky to the west of us, but we were happy that the rain held off long enough to get both games in.

As soon as we got back in the car, I turned on news radio to get the latest. Surprisingly, a handful of counties, including ours, were under a tornado warning! It was a bit surreal as we drove toward home, just waiting for the storm, still to our west, to hit. Brittany stayed on the phone with her husband while I focused on getting us home before the storm. Realizing we wouldn't make it in time, and strongly encouraged by Brittany's husband to find a safe place, I suggested seeking shelter in the basement of the library. We pulled up, parked the car, and hurried to the building. The library's employees directed us to the basement, where everyone else was already gathered. We stayed there for an hour, sneaking up the stairs to get reception to make calls and assure our families we were safe, listening to the crazy wind, and looking up as the lights flickered.

Brittany and I may look frightened, but we felt safe in the library's basement, and we agreed there was no better place for two bookworms to be stuck during a storm.

Finally, it was safe to leave. I drove the car slowly down the street, doing my best to avoid fallen branches or flooded pavement. Main Street was closed, likely because of fallen trees or power lines. Our town was spared from the tornadoes that came through the area, but we still had some damage. A huge tree across the street from my apartment was completely uprooted, and branches littered our complex.

This branch had been threatening to fall for the last few months, and the storm finally brought it down, along with part of the fence.

It was the scariest storm of the summer, but I'm glad I was able to hang out in the library with a good friend instead of hanging out by myself in our apartment building's creepy basement.

Here's another view of the damage from our balcony.

While Dave's Away . . .

Dave took a last-minute trip to Scotland to be with his family for nearly 3 weeks. He left two days after the school year ended, and he returned this past Wednesday.

I know that we dated long-distance for nearly 2 years before getting married, but 3 years have passed since we said, "I do." It was weird signing on to Skype every evening when I got home from work so I could talk to Dave for an hour. I'm sure it was weird for him to either stay up late or get up in the middle of the night to talk to me. But we made it. He had a good visit with his family, and I was able to hang out with friends and family a lot. Here are some highlights from our weeks apart, at least from my perspective.

This is how I stayed in touch with my husband every evening. Thank you, Lord, for Skype!

Pret A Manger is one of my favorite restaurants in the world, but I've been able to eat there only when I've been in London or Glasgow. The company recently opened a location in Chicago, and I was able to try it with my friend Sarah. It was just as good as I remembered.

Dave bought us tickets to Peter Pan and a pirate cruise as a reward for my finishing a difficult project at work. Unfortunately, he wasn't here to experience the fun, but Sarah and I thoroughly enjoyed his gift. The pirates on the pirate cruise were hilarious!

Everyone on the boat received an eye patch, so Sarah and I took a picture of our pirate-y selves.

Poor Dave also missed the annual Scottish Festival. (I think he didn't feel too badly about that, considering he was actually in Scotland.) I took my parents along for the day, and we had a good time catching up with friends, shopping for Scottish goods, and checking out this sheep herding demonstration.

We also bought ice cold Irn Bru to enjoy. Yum!

All in all, the weeks flew by, and before I knew it, I was on my way to the airport to pick up my husband. It's good to have him back home!