summer of 2015

Summer 2015

One can tell just by the flowers that July fourth is here.

Every year the lilies and snowball hydrangea's are in full bloom at this time.

We had a lot of rain in June so they were really full and beautiful this year.

Yep!

That's about how I felt :)

I really fell behind with yard work being gone so much in the Spring that this month 

just snuck up on me!

Chad, 

pictured second from the left,

and

Becky couldn't be with us this year.

Chad was overseas celebrating July 4

and 

Becky was at home in FL attending school.

But,

this little firecracker made up for it :)

Here she is helping me in the kitchen!

Ashley didn't have to work so she was getting some Vera kisses.

We ate some lunch and then headed out on the water for the day!

We found a great cove to tie up the boats.

No "Cocktail Cove" for the group!

We've named this one 

"Family Cove"!

Evan had his friend Kevin, Todd had T,

 and 

Kiely and Alan had a couple join them.

She was having a fun fourth!

It was time to untie and do some water sports.

 Kevin and Evan 

wanted to go tubing.

We came back in to eat...

…and then it was time to get our shoes on and go see the fireworks.

Thank you, Vera for helping me with my shoes!

Us "old folks" were in our boat

and

the younger crowd were in Alan's boat pulling out behind us.

Tom and Karen joined us.

The fireworks were again, 

SPECTACULAR!

The next day Ashley had to work.

I took this picture for her Instagram account.

That hair made into a bow had to be documented!

Excuse me while I stop right here and brag about my girl for one moment!

She's still doing "event" hair 

and

braid days at all three Dottie locations.

And,

she still is blogging fashion at

www.thedaintydays.com!

This day she was headed to a shoot for her blog.

She also has up to 12,000 followers on her Instagram account.

All while working full time as the Manager of the Greenwood Dottie store.

She's one busy girl!

 Ok, 

back to July 5! ha!

(golf cart selfie)

While Ashley went to work the girls went out with Alan on the boat!

Silly goober!

Holding on to her crackers.

Watching the ducks.

Playing with her toys…and of course, 

SHOES!

Yum,

lake water! ha!

Laughing at Daddy :)

It wasn't as crowded on the lake this day because of overcast skies.

She really loves to boat!!

When we got back Ashley was home.

She changed her clothes and grabbed a baby and a poodle!

I think that Vera loves poodles as much as the boat!

It was a great weekend!

Until next year!

Tom and Karen came over one evening with their grandson, Nate.

Evan and Ashley loved teasing him.

Evan,

there is something behind you!

Who is that?!

He loved scaring Evan :)

The next day I went over to babysit Vera.

She was showing me her new circus train.

She looked so grown up to me here.

I laid her down for her nap and turned on the TV

and 

who did I see in the lower right hand corner of the screen?!

My friend Julie and her daughter Lauren!

They were the next in line for the trivia game on 

Kathie Lee and Hoda.

Lauren and her friend had also been on earlier that morning on the Today show.

She is the Minion on the left!

They are super stars!!

Speaking of super stars…

Vera's one year old pictures came...

…and I died at all of the cuteness!!

Those piggy toes!

I can't even!!!

Wait for it...

…Ha!! 

It's as if she knew what they were doing! 

What a precious family!

She loves her daddy!!

Weeee...

And, her Momma :)

Baby!

Ornery baby :)

So inquisitive!

These were just some of my favorites.

AND,

(me, Julie, Amy G., Kim)

Two

out of the three things in this collage are my favorites!

I had the girls here for a weekend and that always makes me happy!!!

We saw this snake on our way to the boat…EWWWW!

It was a gorgeous sunset that night!!

And, 

it was beautiful this night too when we celebrated Glen's retirement!

Glen and Ginny are our neighbors and we had such a nice evening out on their boat!

Another nice evening out was when the girls went out to dinner and to see 

Move Live tour!

Mom, Reita, Ashley, Kiely and Me.

My pictures were not great but the show was!!

Derek and Juilianne Hough can do it all.

I hope that they will tour again next year!

While that was one hot night 

the days were even hotter!

So, 

off to Grammy Kay's to swim!

Vera was reading her Paw Patrol book.

Peek!

There she is!

That suit!

Cheese!

She sure loves to swim!

And,

loves her Grammy Kay!

And,

 her Pappy!

She was enamored with the all of the rocks!

On the way home she shared her crackers...

…NOT! Ha!!

But,

she did share a big hug with me when we went shopping that next day :)

Julie and Lauren were in Indy one day so she could study and swim with the dolphins.

I met them for dinner that night.

What a joy that girl is!

She started the eighth grade this year!

Time sure does fly!

Talk about time flying by.

Evan started his second year in Law School.

He also said goodbye to his Mini Cooper.

This girl isn't saying goodbye to her cozy coupe!

Kiely is helping her open the door.

She's ready to roll!

Bye-bye!

Kiely wanted me to stop by to look at paint colors that she and her painter had picked out. 

There were several colors painted in different places on the house.

After we finalized the colors we went for a walk.

It was such a nice evening.

The next evening was just as pretty.

This time we took a boat ride to watch the sun set.

Captain Todd

First Mate

Evan.

The lake was buzzing with activity that evening.

The sailboat club was out.

And the women's breast cancer survivor row team was out.

And 

some pretty swan.

Another beautiful Indiana sunset to end this perfect summer day.

The next day was the blue moon.

We celebrated with blue moon ice cream

(thanks to Tom!)

at Grammy and Pappy's pool.

Evan joined us!

She liked it!

She was not wanting anything to do with her floatie.

She is Miss Independent!

And very brave!

I took this picture down by the boat docks of the blue moon.

It was a little hazy at the time but it was still so bright!

I then walked down to the lake and a beam of light shone right underneath the moon

but 

little pools of light here and there danced atop of the water.

It was so serene. 

On a side note:

This was also the night that Tony and Camille had their first date at our house.

A connection made like that only comes around once in a blue moon!

(more on that in a moment)

This sweet couple celebrated their anniversary early 

and 

I was lucky enough to get to stay with Vera while they did.

They celebrated three years August 4 :)

I wanted to get a picture in front of their freshly painted new house.

This is what it looked like before it was painted.

And

 after!

Beautiful!

We continued on our walk and picked some flowers along the way.

She wouldn't let go of this "flower".

So,

we put it in a glass of water for Mommy and Daddy when they got home :)

The next day was Evan and Ashley's one year anniversary!

And that's how quick a year goes!

Evan got her a puppy! ha!

Some day, Sweetie :)

They went out to dinner and we had Camille and Tony over for dinner and a boat ride!

This was their second date.

Keep in mind their first one was just Friday.

This was Sunday ;)

I love him :)

Going...

…going,

…gone!

They talked until the sun went down :)

We then went inside to have a piece of Evan and Ashley's wedding cake!

It was still delicious!!! 

Something else that is delicious…to some people,

Limoncello!

Todd and Tony decided to make some of their own.

It's not my favorite drink so I can't be the judge of the outcome 

but

I think it turned out pretty good!

However,

I CAN tell you that this was awesome!

Amy G. and I went out to lunch one day before she started her new job.

We had tea at an English tea house in Carmel.

It was a bit overpriced for what you got 

but,

what we did have was really good!

That afternoon I came home and saw that Graham and Nick had 

gone out on the lake fishing.

Graham is in the green kayak.

And here they are carrying up their kayaks.

I'm so glad that Graham has enjoyed the lake. 

He has gone fishing quite a bit this summer!

The next day Todd, Graham and I headed to 

New York City! 

Graham has always wanted to go.

We really wanted to take him to the US Open 

but,

 with his school schedule that wasn't going to work.

So,

we left at O'dark hundred…ugh!!!!

But,

it was a pretty "sunrise" above the clouds!

 Rockefeller Plaza was close to our hotel so we went there first. 

New York or Napoli?

Loved the Palms!

We left there and grabbed some lunch,

and

train tickets for a week,

and headed to the Met.

I had to take some pictures on our walk there of all the brownstones!

Stone, black wrought iron fences and gates, red begonia's, ivy

AND...

...topiaries!

And 

of course the American flag!

We made it!

It was crowded because it was spitting rain most of the day.

We spent several hours there and then walked back to the hotel for a much needed nap!

We woke up starved so Todd and Graham went out in search for Pizza.

Hands down 

BEST pizza ever!

No wonder!

True Italian pizza…we ate there twice!

The next day lower Manhattan 

(World Trade Center, Wall Street, Battery)

was on our agenda.

I turned the corner and this magnificent building stood tall in front of me!

The Freedom Tower

I love how the reflection on the glass tiles was making a cross.

Graham had just taught me how to use pano so this was my first attempt. 

It's a little distorted!

The North pool.

Right there in the heart of the business district is a lot of traffic and noise.

But,

the sounds are distorted from the water falls. 

It truly is very peaceful.

The South Pool.

The thought that went in to preserving this hollowed ground 

was clearly evident.

The buildings, 

although large,

effortlessly blend in to the skyline!

Yes,

that is a building on the left!

Just beautiful!

Next,

we were headed to Wall Street when we came upon a street artist.

It was so hot so I'm not sure why he was wearing a down jacket!

Unbelievable what he was able to do with a piece of wood, spray paint, 

and some putty knives and scrapers!

While Todd and Graham were watching him I noticed this graveyard behind a church 

and 

wanted to take a picture.

When I turned around I almost ran smack dab in to 

Ben and Jessa (Dugger) Seawald.

That is Michelle Dugger, Jessa's mom behind them.

They are from the reality show 

18 Kids and Counting.

Continuing on to Wall Street.

The New York Stock Exchange.

I love how the light is reflecting off of the 

Federal Hall National Memorial Building.

This site in the 1700's served as NY City Hall, 

later served as the first capitol building of the US under the constitution, 

as well as the site of George Washington's inauguration 

as the first President of the United States. 

That building was demolished in 1812.

This building took its place as the

United States Custom House

and 

later served as a sub-Treasury building. 

It is now operated by the

National Park Service as a National Memorial 

commemorating the historic events that occurred here.

(wikapedia.org)

Graham taking a picture of the Stock Exchange.

Todd was asking a security guard where the bronze bull was.

Look at that architecture!

 There's the bull!

We now walked down to the battery.

Graham wasn't interested boating out to Lady Liberty or Ellis Island. 

So,

we headed on the subway to mid-town to see

The Empire State Building and Times Square.

We took the subway in to 

Grand Central Station.

Magnificent building 

and 

the energy that came from it was electric!

I could have "people watched" all day in here :)

There's some people that I know!

Next up…

The Empire State Building.

 Todd and I made it as far as this point the two other times we were in NY.

Graham wanted to go up 

so we did!

It was soooo worth the wait!

 These are the views from the 82 floor viewing deck.

World Trade Tower and Statue of Liberty

Angle Iron Building

The East River view

You can see Central Park here 

nestled in the middle of all the buildings.

Again,

a close up view of Central Park just to the right

seen from the 82 floor.

Now,

on to the 103 floor view!

 Central Park view!

You can actually see the lake in the middle from this high!

And,

this is Central Park on our flight out of NY!

Back to the 103 floor!

Mid town

Times Square behind H&M building.

WTC and Statue of Liberty

Look how impressive that tower looks!

So glad that we did that!!

Now,

off to Times Square.

It was the anniversary of this monumental moment.

And,

I thought of this couple right away…

This nurses' Navy pilot was on his way home

 and 

this is how she greeted him when he got there!

It just happened to be their ninth year anniversary that day!

Congrats to this special couple!

So proud of all you do :)

Back to Times Square!

It really had changed since Todd and I had been there.

It's now like a mini Vegas.

We didn't stay long and headed to the theatre district to eat.

We would be going to the 

Phantom Of The Opera

the following evening!

Graham has always wanted to see this musical.

I couldn't think of a better place to see it!

We ate at an Irish Pub and hit the sack!

The next day was Sports Venue Day!

As we were walking to the subway we saw the Rockette's advertising their Christmas show

at Radio City Music Hall.

First up,

Flushing Meadows, NY

where the Mets play and where the

US Open is held.

Arthur Ashe Stadium

A new stadium is going up.

They were busy getting the grounds ready for the tournament at that time.

I shot this picture as we were headed to the Mets stadium.

I didn't remember it being so close to the Open.

Although this is a beautiful building…

I think that Yankee stadium was a bit nicer!

It is now also used for the NY soccer team.

Although this is impressive,

just across the street was this site. 

It is where the old stadium sat.

Kids were playing on an old dirt field 

(in the distance by the train tracks)

where 

Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig etc.

played!

Back on the train we go to get ready for the Musical!

BROADWAY lights!

It did not disappoint!

What an awesome show!

The next morning we were traveling home.

But before we did we wanted to see 

Central Park.

We didn't have time to go in to the heart of it.

But,

there's always next time.

Todd wants to ride bikes through there the next time.

It's so beautiful!

We walked back to our hotel along 5th Avenue.

I wanted to see Kate Spade and take a picture for Ashley but I couldn't find Kate :(

Prada, Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton would have to do! ha!

And this one was for Evan ;)

We made it to the airport and grabbed some lunch!

Soooo good!

I couldn't wait to get back home to see Vera!

While we were gone Alan and Kiely took her to the 

Indiana State Fair.

She liked the carousel!

It's always nice to get away

but,

even better to come home!

We went out on a "sunset cruise" when we returned.

I'll never tire of Indiana sunsets!

That week

Zenephia came for a visit to go to the Cincinnati tennis tournament.

We ditched the guys...

 …which turned out NOT to be a good idea!

Tony brought me some after a "stern" text message! ha!

Stephens

Isner

Tsonga and Monfils

I always enjoy this tournament.

What a fantastic day it was!

Another fantastic day was the day that this pretty girl was born!

She celebrated it alone because of Chad's deployment

BUT

he would arrive just days later!

 These are just a few pictures from his deployment.

 I like this one the best!!

He's coming home!

 Kiely's post!

I think we were all happy!!

See you both in October at Becky's graduation from nursing school!!!

Finally,

 I was able to go over and see Vera.

Kiely was meeting some girls for lunch and needed me to watch her.

We got her a minion in NY at the NBC store.

I think she liked it! Ha!

I'm going to stop right here and talk about Graham for a moment.

as you can see from the pictures above he is wearing a Butler T-shirt.

He is a Bulldog now…and a Jaguar!

I'll explain.

He is doing the dual degree program through Butler.

He will graduate with a Biology degree from Butler 

and

a Biomedical Engineering degree from IUPUI.

It was not an easy decision to switch schools.

But,

he was just not happy at Wabash

and

that's the last thing that a parent wants for their child.

He will continue to play tennis at Butler

on the travel Club Tennis Team. 

He's playing with an old teammate from Pendleton!

He is much happier these days!

And,

It's nice to have him home :)

He will live here this year because one cannot live off campus 

at Butler until their senior year.

I think Vera's happy to have him around too!!

That way, Graham!

I brought her some Princess Sophia stickers.

She put them on paper,

the floor,

her belly,

and Momma's nose!

It kept her busy for a long time!

Something that has been keeping me busy for a long time is painting!

So far this summer I have painted

the basement guest room,

 (green to gray)

basement guest bath,

(tan to gray)

the kitchen

hallways and stairways,

(faux gold to "oatbran")

and 

back hall cubbie room.

(green to "oat bran")

I'm working on the upstairs library now.

Todd and I pulled the long desktop and cabinets 

and 

shorter desk tops

and 

had a window seat and new tops put in!

I will be painting this area and the upstairs halls this week :)

Next week I will tackle the screened-in porch!

When I need a break that is where I like to spend my time!

Kiely brought Vera over a couple weeks ago 

and 

that's where we went!

Those poodles love it when she plays with them!

She would march and say,

"Ball, ball, ball, ball…here, here!"

Still playing ball with Vladimir.

All of that running made her hungry so we ate some crackers,

and she had chocolate milk for the first time.

Mmmm…oh yeah, sooo good!

Ummm, maybe not! ha!

Back to playing!

Speaking of playing,

I love to listen to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra play.

It was a record crowd that came out to hear a night of Frank Sinatra songs!!

Tony and Camille let me tag along.

Todd wasn't feeling well.

We had so much fun!

You can see by all of the food on the ground we had a feast!

The sun was setting and that's when the music starts.

A picture of the hot air balloon and the moon.

The dance floor was packed!

It was such a nice evening filled with my favorite genera of music!

The only thing missing was Todd!

We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary the next weekend!

I found this quote from my favorite movie

 and 

it sums up just how I feel about my "Mr. Darcy!"

Everyday is NOT moonlight and roses,

but

even on the worst days I wouldn't want to be with anyone else!

The next Monday was Grammy Kay's birthday!

Vera liked the tissue paper.

We ate some lunch and opened gifts and then went for a swim.

Vera was ready to go shopping! ha!

And swimming!

She is trying to give the frog a drink.

This frog is so old.

It was my mom's Aunt Sadie's,

then it was my grandma's,

now Mom has it!

I used to play with it at my grandma's when I was a little girl. :)

It started to rain so we went inside.

She kept us entertained by trying on Kiely's hat.

Double the laughter, double the fun!

Speaking of double the fun!

Grayson came over to play with Vera!

He's such a ham!

Vera and her shoe!

Of course she went to the ball right away to play with Vladimir!

What a joy babies are to this world!

Though, 

I have to admit…I felt a bit like this squirrel when they left! ha!

Kiely took this picture from our family room window.

We thought he was dead!

I think that he was taking a much needed rest after storing all of his nuts!

We have had a ton fall 

and

 they are scurrying around this yard gathering them all up 

and 

hiding them for winter…ugh!

Yes, 

it is coming whether we like it or not!

The leaves started turning over a week ago!

The seedum, first of the Fall flowers in the yard, is blooming,

and 

the last seasonal wine for the year was shared on Labor Day 

with Mom, Karen, Ashely and myself.

Change is inevitable and is sometimes hard.

My friend, 

Amy M. knows this all too well.

Last year she lost her father, her son went off to college,

and

her husband left her. 

This year she had to leave the home 

that she thought she would have forever.

Last Friday the moving van rolled up to her new house.

It was a rainy day 

which somehow fit the mood.

I helped her move in 

and 

with each box we emptied the mood began to shift.

I have no doubt that she will make this beautiful new house a 

HOME!

She by far is one of the strongest women I have ever known!

 And,

one of the strongest men I know

is this iron man,

Alan!

Yesterday Alan competed in an Ironman in Wisconsin.

This is he and Kiely at check-in.

This was the second IM he has participated in.

The morning of the race!

Go Alan!!

His friend, Mark participated too.

Kiely was so upset that she didn't get a picture after his swim to bike

but

here he is transitioning from bike to run.

Here he is at the end of his run!!

140.6 miles!

So proud of you,

Alan!!

We followed him all day.

We saw that he was struggling near the end but picked up his pace and finished strong!

Look at the time

almost 12:53 hours!

Todd said, "And I am huffing and puffing after 20 minutes on an elliptical!" Ha!

I think that we will stick to boating! ha!

Todd had some of his people from work over for dinner

and 

a boat ride.

Glen, Tracy and Judy

(whom are sisters)

Roger was in from NJ.

My man!!

Evan and John

Jared was up front talking with Evan.

It was a perfect evening for boating!

Tracy said that this was the 1st annual boat party 

and

she wanted to do it again next year.

I couldn't agree more! 

Fall seems to be off to a busy start.

Although it signifies the end of warm weather, 

the cooler temperatures have been nice!

The swan always come around because the lake is more still

 and 

that's always nice to see.

I look forward to viewing

 the change of leaves from the boat 

and

seeing 

Autumn Indiana sunsets!