Parking was crazy. The road that led up to the falls was quickly congested, and we ended up standing still for like 20 minutes. Slowly, cars would pull into the parking lot one by one, waiting for someone to leave.
This was late morning on a Friday. I’d definitely suggest getting here early, to beat the crowds if you can.
I talked with some of the garden employees, and found out the koi are fed once every two hours or so. The timing changes when it gets later in the year, but in the summertime when they’re more active – once every two hours.
Around here is where I began to question, again, why I keep wanting to go seek out modern art. Because much of the time, I just walk away frustrated.
After arriving, we wrote to the Airbnb hosts letting them know we had moved out and wanted to cancel the remainder of our reservation. This was a tricky and stressful matter for us because, technically, they could have refused our request and argued we owed them the full week’s worth of rent – as traditional Airbnb policy doesn’t allow for cancellations once you’ve arrived.
Liz and I are heading out to San Diego, to attend my cousin Joanne’s wedding. We flew out on Friday, giving ourselves the full day to travel and get settled before the festivities.
Going into this meeting was a bit stressful. It’s a big step, a lot of money, and a lot of heavy decisions. This is also a pretty big thing for Liz as well, who has been thinking and planning her “ideal” kitchen since whe was much younger (all the way back to her high school years). To say that she’s given this a great deal of thought is an understatement.
Liz was working in the basement, cleaning things up, while I was out in the yard mowing the lawn. After I got done, we were planning to do some work up on the second floor. But instead, we began addressing the big stack of trim that we’d collected in the basement.
We did some preliminary research the week prior. And this time, we met with someone and talked at length about various preferences and options. A lot of this planning is partly to figure out what we want, but also to figure out what space is available for other things like windows and appliances.
It’s been a busy few weeks for us. And, sad to say, I’ve neglected the backyard something awful. I feel like I’m approaching 3+ weeks without mowing. And while it’s not quite the jungle nightmare it used to be, things were definitely overgrown.
Liz and I had a series of errands today, and last night I was trying to “plan” how things would go. In our conversation, she mentioned a phrase to me that stuck with me – referring to adventures, not tasks.
The older I get, the more I believe that the world rises up to meet the expectations you set for it. Imagine anger and selfishness, that’s what you’ll see; imagine kindness and good intentions, that’s also what you’ll see. You get what you expect, so why not expect the positive?
Fast forward a bit, and we’re all hanging out in the yard. Liz has changed and is back on land. And Anne and I decide to play a few rounds of string golf.
I didn’t end up taking a lot of photos this weekend. I was planning, originally, to start that sentence with “sadly” but I’m wondering now if this was a bad thing. I ended up enjoying the moment more, and wasn’t as focused on trying to document the moment.
We were able to make it on the road by 4PM, with our luggage stored in the back and a fresh cup of coffee for me up front. Though this was a vacation, the days prior to today have been very busy for us. I’d say that maybe an hour or two into the drive, I started to relax a little bit. And felt the grip of the previous week loosen, slightly.
For a long time now, Liz and I have wanted to bring Julie and Bob to experience the cocktails at Aviary. The two of us had a phenomenal, memorable time here nearly 3 years ago, and it’s been on our to-do list to bring others to experience this place with us. As a belated Mothers and Fathers day outing, the…
Today, Liz and I headed out to Elburn, Illinois, to attend a fun cocktail party at Heritage Prairie Farm with Michelle and Mike.