Red Sox Game

Back in February, Derrick asked Amit and Seth if they wanted to go to a Red Sox game. Of course the boys said yes. July rolls around and it is finally time to go to the game! Unfortunately, I'm not a baseball fan. Thankfully us girls sat together and we were able to pass the time chatting about life and Seth and Kirsten's upcoming wedding. (It's next weekend - can't believe it's finally here!!) Boston won the game, which I guess is exciting if you're a Red Sox fan. They played Seattle that night, so I was rooting for the Mariners. We stopped to take some pictures as we left the stadium. They turned out really well!

Do we look hot? It was a gross day!

 

 

 

 

 

Mount Osceola

I guess you could say that this has been the summer of summits. On Saturday we hiked up Mount Osceola, which is in the White Mountains. It is 4300 feet tall though we ended up climbing 2500 feet up from where we parked and hiked for about 6.5 miles to get to the top and back. It was a hot, beautiful summer day and we met up with Derrick, Mel, and Annie so we would have some other two-legged company. Did I mention that it was a beautiful day? Yep, that's right, visibility was MUCH better than this hike.

So far so good!

Annie even managed to fall asleep while we were hiking,

at least until Derrick almost tripped, yelled, and woke her up.

Finally at the summit!!

Annie was excited to get out and explore - too cute!

 Emma and Amit loved exploring, too!

 

Family photo time!

Derrick and Amit

Amit taught him his "summit" pose.

The Call Family

It was a beautiful view!

 

I had to use our tripod to sneak in a group shot!

I went a little photo crazy,

but with such an adorable subject,

how could I not?

 

 

It was such a great hike,

do we look like we're having fun?

It was an awesome hike, though I'm hoping one of the next ones we do involves some waterfalls that we can play in! Emma pulled the entire time; I'm not quite sure where she found the energy. She's passed out on the kitchen floor right now. Looks like it caught up to her, but she'll be ready to go for our next one!

The Reef

Last weekend we decided to use one of our Groupons and grab an early dinner at The Reef, the aquarium's outdoor restaurant. It was delicious! We even went during one of the times they played live music. The food was reasonably priced, the drinks were good, and it was fun to be able to walk around the aquarium and look at the seals. I, of course, had to take some pictures of the food.

A "fish" in my tea! 

So fun!

Shrimp scampi pizza for me,

BBQ pulled pork sliders for Amit

We can't have a blog post without a picture of Emma! This is what we usually have to look at while we're eating. Even though she's begging, it is pretty adorable!

Beautiful Burlington

Now that we're filling out the application and choose residency sites, the end of dental school is getting that much closer. Last Friday we decided that we hadn't had enough time in the car and drove up to Burlington, VT to check out the residency site up there. While Amit was visiting the community health center, Emma and I went for a walk along Lake Champlain. It was beautiful! We ended up walking about 5.5 miles and enjoyed the sun and the view.

Views of Lake Champlain

 

 

During our nice, long walk I learned a few things about Emma. She hates people on rollerblades. Something about the long steps they take and the way they swing their arms freaks her out. Second - she does not have any desire to go near the lake. Doesn't she know that she's part  Lab and that Labs love water? I'm thinking we'll need to go to doggy therapy. Third - She's not too sure about wood bridges. She walked so close to me over the bridges that I thought she would push me over. She's hilarious!! She did enjoy seeing all the dogs that were out walking, though.

I took these when we got back in the car.

She's not smiling in the first one - her panting was out of control! 

She slept the entire drive home.

She wasn't too happy that we were talking to her.

 

All of Vermont was beautiful. It is definitely where we see ourselves settling, it'll just be a matter of when. Amit really enjoyed meeting with the people at the residency site, too. It's time to start praying that they pick him, too!!

Happy 4th!

Now on to the real reason for going back to Chicago... Family, food, fun, and fireworks! It was a beautiful day for a cookout. After spending some time in the pool, eating some great food, and hanging out with everyone, it was on to fireworks...

Our fabulous host

Uncle Bruce aka Uncle Sam

Inspecting the fireworks...

 Finally the action - 

 

 And of course we had to take some pictures before it got too dark.

 Really?

 We're getting there...

 I guess we'll have to take this one!

 Cousins - minus Nate who wanted to try to blow his hand off.

We had so much fun at the BBQ. It was great seeing everyone and we had a fabulous time. Hopefully the next few months go by quickly, we can't wait to party on Christmas Eve!!

Ribfest

We LOVE Ribfest. You get to enjoy live music, the sun, awesome food, family and friends, and most importantly, the ribs! We used to go more than once in the same weekend, but we only had time for one trip this weekend. The other reason we went? Styx was playing and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see them!

Dad and Cameren went with us. We were all ready to eat. I, of course, had my camera on hand to document our binge...

Round 1 - 2 full slabs from two of the most popular stands

Someone looks happy!!

 Then we got corn and my personal favorite, the onion blossom

 

Round 3 - 2 more full slabs and cornbread

 

Last but not least -

refreshing Italian Ice right before the concert!

 

 

Styx was great, even though our seats weren't. We had an awesome time! Hopefully they have great bands again next year!