Yorkville in Deckerville

For a couple of years now, we have been talking about going to Deckerville, Michigan where our friend Scott is from.  It finally worked out to take a road trip with Scott, Katie, Richard and Jessa during the Labor Day Holiday Weekend.  These are some of our best friends in NYC, they are like family and we are so blessed to share our lives with them.  We definitely missed that Brett and Erin couldn't make it, so maybe we'll have to do a take two of this trip in the future!

 

We rented a mini-van and left NYC on Thursday evening, arriving in Deckerville by Friday Morning.  Check out that cotton candy sunrise.  Here are a couple shots of where we stayed.  How lovely, right?  

We had the best time getting to hang out with our gracious hosts, the  

McVittie's.  I loved this sign that used to be on Scott's family's farm.  We chopped wood, watched College Football, made s'mores, learned how to make "dowelies" and then ate lots of dowelies.  (Crescent roll, wrapped around a Dowel, cooked over the fire, and then stuffed with a breakfast sausage and cheese!)  Basically, we made as many meals as possible over the open-fire.

We shot guns, shot bows and arrows, hung out in the pool, played golf, went to Lake Huron, star gazed and visited the dairy farm that is adjacent to Scott's family's land, and used to be his family.


Chopping Wood


Katie and Tessa


Dowelies!










Bulls Eye!


Golf Outing


Nice Form!


Such a pro!


Our team, we came in 2nd by 2 shots!


The New Yorkers








By Lake Huron






Cooooolllllddd water!


Emoji pose :)


On our way to Deckerville, we told our friends that I was 8 weeks pregnant!


Headed to the Dairy Farm next door.


Mooooo!


Sweet calves!




Momma Cow and baby calf just born!




The gals, poolside :)

One of these is not like the other... Why am I eating my sandwich instead of corn? Hah!



I am so grateful for the time to just rest, to slow down, to appreciate having no agenda and to have a little respite from the hustle and bustle of NYC.  It's always nice to get a away for a little while both to experience something new, and to appreciate the energy of the City when you get back!  It was the absolute perfect farewell to summer!

Cool Town, Evening in the City

Cool Town, Evening in the City

The Second Half of Summer

What a great summer.  Our goal was to make the most of each beautiful day in this City that we could.  To explore outdoors, to eat in the Park, to spend time with friends, to visit new places.  And we did just that! 

View from the rooftop our our friends apartment during one of many cook outs.

Like I mentioned in the last post, we went to the Met, and included in the admission is a free visit to the Cloisters if you go within the week!  The Cloisters is a European Medieval Museum and Garden. It was incredible.  The day was just absolutely gorgeous, the views from northern Manhattan were breathtaking.  I'm so glad we explored up there for the afternoon.

Unicorn in Captivity, Tapestry made around 1495-1505


A butterfly in the gardens


Lavender, it smelled amazing


This guy


Make a wish!


Exploring


Out on a terrace


So many small details everywhere!



The inner courtyard and gardens






After the Cloisters, we headed down to Pier I and had some snacks as we watched the sunset over the Hudson River.


After Church the next day, we had a little picnic in the Park and just enjoyed being outside.  Seriously after such a freezing cold winter, we really enjoyed the mild summer.


We had a fun visit with my Tio Gerald and Titi Michi, who came up to see the Queen (and Adam Lambert) concert.  It was so much fun!  Bohemian Rhapsody was AMAZINNNNGGG, and Killer Queen was great too!!






Their visit was short and sweet, but little did we know they'd be back in just a few weeks!


Our sweet friends, Ryan and Caitlin got married.  Their wedding was so much fun, and the venue, a book store in SoHo, was so charming.




I was wearing a tall pair of heels, I wasn't exactly taller than Richard, but he was a good sport for this funny picture.


At the end of July we had an outing at work, and went to a Yankees game.

Me and Sharon


We ventured out to Long Beach on Long Island with friends


Christy, me and Robs beachin' it


We had lots of game nights!

We went on a road trip throughout New England mid-summer, but I want to do a post about that all on it's own, so stay tuned!

Rob took Maternity photos of Maggie and Jonathan.  The day started out kind of rainy, so we headed indoors to Grand Central Terminal.


This is one of my favorites.


That night, we had a belated birthday celebration for Robs.  We had a delicious dinner at The Smith, and then went to see STOMP.  It was high energy fun the entire time.


We enjoyed the second stint of Shakespeare in the Park, and got to see John Lithgow in King Lear.


As we waited in line, Bessy got to meet an Airdale!


Dinner picnic in the park before the show!


We also had a fun visit from Ms. Jennie B!


Scott and Katie made homemade ice cream and we couldn't help but invite ourselves over to try it.  When they brought me some water, they gave me these adorable lego ice cubes!!  I had to take a pic!


And speaking of ice, at my job, we did a company wide ice bucket challenge to raise money for ALS.  This is my view of the Headquarters across the street, and if you look along the right side of the building you will see hundreds of orange buckets being filled with ice and water.  Within the first half hour of the challenge being opened, they reached the 6,000 person capacity, so I did not actually participate, but it was so cool to watch!


We closed down Park Avenue for about 15 minutes as the challenge took place, because there were so many people watching!


We ventured out to Citi Field to watch a Mets game, they beat the Cubs... sorry Mark!

Tio Gerald and Titi Michi in town again!  Love them so much!  We went to Lombardi's for lunch.  Yum, yum, yum.

Robs with Sergio


That about rounds up our Summer!  I'll be posting about our New England Road Trip, and our Labor Day trip to Deckerville, Michigan soon!