Ahhh, Pampering AND Football....

Today was such a fun day! Girls Day Out it was it was dubbed! Susan, Amy, Jenee, Christine and myself all met up today and enjoyed a day of 'Pre-wedding Fun & Pampering'. What a fun day! We spent the morning at the Painted Pot in Rochester, painting our pottery. From there, we enjoyed a 'eat & nap' kind of lunch at Macaroni Grill and then headed to the salon for piggy & pretty hands pampering. Boy do we have some good looking piggies and finger nails!
This was the girls at the Painted Pot. How happy does the Bride-to-Be look?

Christine has a fun photo of us all at the salon getting our toes did!

Thanks girls for a super fun day! Can't wait for more 'entertainment' tomorrow!!!

So, tomorrow's the big day for Susan and Kris! WOO HOO!

And of course, there's the day of football.....The Michigan game, mmmmm, those boys have got a little work to do this season.

The big design news - Our Aruba paintings have arrived back from Michaels and are all framed. They look marvelous. I'll take photos maybe early next week to show you our works of art. We're so excited to get them hung on the walls.

And a quick shout out to my cousin Teri for the fantastically YUMMY filled box I received in the mail this week. I thnk I'll be enjoying a Chiller or two and some yummy salsa this weekend!

Can you say YUMM-O!

THANK YOU for thinking of me! I'm so glad to have you as a friend! YOU ROCK! Thanks again to Mr. Tom too for all his last minute help at the BBQ too! You guys are awesome!!!

Well, on to MSU football and off to drop a note to Dara this week.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoying the beautiful summer weather!

Min & Glen

The day has almost arrived.....

And we're so excited to be sharing such a wonderful day with Susan & Kris! Sunday's the big day!!!! How happy do they look?Last night, was their rehersal at Addison Oaks and then their rehersal dinner at Mr. B's. Kris' mom & dad were nice enough to treat the bridal party to dinner. And Colin even got in on the action - Susan and Kris asked him to be in the wedding as their ring bearer. He's a good one! Only problem, is the Curse of the Ring Bearer has taken place.....wouldn't you know it, 3 days before the wedding, he bonked his eye on a chair at day care. DOH!!! I'm sure by Sunday, with the amount of make-up bags that will be in the bridal suite, we'll get him fixed up! How cute is he? We can't wait to see him in his little tux!

Tomorrow is Girls Day Out - All Sue's girls are headed to the Pottery Pot, to lunch and then to get mani & pedi's! Sure can't wait to get my piggies in a relaxing soak!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???

Tomorrow marks the beginning of COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Someone in our house is pretty darn happy!!! Not sure what the football tummy filler spread will be.

Glen has a few ideas!
Ciao for now - friends are coming over for a night of card playing.
Min & Glen

Just another Typical Week here

Well, we've made it 1/2 way to the LONG holiday weekend!
WHERE HAS THE SUMMER GONE????
I can hardly believe it's almost September already. It seems like just yesterday we were cleaning the grill and watching the trees and flowers bloom.
The nice thing about mid to end of summer, is enjoying the the fruits of Summer. Our veggie garden is growing out of control! We've been enjoying our Romaine lettuce (makes the best salads we've even had), Cucumbers and Jalapeno Peppers. Our newest and most abundant fruit is our Roma Tomatoes. They are Fantastic!!! We're still waiting on the arrival of our Sweet peppers, we have a few that are growing, but not quite ready to use yet. This photo was from tonight before we started picking the tomatoes to use for dinner.

This is the only thing the 'kids' are worried about enjoying the fruits of......

Our little Weed Hounds! Good thing their grandma talks to them about the use of Catnip, thought I'm not sure how much attention they're paying!
So, on Sunday, as we got back into the swing of things (aka - having to cook for ourselves), we created a definite "DO OVER" recipe in our book - Fabulous Grilled Cajun Breaded Chicken with Grilled Balsamic Vinegar & Garlic Roma Tomatoes on top. Glen grilled the chicken on the lowest heat possible and the chicken was the best, juiciest chicken you could ever enjoy! We'd share the recipe, but it was one of those 'bit of this, bit of that' recipes that usually comes out of our kitchen. Gosh, sure hope we can duplicate it next time we make it.
The count down has begin for the long weekend - for a few reasons. Sue & Kris Say "I DO" this Sunday, and we're so excited to celebrate their special day with them! We get to spend time with our favorite little Godson Colin during the wedding rehearsal and at the wedding and Oh, Yah, that's right, what was I thinking - College Football starts Saturday (how could I possibly forget that?!).
So, what do you think? Is Michigan going to beat Utah like they're saying with a new coach? Will State beat Cal?
What kind of excitement do you have planned for the 'unofficial' last weekend of summer?
Have we showed you what we came home to? Guess we won't be going on another vacation any time too soon.

Hope you all have a great night!

Min & Glen

The Weekend is FINALLY Here. . . . . .

And boy are we both doing the happy dance!

The Kantina Drink of the Day: Bikini Martini

1 oz. Coconut Rum
¾ oz. vodka
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 dash grenadine syrup

Combine Rum, Vodka & Pineapple juice in a drink shaker. Shake firmly until frothy. Pour into a martini glass, add a touch of grenadine in the middle. Garnish with an orange wheel.

How about the US Men's Sand Volleyball team's big win?

While we're still trying to get back into the routine (amazing how long it takes to get back into the swing of the real world after a vacation, isn't it?), we are both really looking forward to the weekend. We can get caught up on some things around the house - mostly the mound of laundry..... We both continue to look at the photos we took of our trip, wonder where we can incorporate a sandbox into our decor that the cats won't claim as theirs and continue to sniff the salt shaker trying to reenact the sights and smell of our vacation.

And while we aren't making too many plans for the weekend, we may make a trip to the frame shop to find custom frames for the paintings we brought back from our trip.

Three will likely be placed on the main floor and one, a sunset photo will likely be placed in our room. More photos to come once the frames are in place.

I also need to get started on a fall chipboard album design I'll be teaching a class for at our local scrapbook store the end of September.

I've gotten quite addicted to making these chipboard albums! I made one for our Anniversary (still haven't taken photos of it yet) and have made four others prior to the Anniversary Album. The Two family albums were for our parents for this past Christmas, The Baby Girl Album was for my girlfriend who had a baby this past November and The Bridal Shower album was for my girlfriend Sue who is getting married in 9 days!! 9 Days Sue, can you believe it?!
Speaking of getting back into the swing of things, I think we need to see if our vacation has given us the mental clairity & concentration to finally BEAT Tiger Woods in Golf. Off to Wii!Happy Weekend! Min & Glen

Whew, First Day Back.....

Happy Hump Day - The Kantina is OPEN!

Drink Special of the Day: Stirring Strawberry Daiquiri

4 oz. Strawberry Daiquiri Cocktail Mix
2 oz. Captain Morgan Parrot Bay Coconut Rum
2 cups Ice
1 slice of strawberry
Add all ingredients into a blender & mix for 15-20 seconds or until smooth.
Pour into Fun & Tropical Glass, add the slice of Strawberry, a tropical umbrella & straw.
Kick Back & ENJOY! (Remove the Coconut Rum for a refreshing, kid-safe beverage).
Well, we've both made it through the first day back to work.
Thank goodness it's Hump Day - Amen for a short week!!!
We thought we'd share a few more photos with you from our trip.This was the Anniversary Sunset we enjoyed just before a fabulous dinner at the Red Parrot Restaurant. The photos don't do its beauty justice!

A relaxing, tranquil view from under our hut on the beach! This was our view daily. :o)

And we certainly can't forget the resident iguanas. While they look small in this photo, one of them was nearly 4 feet long including their tail.....and BOY DO THEY MOVE! Just ask Glen!

Well, that's all for today. Off to check on the tomatoes and cucumbers in the veggie garden. Maybe we'll add those to the dinner menu.
Min & Glen

Welcome To The Kantina!

Feel the sand between your toes, hear the Caribbean ocean waves crashing against the White Powdery Sand. Grab a bar stool, order that 'happy' drink with the little umbrella thingy in it and enjoy the ocean breeze on your face. Welcome to THE KAYMIN KANTINA! So because it seems like everyone has a Blog now, we thought we'd try & keep up with the technological times. THE KAYMIN KANTINA has been created and is now OPEN for business!!

Welcome friends and family!

So, we arrived home at 2:30 this morning from an absolutely fabulous Aruban Vacation. It's hard to believe that just this past Friday (8/15) we celebrated our 5th Anniversary! Five years since The Unforgettable Blackout Wedding. We're happy to report, we celebrated our 5th Anniversary WITH POWER and WITHOUT incident! Even with Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay making its presence known in & around other Caribbean Islands, Aruba didn't have an ounce of unpleasant weather!

Our vacation was truly amazing. This is what we left behind in addition to our cook, maid service, tour guides, drivers, bar tenders and iguanas. This was the view from our Veranda Balcony. How could ANYONE want to leave this?? What an absolutely relaxing and amazing time we had!!! We've never seen sand so white, water so Caribbean Turquoise Blue and heard such a welcoming ocean! This was our view each day from Favorite resort watering hole number 1.

And the view from Favorite Watering Hole number 2!While our vacation was 'uneventful' so to speak, our trip home was a bit more 'eventful'. Our friends Holly & Chris who were recently in Aruba warned that flying out of Aruba usually involved a delay. That we were fine with (see photo above if the thought of a delay raises your blood pressure.....). Only downside to a delay - a connecting flight out of Charlotte, NC we had to catch or spend the night in Charlotte. Not that we had anything against Charlotte, but something about getting stranded until morning halfway home, wasn't our idea of a perfect ending to our beautiful anniversary trip. Our delayed flight arrived in Charlotte at 9:44 last night. Our connecting flight left at 10:06 on the opposite end of the airport. Needless to say, there was no casual stroll through the airport. It was a mad dash to get to the gate! We made it -out of breath, but we had about 5 minutes to spare before they locked the plane down and headed to Detroit (minus our luggage of course - that didn't make it out of Charlotte last night - they're supposed to be delivering it any time now). Luckily it was only our dirty clothes! :o)
It's always nice to come home - something about your own bed and pillows. Sigh! And of course, the kids were elated to have us home - ALL NIGHT!

Well, the suitcases have arrived and we need to find something to make for dinner tonight so I think a trip to the store is in order. Thank goodness it's a short week this week!!

Hope this finds everyone doing well and stay tuned, it's sure to be entertaining!!!

Bon Bini (Welcome in Aruban)

Min & Glen