Honey Crisp Express

Yet another trip to Crane's...Somehow this never gets old! We had a wonderful lunch at the Pie Pantry and then out into the orchard to pick our favorite apples...Honey Crisps, of course! So sweet and delish~Bombdiggity!



We picked up some apple cider doughnuts to go, along with an apple pie that was still warm from the oven and some apple butter and raspberry jam, along with a gallon of their apple cider. That should hold us for awhile...but not too long~it will soon be Halloween time and time to go through the Haunted Corn Maze! What would we do around here without Crane's?? It just would not be the same!

Labor Day 2009: All Play and No Work!

After extensive physical training, exhaustion, and near-fainting, I am proud to say that I made it ALL the way-all .19K- of the 11th Annual Blue Star Bridge Walk between Douglas and Saugatuck! Took all of about 5 minutes! The event began with the town crier announcing the bridge walk officially open. He was followed by a cadre that included the mayors of both Saugatuck and Douglas, two bagpipers, and congressman Pete Hoekstra. I would say there were at least 500 of us walking, double that if you count all the dogs! I had my reversible sign: Saugatuck or bust/Douglas or bust...there was one guy on a pogo stick...and then an entire line of people with toilet plungers(???).It was quite an experience! Of course, Kim and I just had to get the official T-shirts. We stopped at the doughnut and ice cream breakfast in the park afterwards as well. Next stop was Crane's Orchard. This marks the first weekend of apple picking. Since we were meeting Rachel and Carol for lunch at the Pie Pantry, then off to Detroit to the IKEA, we didn't want to pick a lot of apples~just enough to snack on during the trip. So, Gala's, Golden Supremes, and MacIntoshes were the ones ready now and we picked a few of each. We had lunch with Carol and Rachel Nykerk at noon and it was yummy as usual.Great conversation and wonderful to catch up again with both those gals~don't think I've seen Rach and Carol since our trip to Oregon in May/June. Our delicious lunch gave us the sustenance we needed for our roadtrip to Detroit Rock City IKEA. Kim had never been to an IKEA and I have only gone several times...with men..who have no patience for shopping, I might add! Never have I gone and been able to look at my leisure. So, we both shopped until our heart's content. We looked at EVERYTHING! There's enough stuff there to just make your head swim!We got a lot of great ideas and bought a few small kitchen gadgets and closet organizing supplies. Tired but happy, we stopped at Chili's for a very nice dinner and then home in the rainstorm. Our Labor Day was all play and no work~as it should be!Tomorrow is back to reality but, on the bright side,a short work week.

OMG! FMG!

Granny has been working waaaay too much lately! So, last weekend I promised Jayden that I'd take him wherever he wanted to go...I am always amazed at the number of times he asks to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens! This is why, after our first year going to the butterflies, we just went ahead and got a membership. I'll bet we've been there an average of 8 times a year for the past three years! Jayden adores this place and I have developed such a fondness for it, too. I know we have taken many photos here. Many of them similar except for the fact that Jayden continues to change and grow up. This day, we went walking in a part of the garden that we've never gone to before. While on our walkabout, we ran into some aquaintances from Holland who were attending the wedding of a former neighbor. It was an Indian wedding and the traditional saris the women were wearing were just breathtaking! Jayden hit all his favorite spots...the fountains, the Great Lakes (complete with boats) and the sandpit where he is obsessed with the trucks and digging holes! We ate lunch in the cafe there and then did something at FMG that we have never done before-we took the tram all the way through the garden and viewed all the sculptures. It was really worth doing. I had no idea there were so many...and so much more room left for future expansion. The guide gave us all the names of the various works of art and told us who the artists were and a bit of background information about each artist and each piece of sculpture. It was really neat~and I learned something, too. Always a bonus!The farm hosted tastings for heirloom tomatoes today and there was also a rose show. It is my intention to get more involved with the exhibits and classes offered here in the future. For now, we'll be back later in the Fall for the pumpkin art and the Halloween decorations, then, of course the Christmas trees...and the cycle will begin anew with the return of the butterflies in the spring. We will be there!

What the cluck?!

The Whitecaps took a shalacking by the Fort Wayne Tincaps! The Whitecaps started out like champs~Gustavo Nunez doubled, then made it to third on a grounder and ran it home on a pitch that went astray. This in the first inning. After that, no Whitecap made it past first base! The Tincaps scored a run in the 5th, three more in the 6th, and buried us under 3 more runs in the 7th to strike the final blow. Whitecaps lost 7-1. The worst game I've seen this season at 5/3RD Ballpark.

The redemption of this night came by way of the famous San Diego Chicken who I hear is possibly slated for retirement this year. This guy, Ted Giannoulas, has been "doing the chicken" since he was in college at San Diego State in 1974! A rock station in San Diego hired him for $2/ hr. to pass out candy at Easter time at the San Diego Zoo. He was such a big hit, the station kept him on to do other promotions. The chicken started showing up at the Padres games and that was the beginning...since then, this famous foul has appeared not only in sports events, but has been part of the concerts of such artists as Paul McCartney, J.Geils Band, Sammy Hagar, and even Elvis! He has entertained presidents. He even had a cameo in the cult classic movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.During all these many years, Ted Giannoulas has never refused an autograph request or denied a photo with a fan of any age, no matter how long after an event he has to stay to accomplish this.

I have seen the San Diego Chicken probably 6 times~it never gets old! This guy is always coming up with new material. Tonight was no exception. He pulled out the eye exam chart for the ref, he did multiple dance moves, ate and pooped out a ball(Jayden is still talking about the chicken going potty outside!), he kicked the ref in the rear, he made a mess sweeping the field when the groundskeepers were trying to do their work, he got the bases stuck to his feet and ran off with them, got into a water balloon fight, got his clothes ripped off(or is that feathers plucked?)and too many things to mention! ALL adorable and Jayden really loved it!! The chicken definitely saved the day seeing as the game itself was a total loss!