Father's Day part two

This weekend we had the pleasure of having Jesse's brother, Rich, visit us from the faraway land of Pennsylvania. He came in late Thursday night and hung out with the family on Friday (minus me as I had to work). I was feeling a little lonely at work so I sent Jesse a picture and a text message letting him know so.

Yes, I'm a dork.

I have to admit I really sent the picture with the hope that he would send one back... and he did.

Eating green beans at Grandma's

and

YeHaw!

As you can see Grandma Suzie and Grandpa Michael got Riley a horsey. Oh, and a big shout out to Auntie Katie for the super cute ribbon barrettes.

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday and Riley ended up with about 5 barrettes in her hair. She is starting to show signs that she is reaching that dressing up stage of her life. When we are at home she is often asking for help putting on her shoes and hats. We assume she is really into dressing up. That, or she just really wants to leave.

Saturday I dressed her up in her most recent concert t-shirt (thanks to G-ma Suzie and G-pa Michael)!

Dancing to 'Hell's Bells' I'm sure.

Geez, she looks cute in that outfit (and that's coming from someone who is not a fan of ACDC). Riley also spent a lot of time hanging out with uncle Richie. Here she shows him how to work the stove in her kitchen.

When you push this button you have to rock your body back and forth cause it makes a fun sound.

Saturday we also made a quick trip to a lighting store as we are still struggling to find three pendant lights for our kitchen that we actually like. The sales guy was rather impressed with Riley's ACDC t-shirt and personality. He joked that she was working it pretty good and that he might be convinced to give us a 20% discount. Too bad we couldn't find out if he was serious as we did not find the lights we wanted. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel (no pun intended). This store had reasonable prices (as they are an outlet store) and they get new shipments a couple times a week. We are excited to go back next week to see what they have.

Sunday morning Riley gave Jesse his Father's Day gift. I had to assist her a little in bringing it all together, but I would say she did a pretty fine job.

My Super Dad is a book I ordered through flattenme. They have a ton of cool books, cards, wall art... that you can insert a picture into. Jesse was less that thrilled to have a book with his picture in it since he is not a fan of having his picture taken, but he quickly warmed up to the book. The picture of Jesse is from Mother's day when he simply thought I was taking a picture of him to post on this blog. Little did he know I was trying to get a good picture for the book.

After giving daddy his gift we all piled into the car to go see Grandpa Frank. The plan was to go check out the Hamel Lion's Flea Market at the Medina Ballroom. My dad has been looking for a hedge trimmer and was hoping to find one that day, but no such luck. We did run into some friends and neighbors of my dads so that was one benefit for getting out... besides getting to spend the morning with him. The flea market did have some nice/interesting/cool stuff, but there was also a lot of crap to be found. Next time I need to get rid of stuff I may just grab a card table, pay 20 bucks for a spot, and try and sell it there.

When we returned home Jesse went for a bike ride and Riley and I played. Of course, I grabbed the camera and took a few picture. I decided to try some natural light pictures. They may not be the sharpest pictures, but I love the softness that occurred in them.

On the move

She may be getting a little too comfortable with our 'photo shoots'. Above she looks 16 months going on 21 years. Yikes.

Bursting with personality.

Ok, so the one above isn't natural light as you can tell with the flash glowing off her forehead and the shadow on her shoulder. Whatev. Just wanted to share.

Sunday afternoon we went to Jesse's uncle Greg's house for a BBQ. I had been looking forward to an opportunity to make Sarah's lamb chops ever since I was introduced to them. Sarah is a woman that I have helped out when she hosts parties for her families and friends. I basically help set up, make sure the party stays running (food, drinks, etc.), and then I clean up. At the last party she served lamb chops that had tons of flavor, but weren't too 'gamey' as lamb can sometimes be. Jesse loves lamb so father's day seemed like a good time to make them. They turned out great and Jesse really enjoyed them.

I also made my co-worker, Lisa's, 'Champagne Salad' that she brought into work last week for a brunch potluck. There really isn't anything champagne and certainly isn't anything traditionally salad about it. Basically you mix together cream cheese, sugar, whipped cream, strawberries, pineapple, and banana and freeze. Traditionally you serve it with champagne at brunch. Super, super simple. It was a nice frozen treat on this muggy day.

We had a nice time hanging out with the family at Greg's. Greg has a great house, fantastic yard, and envious workshop. Riley especially liked this dragon fly in his garden.

This little guy is Riley's second cousin, Jackson. Quite the handsome little fellow. He already knows two languages as his mom, Zlata, is from the Czech Republic. Pretty impressive.

Greg had this swing attached to the overhang of his workshop. A perfect spot for Grandma and Riley to spend some time together. Riley made the cutest noises while swinging here. Wish I could get her to embrace the swings at the park just as well.

Lucky for Riley uncle Greg's house had plenty of ants to follow. You can't see the bug here, but Riley spent a fair amount of time examining these creatures.

These puppies are illegal in 47 states

Josie the puppy

Noah and Richie

Playing Bocce Ball

Doing the 'Motorboat'

Below is a rare photo sighting of myself and Riley. What is even more amazing is that I don't have one eye closed, or my mouth isn't open... basically, I look relatively normal. Riley wasn't entirely cooperating, but I will take what I can get.

Suzie and Jesse

The most awesome work shop ever.

It was quite the enjoyable weekend. So sad it is over. It was incredibly hard to come into work today, but there's always next weekend, right?