~Easter in Michigan~

Tommy and I headed to MI this year for Easter. On Friday I spent some time getting the car cleaned out and vacuumed. As a mater of fact, it looked really, really, really good by the time I was done. I ended up riding with Tommy, in the truck, that same afternoon and thought, wow.. the truck needs cleaned out now! Before we left on Friday Tommy and I went to Best Buy (and a couple others to price check) to look at laptops and net books. Our laptop died about a year ago and we have been saving to replace it! We decided to get a work laptop and a notebook for me because I so greatly miss the ability to type anywhere. I love it! I was able to type ahead on blogs, like 18 of them. That way I can just add pictures and details and be able to upload them right away. It's perfect. I have to admit that Jackson did well in the back seat with his new seat cover, rather than in his travel kennel but did fart the whole way there, yeah! Lol.

I got some special treats for the road; sprite for me, Vernors for t and some chocolate covered cookie dough bites! We had fun listening to slacker radio and talking. I also spent a lot of time blogging because, once again, I can type in the car! I am so unbelievable excited about having a mini laptop (netbook) because not only can I work on it in the car but at night when we wind down and watch a show or movie I can sit next to Tommy and type. I always felt a lil guilty when I spent some of my free time at the computer in my office instead of with him. It will also allow me to type more... cause I wont be rushing.

When we got to Bob and Vicki's we had some apps and hung out with Danny, Christine and the boys. In a couple of weeks they will be able to find out what they are having. I'm hoping for a lil niece. :) We had a really big laughs with the boys as Jackson was licking their faces non stop from the time we walked in the door to dinner time for the boys. Joshua was spelling letters out with “Letter Train” and was getting very frustrated because Jackson was knocking them over as he was running repeatedly through the kitchen. After the boys and in-laws left for an Easter Service Tommy and rested for a little while and were off to Forest Grill.

Tommy's Uncle Brian owns and runs a couple of restaurants in Michigan. One of them is Forest Grill. It got Restaurant of the Year (READ ARTICLE HERE) and we went for the first time, last year. I had the best dessert of my life there... Bread Pudding! Thank God it was on the menu when we went this weekend. Although I told Tommy to check and see if it was; and if it was not, tell Uncle Brian that it better be by the time I get into town. OH MY GOSH... this Bread Pudding! Go! It's worth the miles! We were quite full by the time we were finished with our meals.

We stared with a Charcuterie collection and a flight of wines. The lamb strips were our favorite. The three of them where paired with large olive, mini pickles and beets. Afterwords we shared another appetizer, mussels with a basil pesto sauce. So yummy. Then we got a bottle of wine to go with our entrees. I had the Veil Cheeks and Tommy had the Bone Marrow & Confit of Pork. Then it came... the bread pudding! Oh my gosh. I was so amazing; warm, little morsels of chocolate on top and the perfect amount of pudding and liquefied pudding underneath. Tommy tried a new dessert, the Warm Creme Fraiche Veloute! It was topped with blueberries and drowning in a fruit sauce. He let me try a bit and it was so light and decadent.

On Easter morning we woke up and went over to Vicki's moms house for the “Big Dinner”! As usually the food was amazing. We drove separate from T's rents. They went to pick up Bob's mom on the way and we also were able to go to Auntie Pam's this way. When we got there (around noon) we visited. Easter dinner was served at 2pm and we later had a second meal. The reason being, after you have a traditional Polish Easter meal, you wait a few hours and have a traditional Mexican meal. In between meals Vicki's mom asked if I wanted to help make the noodles. I of course said yes. I ended up taking some video along with pictures during the lesson. It was a lot of fun to hear stories of Italy while cooking. The noodles turned out very well and I enjoyed them knowing that I had a part in them.








We had a third dinning experience while we where there, Brian's other restaurant, Cinco Lagos! We had not been there before. It's fairly new and was amazing. Tommy extended the invitation to everyone in the family this past week. Many of the family members were able to join. We sat around a table for 14 and ate away. I had a great time talking with Aunt Julie and Auntie Pam. Tommy ordered my food to match my Strawberry Daiquiri for Dessert I had some of the Tres Leches Cake (three milks) we ordered and some of the Passion fruit Cheesecake. We ALL had a lot of fun with the boys. Joshua and Uncle Mike were being a hoot playing with each other and “hitting the rock” and John Paul was making each and everyone of us laugh by saying "There he is!".

During desert John Paul was getting tired and wanted to run around. After dinner most of us went over to Uncle Mike and Auntie Pam's house to hang out. The ladies sat around the kitchen table and talked while the guys made their way downstairs to hang. Before we left Uncle Mike showed us the results of his “Private Hunting Lessons” with his dog Ruger . He had the dog chasing a laser light between “Holds” and “Moves”. It was hysterical. Tommy and I really want to teach Jackson.

In the morning we went to visit Tommy's Grandpa (Vicki's Dad), Busha (Tommy's Great Grandma) and Aunt Jenny (Vicki youngest sister) who passed in 1975. The cemetery was beautiful, the drive in was a site to see. We spent some time there listening to some stories and sharing some memories. Afterwords we headed on home to Ohio.

~Jackson only looks innocent! He was really a pain in my but the whole way home!~

When we got home we literally took the dog inside the house and headed over to the Club House. The development had a meeting for residents to “catch up” on what was going on and to share our complaints. T and I were there in a heart beat!