Time seemed to stand still this winter, so how is it already July? We had a busy June!

I took advantage of a cooler weather day to bake something that’s been on my list for a while: spinach and ricotta stuffed shells. I always wish meals like this made more leftovers!

The following day the forecast looked good for a coastal sunset, with fairly calm winds. We called up some friends to see if they wanted to meet us for drinks, then afterwards we wandered the beach and watched the sun set (which happens past 9pm here, it’s so far north!). With the low winds it was easy to pop the drone up for a bird’s eye view!

We stopped by my brother’s house and had drinks in their yard. Their cat, who is the softest cat I’ve ever met, was really enjoying the catnip garden.

Kyle had a business meeting (!?) in Traverse City, so we headed north one Friday. He got two job offers while he was there! And in the meantime, my sister-in-law cajoled me into applying for a freelance writing position so now I can say I’m officially a paid writer. Well, maybe after I get paid I can say that.

Some friends of ours came to town for a zoo visit, and I haven’t been to this zoo in YEARS so I was excited to join them! Despite it being a hot morning, some of the bigger animals were out and about, including the bears and tigers! However, the kiddos got to feed a flock of flamingos, so that was pretty exciting too!

The lions were pretty lethargic, but who could blame them on such a warm day?

There was a cage of birds for the kids to explore, and while they fed the birds I observed from the outside. Most of the birds congregated near the top of the cage, probably to stay away from little fingers, but in such a congested cage you knew someone was going to get hit. Kyle was the one who came out with bird crap on his foot!

Mid-month, my parents rented a pontoon boat and invited all us kids to join them on Lake Cadillac. It was a really lovely day, with nearly perfect weather. We had a great time! I don’t really enjoy lake swimming (especially not after the beautiful clear waters in the Bahamas!), but Kyle jumped right in.

After that weekend, we had about a week straight of rain. Parts of the state even flooded! That was a pretty quiet week for us. However, when I hopped in the car to go get groceries, it was stuck in park. Kyle quickly guessed that one of the brake drums had probably seized up with a little rust, so a skillfully placed mallet got us back in business pretty quickly.

That was great, because I finally had an excuse to buy a watermelon! We had some cousins visiting from out-of-state, so we had a mini cousins reunion! Somehow we all ended up in a nearby park playing a classic game of Ebels ball, which has a unique set of rules like running around the bases twice. Since we didn’t have a regulation wiffle bat, it was not a serious game.

And finally, I popped over to do some laundry while my sister-in-law was working, but the cat kept me company in the garden while I munched on some fresh raspberries! Isn’t she adorable?

Summer has been great so far! We’ve been so social, catching up with friends and family that we haven’t seen in years. It’s also been much warmer than I remember Michigan being! Our upstairs apartment has not been great in this heat, but it’s so much better than being cold. I think I could use a good day of soaking on Lake Michigan, if we can find a place that isn’t too crowded. I hope you’re having a great summer as well!