O Canada!

Have you ever been curling?  Have you even heard of curling?

Most people have heard of it but have probably never played.  Aunt Roberta had always wanted to curl and organized the outing at the Detroit Curling Club in Ferndale.

After a quick tutorial of the game, we did a few practice shots and separated into teams.

TEAM USA vs. TEAM CANADA

Some of us caught on a little quicker

then others:)  Of course, my athleticism allowed me to catch on rather quickly.

And don't misinterpret the following pictures as indication that curling wasn't fun.  Just serious and a little competitive.

 

It was good fun.  After the first two rounds, everyone started to find their rhythm and points were being placed on the board.

Sweeping did take some practice.  In the professional circuit, sweeping can add 15 ft to the total distance the rock will go.  

In our case, it could have hurt the distance a few times.

  

TEAM CANADA did win, but TEAM USA is armed and ready for a rematch!

Because I wasn't in the group shot I made Billy take my picture to document I was present.  I did know what curling was but CLEARLY did not know what the appropriate attire was.  Come on, who doesn't wear pearls to curl? The website said "loose clothing," and now I totally get it.  Workout pants and layers...believe it or not, you work up a sweat out there!  

Roll Tide!  

Watch here if your wondering where this is coming from.  It became the phrase of the weekend.

XOXO

Aubrey

I had the wine of my life

And I owe it all to you:)  Feel like dancing?

Billy and I co-hosted a little wine tasting party with my mom at her house.  Our guests were asked to bring their favorite bottle of red under $10.  

 The wines were placed in paper bags, numbered, and placed throughout the house so everyone could help themselves.  We had 15 wines and asked everyone to rank their top five.   I was giving detailed instructions here.  

 It was a great night with a perfect mix of people.  My family loved all of our friends and vice versa.  Hope we can do it again!

After tasting...

And serious tasting.

We had the big reveal.  Here are the winners.

5th & 2nd place: Robert Mondavi, Cabernet Sauvignon

4th place: Apothic Red, Winemaker's Blend

3rd place: Furlan Castelcosa, Cabernet Franc*

*disqualified - wine purchased was $12.99.  Immediately asked to leave the party.

The winner....

Red Diamond, Cabernet Sauvignon.

My aunt found it the next day at Trader Joe's for $7.99

 Check out Colin's moustache...he's doing it for a good cause.

Donate here to help him raise funds for prostate cancer.  Movember ends on the 30th.

Let the dance party begin! 

Even though hours earlier I realized I was an awful dancer, I decided to be Kevin James and let it all out.  Once you start, you can't stop. 

Thanks to mom for opening your doors and to the Crawfords for staying back with the kids.  And of course, thank you to everyone for coming, especially all you late night dancers.  I heard some of you didn't even get out of bed till 2pm.

 

Roll Tide.


Aubrey

Let the games begin...

What a weekend.  Busy, but good busy.  Filled with lots of fun with our family and friends.  This is the ONLY picture I got on Thanksgiving, they were both dressed in their best, but there was zero chance of getting them to pose for me when cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles want their attention.

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving weekend has become the Grosse Pointe Holiday Parade.  I bet you thought I was going to say shopping:)  Nope, not this girl.

I love that we have made this a tradition, something that I know our kids will come to look forward to as well.  We have our spot and the more the merrier. 

This year we had some new additions, not only Wills, but our cousins from Canada.

 

 The weather was perfect, no frozen fingers or toes this year.  Hats and gloves were coming off and after three years we finally made it till the end....

And saw Santa! 

It was worth the wait:)

I think the grown ups were just as excited as the little ones.

After the parade, I took a little time for myself and went to my first Zumba class.  Our friend from Chicago is an instructor and her family arranged for her to teach a class.  

I dragged Aunt Cara along and you can see she was truly enjoying herself.  I realized that what I think I look like when I'm dancing and what I actually look like when I'm dancing are two different things.

 More to come...wine tasting, curling, and some Christmas decorating.  We've got a big week ahead, someone is turning 3!


XOXO


Aubrey

If it's not one, its the other.

We rarely go out to lunch on the weekends, in fact, we rarely eat out in general because it can be more trouble than its worth.  But we "thought" the stars had aligned yesterday after a quick errand to buy Lauren her bike helmet for her upcoming birthday.  

Mudgie's is a hidden little gem in Corktown that I had the pleasure of dining at almost two years ago and had been wanting to take Billy there ever since.  They pride themselves on serving as much local fare as possible.  Go.  Except Sundays, they are closed.

We stuffed the diaper bag with the usual crayons, coloring book and Ipad for Lauren and because William wasn't so agreeable most meals in Florida I packed baby food and every parents favorite restaurant baby snack, Gerber Puffs.  Puffs are basically a flavored cheerio that dissolves faster for babies learning to eat solids, but also a great stalling food.

Things were going well.  We were enjoying our ice tea spiced with nutmeg and some hot sweet potato soup while two kids pleasantly sat beside us. The soup looked so much like what I made for William I gave him a taste too, smiles all around.  

Que toddler who wouldn't eat, threw food on the floor, and began to crawl under the table.  

Three to-go containers later we left saying "if it's not one, it's the other."

XOXO

Aubrey