SPARK!

Fishers tried out a new festival this year called "Spark" and it was actually pretty fun. The weather was really warm, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

YUM!!!

Petefish: melting

Luckily, Susie's new apartment complex was at the center of the festival and was hosting a pool party. We hopped on over and hung out for a bit.

Beer and hotdogs-ha!

We eventually ended Jackson's party and went to go get dinner at Mama Carolla's. Mama's is our favorite date place in the summer and it did not disappoint.

Fried Buffalo Mozzarella (Grown-up version)

Dinner is served!

Petefish

We got back from date night and wandered over to see the Fishers fireworks. They were actually great this year! When we got home some folks rang the doorbell and dropped off a cellphone they'd found in our front yard. Ugh. Great. How was I going to find the person who owned the phone? This whole password on the phone thing is not helpful if you found a lost phone. I threw the phone on the charger and went to bed. The next morning a text message appeared so I googled the name, found the person, called them and figured out who owned the phone. We coordinated and she came to get it that afternoon. She even brought a $10 Starbucks card because she appreciated my detective work so much. It was kind of hilarious. 

We ended the weekend on a high note because Jackson tried his hand at making shrimp fried rice and it was awesome. He seriously can do anything in the kitchen!!

The master a work

AMAZING!!

It was another fun weekend. I love the Summer!! 

Perfect summer weekend

We did not have any plans for the weekend which is sometimes a welcome thing! Saturday we slept in, made breakfast tacos at home and just did some chores. We eventually got around to getting some miles in on our bikes. It was a perfect day for a ride!

Bike-riding cutie 

We eventually got cleaned up and met my folks for dinner. They were in town buying Mom's new ride, an Acura MDX. We stopped in at Giordano's for some excellent pizza.

Mom excited about her new car!

Sunday we lounged around the house before loading up our bikes to take them to a trail to ride. The town of Fishers has so much construction that riding is kind of a pain right now. We went over to a park in Carmel and rode all over town. We stopped in at a new neighborhood being built and toured their model homes. I could seriously do that all day. It is so fun to see all of the floor plans and decor choices. This one, Brooklyn, was my favorite home I've ever toured.

We rode around more until our butts hurt too much to keep going (this never happened when I was younger!!) and came home to make dinner. The day was still young so we got dressed and headed to the golf course for Jackson to hit balls and me to "coach" him. I just love sitting out on their deck there, really. It is such a gorgeous place.

Jackson practicing at River Glen

A perfect night at River Glen

See? The perfect little summer weekend indeed.

Settling back into home...

Note: I'm working on my Europe posts, but they take me longer so I'm posting about being back at home so I don't get super behind again!

We got home and never adjusted back to Eastern time. I am not upset about it as I've always wanted to be a morning person. We've gone to bed by 10 each night and I'm up by 6 a.m. feeling great. It is a miracle. A real miracle!

I came home to a ton of deadlines for work so this extra time in the morning proved useful. I ran MacKenzie to the vet on Monday afternoon to get her staples out and she got a clean report of health. What a relief! 

Shaya gave me a call on Tuesday evening to let me know they'd be out at the free concert by our house so we packed up our chairs we got for Christmas (finally!) and headed over to hang out.

Bates kids! 

Jackson, Cameron and Josslyn

Shaya, Matt and Jackson*
*how handsome does he look?! 

Excuse me, child model

Since I'm not having kids I get to be THAT aunt who buys them Kona Ice (shaved ice), gets them all sugar rushed, and sends them home for their early bedtime while the sun is still up. You're welcome. Shaya. ;)

Wednesday evening I treated myself to a massage to send my 33rd year off with a bang. It was lovely. Thursday morning Jackson and I went for my free Starbucks drink and grabbed donuts before working for a few hours. While I agree that working on your birthday should be against the law, it felt good to get some deliverables taken care of before spending the rest of the day celebrating my 34th year.

Birthday donuts!

I wish everyday was a birthday because MacKenzie
looks so cute in her birthday bandanna 

My mom took me to get a manicure and pedicure. She also took me to lunch and made me laugh almost the entire time. She's truly a mess and I love her for it. Jackson and I spent the rest of the day shopping and just enjoying the time together. It was a lovely birthday!

Friday I had to return to campus to turn in some assignments and to celebrate the University's 100th birthday. Campus closed at 2:00 so we could all go out to the quad to have cupcakes and bake in the summer sun. They had a ton of games available and gave us all matching t-shirts for a big photo we had to take. It was actually pretty fun. We took an office photo with Charlie Cardinal which was probably my favorite part. You don't normally get fun photos from an office of accountants!!

Ball State turned 100!

Friday evening I headed for Marion to take my Dad out for an early Father's Day dinner. I picked Dad and Diana up and we headed for Hong Kong Restaurant which is one of my favorite places in Marion. It was delicious!

Hong Kong Restaurant did not disappoint

I was on my way back to Fishers when I realized that a small detour would deliver me to my favorite drive-in for a malt so I decided that it was a must to stop. I didn't have a birthday cake so it seemed like a good replacement in my mind. :)

Myer's Drive-In MALT! SO GOOD!

Also, yes, that is my hand holding that cup. My mom made me get fake nails and though I'd been resistant for economic reasons, I'm loving them. I kept telling Jackson that I look like a hand model now. I did not realize quite how embarrassed I was of my little bitten up nails until I saw this photo and felt like a million bucks! 

We took things pretty easy over the weekend and just caught up on errands and things. We went to see a movie, Adrift, which was terrible and reminded me why I just watch movies on planes when they're free and I'm trapped. It was pretty miserably hot here, though, so a movie was a good option.

"Coaching" Jackson at the range again

Jackson doesn't feel the heat if he's golfing, though. I did. It was still nice to be at River Glen again. I love it out there. You truly forget that you're in the middle of Fishers when you're on the course.

Finally, Chuy's with my friend Dan-Dan

I'd been craving Mexican food from Chuy's so my friend Dan-Dan and I met there for chips, salsa and margaritas. It was just what the doctor ordered. It is always so good to get away, but home is good for the soul, too! 

Plane movies

I like to keep track of the movies I watch on planes so that I can either recommend them or tell you to stay far away! Between the flight from Indy to Paris, Zurich to ATL and ATL to IND, I had ample time to watch a few. Here goes:

12 Strong. 12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.

It was just OK. I love anything having to do with special forces, but this one was just kind of long.

Ingrid Goes West.An unhinged social media stalker moves to LA and insinuates herself into the life of an Instagram star.

This film was so odd that I made Jackson watch it so that we could discuss it. Odd. Odd. Odd.

The Post. A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government.

This was a pretty interesting film. The actors were incredible.

Forrest Gump. The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, Vietnam, Watergate, and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75.

I've been obsessed with Forrest Gump since it came out in 1994. I've owned it on VHS and DVD. I've likely seen it 35 times. We watched it dubbed in French last time we were in Paris and I still enjoyed it then. This was the first time that I'd watched it as a tried and true adult and some of its nuances were more evident to me this time. I think it is one of the top five movies of all time.

Blind. A novelist blinded in a car crash which killed his wife rediscovers his passion for both life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.

This movie had a powerhouse cast yet I'd never heard of it. It was really a good film! 

Thank you for your Service. A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they've left the battlefield.

Wow. This movie was hard to watch, but very important. I think it should be required viewing.

Marshall. The story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THIS MOVIE. YOU NEED TO SEE IT. NOW. GO. GO. GO. 

I've been obsessed with the Supreme Court for as long as I can remember. In middle school I was selected to give the dedication speech when my school was renamed from "Justice Middle School" to "Justice Thurgood Marshall Middle School" so I spent a lot of time reading about Justice Thurgood Marshall back then and have been a fan ever since. The more I learn about him, the cooler it is that we named our school for him!

Home Again. Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.

I don't remember seeing ads for this movie! It was a super cute chick flick. I love Reese!

Life and Death Row: Arkansas.  The state of Arkansas planned to execute eight condemned men over an 11-day period in April 2017. It had been 12 years since the state’s last execution, and following the announcement, Governor Asa Hutchinson made a surprising disclosure: the executions had been scheduled due to the imminent expiry of a batch of lethal injection drugs.

This was a three hour documentary showing both the prisoners' side of the story and the loved ones of the victims' side of the story. I found it to be especially interesting that it was done by BBC and not an American news station. I'm not sure most people would find this as interesting as I did. Admittedly it was so intense that I did watch only half on the way there and finished on the way home.

As you've just read, I saw a ton of movies on these flights. This is the main reason we don't generally pay to see movies anymore. It is more fun to just be excited to see something while you're stuck on a plane and with my fancy headphones it is likely a better sound experience than in a theatre. 

Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne, Switzerland and HOME

We got up early to hit the road from Bern to Lucerne. We knew we wanted to spend some of the day between the two cities in an area called Lauterbrunnen. We did not err in the judgement. It was the most gorgeous area. Our weather was PERFECT, too.

Mountains and waterfalls? Yes, please.

YEP.

"I'm taking a shower"

Petefish.

An adorable, traditional Swiss home

Valley views

We were pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive parking was at only $1 per hour so we paid our fee, parked the car and got out to explore. We found that you could hike up to and behind the waterfall so off we went!

Mocking his mother at the beginning of a tunnel
*Susan is afraid of tunnels

Behind the waterfall

Petefish

I hadn't taken into account the fact that my hair may get wet during this adventure so I had to improvise and use my scarf (it had been a little chilly that morning) as a shield for my hair. I kind of forgot about it until we went to snap a photo and there I was with my scarf on still. We are cracking up in the photo shown above here.

The view from behind the waterfall

Views from the hike

The water was MOVING

Jackson

My hair hated the waterfall...everyone else loved it! ;)

My hair being wrecked was totally worth it for the views. The little hike up to and behind the waterfall was really well maintained and pretty quick. We never luck into hikes like that! ;)

Gorgeous!!!!

Proving the background isn't fake! 

We decided to walk into town to try to find lunch as we still had time left on our parking meter. We were trying to spend through the last of our Swiss Francs as we were headed home the next day so we were down to $5.80. Jackson stopped at a wurst stand charging $6 so we were short. The friendly Swiss man took pity on us and spotted him the 20 cents. Jackson was happy as a clam!

Jackson found a wurst stand.
This should surprise no one.

Since we were out of currency (darn! HA!), we had to go to the grocery store to grab lunch for me. They have excellent prepared foods sections at the stores here so I got a pasta salad and a pretzel roll for us to both nosh on. I should have gotten two pretzel rolls as things got fierce when it came to sharing that delicious goodness. We found a bench and sat down to enjoy our food before hitting the road again. We could not have asked for a more gorgeous place to have a little lunch.

What a happy little picnicker
Please note the pretzel roll that was
likely my share that he ate!!

We took a quick drive over to Interlaken, a little town where we'd almost stayed, and found ourselves glad that we'd hit Lauterbrunnen first as it was much prettier and more our style. Then we got on the road to Lucerne as we still had about 75 minutes to go before we'd get there.

THIS IS A RANDOM SHOT TAKEN
ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
SWITZERLAND, GIVE IT UP!

There is too much beauty in this shot.

We arrived in Lucerne and parked our car in a garage just outside of city center. This proved to be a very wise move as the traffic in the city was insane. It had gotten to be a very warm day and the city was very crowded as it was Saturday afternoon. We walked over to see their famous lion sculpture, darn near got sucked into buying a cuckoo clock (I was thisclose as we'd heard the birds while we were hiking a few times this trip and the clocks were adorable but alas, I refrained) and then headed for the lake.

The aptly named, Lion Monument

Lucerne the city sits on the banks of Lake Lucerne and could not be more picturesque.

Lake Lucerne

Chapel Bridge

The city's historic Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) was originally built in 1333. YES. 1333. It was damaged by a fire in August, 1993 and was refurbished and back up and running by April,1994. Listen, the Swiss are efficient.

Another shot of Chapel Bridge

We did not do a lot in Lucerne. We just kind of walked around and took it all in. It was truly the busiest place we visited all trip. It made Paris look calm!

Lucerne

Notice the castle on the hill

A view from the bridge

What a handsome guy

After grabbing a quick gelato in a waffle cone (air conditioning for your mouth) and stopping in at Läderach (only the best chocolate shop on earth) to grab Susie some special chocolate treats for watching MacKenzie for us, we headed back to the car to navigate out of town to our hotel for the night. We'd booked a room in a hotel in the outskirts of Lucerne purposefully as we had kind of an early flight the next day out of Zurich and wanted to cut down on our morning drive.

An authentic Swiss restaurant 

Our location worked out really well and our Holiday Inn Express Affoltern am Albis (yep, we never quite got the pronunciation of the town down) was great. We walked from there into town for an authentic Swiss dining experience. We did not realize just how authentic it would be as the restaurant was the first that we visited the entire trip that did not have an English menu. CRAP! We stumbled around trying to order one beer and one tap water, then receiving two beers and no water, when we gave up and turned on our phone's service so we could have google translate. Praise Jesus for the internet! It was worth $10 to not be SO CONFUSED.

Junior DRINKING A BEER!!!!!

The mass confusion was well worth it once we'd received our orders. The restaurant was known for its cordon bleus and we were not let down by their offerings. I had the "lady's portion" (try getting away with calling it that in the United States- ha!!) of their original cordon bleu and Jackson had one with more of an Italian flare.

Even translated the menu was a bit confusing

I'd eat this meal daily. Thank you.

I refrained from ordering an additional batch of the noodles that came with my dinner. They were superb. Jackson's french fries were good, too. This was the first meal in our entire relationship (that we can recall) where I finished my meal first (remember, the lady sizing) and was picking at Jackson's plate. He does that to me nearly each meal. 

As we were out in the beer garden dining, a nice, young Swiss couple sat next to us. They eventually figured out that we spoke English and they spoke some so they learned over and chatted with us. Where were they during the ordering debacle?! It turned out the guy was going to California for six weeks shortly and was excited to practice his English. The girlfriend actually spoke English much better than he did and she kept translating. He started getting a little worried about his trip without her. We warned them that no place we'd been in the States offered menus in other languages so he'd better have Google translate at the ready like we did!They were super nice and we truly enjoyed chatting about our different countries with them. They were tired of Switzerland and found it boring. We told them it was a utopia and to be grateful. We also taught them about how if you don't have an opinion or you want to stay neutral on a subject here in the U.S. you just yell out, "I'm Switzerland" and no one bothers you. They found this hilarious. We eventually turned down doing shots with them, early flights and all, and headed back to our hotel for the evening. I think the random dinner was one of my favorite traveling experiences ever. It is good to be uncomfortable sometimes!

We got up early, fueled up the rental car and headed for the Zurich airport. It was a Sunday morning so this meant nothing was open and no one was on the roads. We made it there with ample time to spare. We went through security without any issue and actually found a restaurant making American-style omelets. What?! SCORE!! We shared an omelet and some awesome potatoes before boarding our flight bound for Atlanta. It would be a quick 10.5 hour flight back to the States. We watched a ton of movies (post on those coming) and just looked back on photos from the trip. We had such a great time!

Flying back home with happy hearts and fond memories

We got through customs in Atlanta without issue (the easiest we've ever gotten back into the country, honestly) and headed for the nearest restaurant selling ICED TEA. We found a Chipotle, ordered food like we'd never eaten before and marveled when the price was well-under $20. We are such dorks. I enjoyed every ounce of that tea before we boarded our quick flight to Indy. I watched most of a movie and we were home! We didn't check bags so we just walked from the airport to our waiting shuttle. We paid the astronomical parking bill and headed for home. It was still the early evening and we were able to get home, unpacked, laundry started and Susan dropped off MacKenzie before we climbed in for an early bedtime. What an awesome trip!!