we made it home safe and sound from michigan. the traffic was kind of crazy last night but we figured as much. we had a great time this weekend seeing everyone.


we got in friday afternoon and just relaxed at my dads and swam a bit. i haven’t been in the pool at all this year, it’s as fun as i remember it. they had to get a new liner earlier this season so the pool was out of commission for a lot of the year. we retired early that night as we were tired from driving.


on saturday amy and i slept in a bit and then rode our bikes to my dads house. it was a little over 7 miles and when we got there we were able to convince kelly to go for a ride as well. that added another 3 miles so we got a decent 10 mile ride in for the day. after that is was all swimming and relaxing in the pool and jacuzzi. we were celebrating my birthday (aug 28), brian’s birthday (aug 30), and amy’s birthday (sept 8). we always love the parties at my dad’s house. kelly and my father know how to throw a good party, the food is alway great and they always make sure everyone is enjoying themselves. if you leave there unhappy or unfulfilled it’s your own fault. anyhow, we had a great semi cloudy day that was plenty warm for swimming. the bday cake was great and i got some cool gifts.


my brother, sister-in-law, dad, and kelly went in together and picked up the parks prs-5 repair stand i so subtly hinted that i wanted. i almost broke my dad’s glass dining table opening the repair stand up, oops. it’s very very cool and i was really shocked that they got it for me. this thing is going to get a ton of use, thanks guys. my friends mike and lori picked me a traveler’s guide to mars. it’s a very detailed guide to mars with new pictures from the mars global surveyor. the perfect companion to mars, now if i only had my telescope …. grrr.


molly was as cute as a button. she’s changing every time i see her, it always amazes me how fast babies change the first few years. pretty soon she’ll be running from us since we only see her once every few months. lets hope not though.


we got up early on sunday, picked up my dad and kelly, and took the bikes to stoney creek for a nice morning ride. i haven’t ridden on a bicycle with my father in at least … 15+ years. yea, i think it’s been that long. stony creek is a local metropark that’s about 7 miles around. it’s fairly flat but has a few small hills that are pretty neat. anyhow, we parked just outside and rode into the park to add a bit more distance. my dad originally wanted to ride to the park from the house and back (20 miles round trip) but by the end of the ride he was counting his blessings that we hadn’t done that. it was a pretty leisurely ride for amy and i but we had a blast, it’s always fun riding with others. it took us about 1.5 hours to ride the 10 miles.


we then met with my brother and christina and went to breakfast at the usual watering hole, the pantry. we also met up with mike, lori, and the mollinator … damn she’s as cute as a button. after some good eats we drove to great lakes crossing, a mega mall about 30 minutes from there, shopped, and then returned to my brothers. not to long after that we left.


we had a great time in michigan and i hope to return there in a few weeks. amy will likely be studying but i want to see everyone again and maybe even bring my telescope home if i ever get it.