Monday evening bike ride

Monday evening bike ride
Originally uploaded by stuflannery

The weather yesterday was perfect. This was the first time in months I opened up my front door and was not greeted with a hot, stiff, cloud of air. It was sunny and cool...84 degrees cool. I waited for Cohen to wake up from his afternoon nap and then I loaded up the bike and we rode up and down the streets in our neighborhood. We talked about the trees, the cars, houses, dogs, holes in the road, people on the streets, etc. I'm not really sure what Cohen was saying back to me as I chatted his ear off, but whatever he was saying sounded like he was enjoying himself. Before we left I threw a couple dollars in the backpack so we could stop by one of the three snowball stands around our neighborhood. We sat under the colorful umbrella at the snowball shop and shared a banana cup of ice.

When Stu came home from work we quickly filled our bellies outside on the back deck and once again hopped on our bikes and rode up and down the oak lined streets in our neighborhood. We were not the only ones enjoying this weather...it seemed like everyone was out and about greeting everyone as they rode by on bikes, or strolled along walking or pushing their children and pets in stollers. I even think I might have smelled Fall while riding my bike. I'm not sure if it was just in my head as I am envying everyone back home in Indiana right now who is experiencing the cool fall like weather or if i actually did smell the begining of Fall.

My 29th Birthday

My 29th Birthday
Originally uploaded by stuflannery

29...WOW...where in the world has time gone? The thought of 29 is scary to me...maybe because I know 30 will creep up faster then I want it to. I can remember thinking 30 was old when I was kid. I have examined my face a thousand times since my birthday to see if I could find any more wrinkles or evidence of aging. Just yesterday I took notes on finances in your 30's and which face creams I should be using to prevent wrinkles in my next decade…two things that seem to be heavy on my mind lately.

My little family of three celebrated my birthday at a restaurant...we all ate too much...so much in fact...there was NO room for dessert, but Stu made that up to me this past weekend when he took me to dairy queen for ice cream. I know you're probably thinking Dairy Queen? Really? But oh yes...we just recently found this heavenly Dairy Queen. The closest one to us used to be Mississippi and we'd stop in on every trip back from Florida and Indiana. There is nothing in the world like Dairy Queen ice cream. There are very limited chain restaurants in this city, which some might think is great, but when you are craving something in particular and it doesn’t exist where you live…it gets frustrating. Thank goodness for friends and family who send us care packages of food we can’t get here (thanks Uncle Jet)!! My Uncle Jet for my birthday…sent me a HUGE care package of Tastykakes. These are an east coast snack I ate when I was a kid visiting my Pop Pop and Nanny. The butterscotch krimpets are my favorite.

Labor Day Weekend

Teri and Don (aka Gramps and Mimi) came to visit "us"....more to visit Mr. Cohen. The weather was amazing the entire time they were in. I am sure to them it was still sun scortching H.O.T, but to us it was much cooler and enjoyable then it had been the weeks before. It was enjoyable enough for all of us to gear up on the bikes and head to City Park. I had just recently ordered Cohen a bike carrier for the front of my bike. We have a pull behind child cart, but the roads are so bumpy and full of holes that I am scared I'll bounce Cohen out or he'll get hurt.  Gramps pulled the dogs in the child cart and I toted Cohen on the front of my bike. He squealed...happy squeals most of the way to the park.

On Sunday we had Cohen baby's dedication at church. It was so great to have Gramps and Mimi share this with us. 

Cohen kept trying to hold the hand of this little boy in the picture. Every time I would try and pull him away he would start to cry. 

Gramps and Mimi brought up a big boy bike for Cohen....by this time next year he'll be zipping around the house on it. Cohen LOVED this bike and would honk the horn with his mouth. 

Here are some other fun photos from Gramps and Mimi's visit: