Day of our 25th Anniversary

Our anniversary day started out with breakfast prepared by Executive Chef Adam with his team of crack sous chefs. We waited for breakfast impatiently, forks and spoons in hand.

The kids took dozens (maybe hundreds) of pictures of us on our anniversary. It was a bona fide photo shoot, with posed and candid shots on the dock at home, on the channel at the Hack-Ma-Tack, and in the restaurant (mostly on their iPads). We're going to collect them somewhere--maybe on the Flickr page.

All day it felt as if we were in a place called 25th Anniversary, the stars-for-a-day of a show that only couples lucky enough to make it 25 years (and want to brag about it) can inhabit. It felt almost like a wedding.

Here are the kids, all gussied up for dinner at the Hack-Ma-Tack. Representing themselves and the other kids, they hosted our anniversary dinner, made the first toast (25 years....WOW), and made us feel special in every way possible. Our meals were wonderful - Adam, Tomi, and Dad had the Diamond Jim Rib Eye (22 oz.) and as I am typing this my online editor Ashley is thinking "I wish I had been there." Grandpa Woodruff picked up the tab for dinner, and we made a video to thank him. 

Our anniversary gift: a beautiful wind chime, personalized for us. Each tube on the chime says, "All because two people fell in love..." And the implied end of the sentence: "...we have this wonderful blended family known as the Stock Family by Choice."

When I talked to Grandpa, he said, "tell Ken I'm glad he was such an easy pick-up." (Hee hee, me too.)

The whole day was wonderful, and little did we know there was more to come when all the other kids arrived.

More photos of our BIG day 25 years ago

With this ring....

I thee wed.

Grandpa's assignment: Wrangle the six-year olds.

Grandma looks on lovingly (probably glad she doesn't have to control the boys).

The two lovely moms. They were younger here than Ken is now.

Stock Family By Choice: Origins.

25th Anniversary Slide Show

On the occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary, which we are celebrating at the cottage with Jonna, Tomi, and Adam, a slideshow of pictures of Ken and me. These are all from the digital camera years (2000 - present), with a few scanned shots of the wedding and the infamous Marine Ball photo.

Twenty five years have flown by, and we are having more and more fun every day.

What's at the cottage for Ben?

Fourth of July Week, 2013, Part I

First arrivals on Saturday: Jonna, Tomi, and Adam. Adam's Friday night flight was cancelled due to weather (storms in Detroit), so Saturday turned into a marathon airport journey for Jonna. First to Detroit to pick up Adam, then to Flint to pick up Tomi. The whole group visited Jon in Dewitt, then drove north with Adam at the wheel. They got here about 8 p.m.

Doesn't this look like a celebrity papparazzi shot? Relative to past trips, this is a very small wardrobe for   Jonna.

Hugs for Poppa Kenny on the way to greet the lake.

Adam and Jonna have been working out regularly. Adam is in the lead, explaining the exercises and timing the sets. "Beast mode," he says, repeatedly.

The first pontoon trip of the year for Adam. He has established a new tradition: Playing "I'm on a Boat," a rather profane song written and performed by two Saturday Night Live cast members, on each year's maiden voyage. "I'm on a boat...." up the river--Tomi had never been that way before.

Speaking of on a boat....Adam and I took a kayak trip up the north end of the lake. We paddled past the first point and up to the next one. There are a couple of interesting cottages up that way. We spooked a family of ducks and watched with amusement as the mother duck "hid" the babies in plain sight. No bald eagle sightings.

Family Meme, Just in Time for Independence Day

Dragonfly Hatch 2013

This year we had several days of dragonfly hatch. It all seems a bit late, probably due to the long, cool spring. We had one good day of hatching while Wally and Sheryl were here, and another during Felicia's visit.

In past years I've made videos and taken dozens of photos of the hatching dragonflies, but this year I took pictures of the empty nymph shells.

This one shows several empty shells still clinging to the side of the dock.

The next two are closeup shots of the empty shells. They really look spooky this way but the dragonflies are lovely and a good omen.

At least that's my opinion.

Felicia!

My friend Felicia Bernardini drove up from Columbus and arrived in Dewitt around 3:30, rarin' to go, game to make it an eight hour day of driving. We got to the cottage about 7:30 p.m. or so, unpacked the car (see Ken's red wagon standing at the ready in the background), had a glass of wine, and headed up to the Lodge for a late dinner. ("Bunky" is me--that is, Ken's affectionate name for me.)

Felicia is an early riser, so she had been up for a couple hours by the time Ken and I arose. Here she is in the sunroom, having a bowl of cereal in the early morning sun.

I love it when people get right into the swing of the cottage. Head out with a book, fully intending to read but happy to indulge in some mid-morning shut-eye on the sun-warmed dock.

Dutkowskis Part III

Best way to start a Sunday: brunch at the Lodge. We had a nice meal and a nice visit with Wally K., who had time on his hands because the omelet station wasn't very busy while we were there. We told him about our wild and crazy evening of Skip-Bo, puzzles, and classic rock.

Next order of business for Wally was another kayak ride. I was posting to the blog, so he took off on his own to go south around the point. He's looking pretty confident on entry and exit as well as under way. (This would make a great profile picture for Facebook, Wally.)

Ken picked up a hitchhiker today during the annual dragonfly hatch. I'm so tickled Wally and Sheryl were here to see it. Fewer of them made it up to the front porch than in past years, but as always the dock and the stones were popular destinations for the nymphs and good sunny spots for the dragonflies to dry their wings.

Captain Ken, in his favorite spot. I've only seen the same look on his face in one other place: The Bunker Bar in Aruba. That's why we refer to the pontoon as The Bunker Barge.

The rest of us enjoyed the ride as well, down to the far southeast end of the lake, up around the UAW, and then home. Wally and Sheryl played their last day here just right--very relaxed, not worrying about the time, just letting the day unfold.

Parting shots: Wally with our "Cheers" puzzle. He gets a lot of credit for this progress--he is very dedicated and a master motivator with his puzzle trash talk.

A great visit with great neighbors.

Dutkowskis, Part II

First up Day 2: A paddle up the lake with Wally. The lake was calm and the sun was at our backs. We went all the way up past the first point and turned around just after the second. We exchanged pleasantries with the owner of the $1.6 million property out on the point, and paddled back as clouds came up from the south and covered the sky. No rain, though.

Wally turned out to be an excellent puzzle partner for Kenny. We rarely had to ask, "where are the guys?" because they could usually be found at the puzzle table. There, or on the dock having a beer.

Ken took an artistic interlude and added some details to his original Monet (actually an old print I found behind the old framed map of Black Lake). He has become very artistic in his....older age.

Saturday night we headed for The Dirty Duck Saloon for some of their famous bar food. Wally and Sheryl had ham and cheese oven grinders; Ken and I opted for pizza and it was DEE-licious.

Ken and Wally watched the Tigers as we sat and had our meal. Here, they discuss the finer points of the game.

We left our Skip-Bo game to go out and watch the sun set. When I came up to the boat, Ken had just said something Wally and Sheryl found quite amusing. =)

We spent the remainder of the evening circling the puzzle table and listening to Wally's 60s and 70s record collection (randomly selected from the 2,000+ songs he has on his iPad).

Welcome to the Lake, Wally and Sheryl!

Ken always paints a welcome "reserved parking" sign for our guests, and this artistic effort marked the arrival of our long-time friends and A+ neighbors from Dewitt, Wally and Sheryl Dutkowski. Their daughter Sarah is getting married in Petoskey this September so we were glad they could carve out a weekend from the busy run-up to the nuptials and relax a bit at the lake.

Arrival on a beautiful, sunny day

Of course, relax is a relative term when you are visiting for a weekend and there are so many things your hosts want to share with you....

First up, BOAT TRIP! We took the pontoon over to the river and motored up to the Black River Road bridge and beyond. Really perfect weather for this - with the wind a bit refreshing but snug and warm on the river.

After a trip across the lake there's nothing like a nice beer on the dock. This falls under the category of "tough job but somebody's gotta do it."

The boys decided our first night out would be at the Lodge. Here's the picture I've been waiting to take: our two Wallys, together at last. (I think they've met before but if so it was undocumented and therefore doesn't count.)

Wally x 2

A great picture with great neighbors

Annuals in Wellington Garden

Ken and I spent most of the day in the yard again. I put in some white impatiens around the viburnum in the garden behind the cottage, and some red/orange marigolds in Wellington Garden among the daylilies and hosta.

The little wooden barrel conceals the on/off handle for the well, and the overflow pipe is concealed by the plants. It will be even more so once the plants really get going.