luke's brother came to lansing for a whole week. on the schedule was: eating. biking. community. and camping.
we cooked. a lot. above, luke's grilled veggies and my homemade focaccia bread with pesto from our garden. drew *may* have said it was one of the yummiest meals he'd ever had.
later, drew made a spicy lentil soup from scratch and the most amazing orecchiette pasta dish with white wine, thyme and rosemary. i *may* have said that it was one of the yummiest meals i'd ever had.
we biked down the river trail, to the city market, the farmer's market and roma bakery. we went to free bread day at the neighborhood center and the library. we saw a play in the park and caught a thirsty thursday's lugnuts game and the two brothers went golfing. we went to the grand opening of a community garden. and together, the three of us shaved unica.
we headed up north for a few nights of camping. at leelanau state park. i know: michigan is so big and we keep going to the same corner of it. but it was beautiful. and surrounded by beach.
also: it was home to more spiders than i've ever seen in my life. and more varieties and sizes and colors than i've ever seen. unexpected, but okay.
we heard noises in the middle of the night and quietly flashed a light out of our tent. baby bear-sized raccoons were helping themselves to our cheese and red peppers and s'mores ingredients inside our cooler. luke fought them off. in the morning their muddy prints were everywhere.
camping with mateo was fairly easy. the hardest part was in the middle of the night when he woke up and realized we were sleeping next to him. he was excited and kept trying to get cozy by laying his body literally across my face! around 4am i gave up trying to get him to sleep and put him on my back in the ergo and we walked around the state park, watching the sun rise and meeting birders until he fell asleep. i went back to our tent, laid down on my stomach and we slept like that (him, still strapped on my back) for two hours.
on day 2 we found a quiet beach and spent the afternoon there. the water was maybe the coldest i'd ever felt. i swam, but no one would swim with me. the water was clear and the sand was soft. teo played. (can you see me swimming behind?)
and we kayaked. out and around the bay. and above a sunken ship.
the water was so calm that luke and i took mateo out for a ride. he was happy and still in my lap. i am so, so happy we didn't sell the kayak in arizona!
after sunny beach time we went to the closest winery,
good neighbor organic, for a tasting. it was family owned, super casual (perfect for sweaty, sandy us) and dog friendly. we bought some wine and cider and took a walk through the vineyard.
we hiked up a hill and found a field of lavender. unica frolicked among the vines. i think she could totally be an
official wine dog.
we headed to a second winery before heading back to camp: this time to
leelanau cellars which was big and flashy and the opposite of the first. but still tasty.
these tastings renewed luke and my (historically red lovers) interest in white wine.
the next morning we went hiked some of the sleeping bear dunes before heading home. so, so lovely there.
so, that is the short (or long?) version of our week with brother andrew. so great having him here.
luke's 30th birthday turned out to be one of our favorite days of the summer.
mateo, unica and i woke up early to set up breakfast and a secret rainbow umbrella i'd been hiding for our picnic table. we remembered to put up the birthday banner i made for mateo's birthday just in time.
we had an easy (but luxurious by our standards) spread of our favorite pastries: the classic butter croissant, a lemon poppyseed muffin, a blueberry muffin, a raspberry and cheese filled croissant and a chocolate chip scone. plus fresh cherries to remind him of his hikes in spain, iced coffee and orange juice.
some more little details that i don't want to forget: our neighbor brought us over beautiful wildflowers from her garden. i had made a giant neon sign announcing luke's birthday to the whole neighborhood, and stuck it in our front yard in the middle of the night to surprise luke in the morning. 2 days later that same neighbor borrowed the sign and changed the name for her husband's 30th birthday. we're hoping the advertise-your-person's-birthday-trend continues on our street. did i mention my grandma gave me this idea?
after breakfast we biked to the library for our favorite baby storytime. and then to the giant playmakers sale. luke found the greatest birthday deal on some chacos (his walking/everyday shoes were falling apart) and he shared the birthday goodness with me when i found a mega deal on some danskos i've been eyeing since the great smartwool surprise of 2010 (they would look so good together was my excuse). thanks, luke!!!
after the whirwind shoe buying extravaganza (that is what you call it when you haven't bought shoes in years, i guess), we headed west to the beach in saugatauk. our new umbrella came along too which i am happy to report was just as nice at the beach as it is over our picnic table. especially for the two red-haired, fair-skinned men in my life who need shade. and especially for $13.
we lunched and lazed and played and swam in warm lake michigan water. luke opened a few more gifts. and we played our classic birthday/holiday game where we try to remember how we spent all of his birthdays since we met 8 years ago.
i forgot to mention that luke remembered to wear his "me? 30!" shirt. he has worn this shirt since we met in his early 20s, so we found it hilariously funny (and surreal) all day long that he now actually is 30.
after a few failed attempts at dinner in town (frozen mixed veggies in a tortilla, anyone?) we decided to head home. on the way mateo fell asleep so i tried to pull off one last birthday surprise by taking luke to dinner for tapas in grand rapids. it maybe wasn't the most authentic, but sangria plus queso manchego plus jamon, etc made us giddy. just as the tapas were being delivered to our table and we thought we could actually look into each other's eyes for a minute, our little sleeper woke up and wanted (demanded) to be out and about, but we managed.
while we drove the hour back home, i asked him all sorts of "you're 30!" questions. we talked about what he'd accomplished in his twenties, what he hopes to accomplish by 40, what he wants more of in life, and less of. it was nice to be reflective for once (why don't we do that more often?) and it was a nice ending to the evening. later he opened cards and gifts from family, and then, finally, we said goodnight to the first day of his 30s.
