How do you spell weekend if you are in Whitting, Indiana???...
P-I-E-R-O-G-I!!!!!!!!!
Danielle and I spent Friday night at the new family ranch in Crown Point, IN. After spending some good quality "family time" and even "antiquing" with my father(that was a last minute decision on his part...not mine!)...we headed over to experience all that is PIEROGI.

The in-laws are back in town...and that means...HARD YARD WORK!!!! Just kidding!
They worked their magic in our "desperate landscape" by creating what you see below, all in two afternoons. We are very lucky to be able to reap the benefit of their talents when it comes to creating beautiful arrangements. The front yard has been waiting EIGHT LONG YEARS to look this good. You really need to see it to appreciate. One thing you need to know about the cost of this project...it cost approx. $600. For most, it would be more, but due to some "unauthorized" procurement of 50% of the vegetation see below, it cost less. I can't answer anymore questions...I plead the 5th. By the way, we did make many trips to Home Depot and Menards, as well as "The Barn Nursery" in Crystal Lake to purchase the other 50%.

Front yard

Front & Side yard

Front View #2

Side view #2
...all the way at the back

To those of you that have been waiting for a new post we appreciate your patience. That's you Amy Casselberry! The Zapchenks have been busy and things are great. A few weeks ago, Eric and I made our way up to Appleton, WI to see my parents and bid my brother Geoff adieu to Bayou La Batre, Alabama! Geoff will be working as a site director for his job with Youthwerks and hoping to start a shrimpin' business. Our main objective was to help my parents get their yard in order. If you haven't seen my parents garden, it is amazing and they have been spotlighted in the Appleton Post Crescent. So...with a couple trips to Menards, 200 bags of mulch and flowers planted in 40+ pots, we finally put a small dent into what needed to be done. Along with the gardening, my Dad likes to find new tools to rent. This time, it was an extendable chainsaw to cut high tree branches. This was the best tool for him since it included safety gear and the blade was at least five feet away from him at all times. Here is a stunning picture of Rick Derks in his tree cutting attire.

To wrap up Saturday, we all went to George's Steakhouse for a special night out. George's is one of those old time steakhouses that have a little appetizer bar (spreadable cheese and macaroni salad with a sneeze guard,) oil lamps and a piano shaped bar. Classy! We had a great time and I think our server enjoyed our group.

Let's see...we have also had two WIND events since our last entry, Obama the first 100 Days and The Two Fore Tee Golf outing. This was our first golf outing for the station and it was a long day. Eric and I were up at 2:30am for a morning remote broadcast...(luckily I did get to sleep after set up for a couple of hours) but then registration started at 11am and golf at 12:30pm. Did anyone know that an 18 hole course takes almost 5 hours. Take up minature people it is less time consuming. The day wrapped at 8pm after a chaotic dinner including live and silent auction items being bid on by guys that have had a little too much to drink on the course. Maybe that is the end goal, but it sure was crazy.

We hope everyone is doing well and will do our best at keeping you up to date as we head into the summer months. Love Danielle and Eric