This is where Nathan works. This entrance gate is one of eight on the Dow Campus. Nathan walks here everyday. He works on the 5th floor of the tall building in the background. Dow is HUGE and owns just about everything in Midland.
Nathan took me out to the tastiest (and fanciest) restaurant in Midland. When Sampson and I arrived I threw on a dress and we scooted out to make our reservation. The name of the restaurant was "Table." We shared a fabulous bottle of Stella Pinot Grigio, (which we highly recommend!) and then enjoyed our dinner. At Table you order a first and a second course. So, I started with a crab and avocado salad then had a grilled tenderloin and finished up with a few bites of a chocolate dessert with fresh organic fruit sorbet and an espresso! Nathan started with a delicious quail appetizer and then duck breast for dinner, followed by the other bites of the chocolate and fruit sorbet dessert and french press coffee. We were so stuffed but it was well worth it! I wish I had taken photos of the restaurant and the food, but I knew that we'd get some strange looks. Just imagine beautifully plated small portioned meals and two very happy people eating them! When we got home, we found Sampson like this on the bed. Apparently traveling in the back seat of the car just takes it out of him!
On Saturday morning we met another Michigan intern, Beth, and her 6 month old puppy, Maddux, at the Midland Dog Park. Sampson and Maddo (as Beth refers to him) had a great time rolling around and chasing each other. It was pretty rainy so they ended up getting soaked, so Sampson got a nice bath once we got home. This picture shows what they did most of the time. Wrestled. Rolled. Ran. Dropped. Wrestled. Rolled. Ran...you get the picture! (Thanks again for meeting up with us Beth!)
After two hours at the dog park, we headed out for Skydive Michigan. That's right, you heard me, Skydive Michigan. You may not know this about me, but I've been skydiving before and loved it...so it was Nathan's turn to join in on the fun this time! Here is a photo of him in training for his Assisted Free Fall. Basically, instead of jumping tandem (hooked up to a professional) he will be jumping out of the plane solo (two professionals jump simultaneously just in case something happens), pulling his own parachute and steering himself to the ground. He's standing with Warren (the professional skydiver), Jess (a Dow worker) and Logan (a Dow BBA intern).
This is my "Oh my GOD what I am thinking doing this again pose!"
I went up first to jump so Nathan and I took a picture together. He made sure to tell me that he loved me 18 times...I told him it would have been a beautiful wedding. Ha!
Floating down with Chuck, or Up-Chuck as I affectionately called him. Ironically he was filling in for another Skydive Michigan employee that was on vacation this week. Chuck is originally from Chester, South Carolina and works at Skydive Carolina where I made my first jump! He knows Tim, my first tandem jumper...how crazy is that!
You may be wondering "Where are Nathan's skydiving photos?" Well, the winds picked up right after I jumped (and Ringo Starr landed at the airport in his private jet...true story...I had to wait up in the clouds to jump until Ringo's plane landed.) Well, for AFF jumps they don't let new-comers jump if the winds are above 14 miles per hour...the winds were 17 mph. Bummer. We waited it out for awhile, but it just kept getting faster. Nathan called Sunday morning to see if he could jump, but alas, the wind was horribly fast at 20 mph today. I was so upset to not see his first jump, but he promises to take pictures so I can still post them for all of you to see! (Don't forget Natie!!!!)
After waiting for what seemed like FOREVER we headed home and Nathan jumped right in bed with Sampson who was out cold from his morning at the dog park!
We ate dinner at home...a Maize and Blue sub from Nathan's favorite Ann Arbor restaurant, Maize and Blue. I had one made for him when I left work on Friday and stored it in a cooler up to Midland. It was still tasty on Saturday! After dinner we decided to grab some ice cream at Great Lakes Ice Cream Company. It's a family owned and run ice cream shop with a bunch of different hard ice cream and sorbet flavors. They had a 2 for $5.99 waffle cone special so we got two different flavors and switched back and forth! I chose Rocky Mud Bottom Fudge (vanilla ice cream with almonds, fudge brownies and toffee...to DIE for!) and Nathan chose Copper Country (espresso ice cream with chocolate chips and fudge brownie...sinful and worth every bite!). It was delicious and the perfect dessert for a beautiful summer night in Midland!
We took Sampson with us to get the ice cream so we could walk in the neighborhoods around the ice cream shop. Nathan was sweet enough to take this picture for me...we were walking on Love Street...my big ol' head is covering the street sign of course, but I promise that's where we were walking!
One of the houses in Midland had these outside their house. I just had to take a picture to share with you all. I think they're so cute...they just scream small midwestern town to me!
After our ice cream filled walk we dropped Sampson off at home and headed to downtown Midland. We were planning to grab a drink at a local jazz bar called Molly's, but apparently the music ends at 9 when the bar closes...bummer! We ended up walking around downtown Midland window shopping. Instead of sitting in a different smoky bar we decided to buy drinks and a movie to enjoy at home (we watched Vantage Point...it was great!).
On Sunday we woke up and headed to the Outlet Mall, Birch Run. We hit stores like The North Face, Pottery Barn, Banana Republic and Brooks Brothers. I was in awe as we left and I hadn't purchased a single thing. Nathan got a really nice pair of leather shoes from Banana Republic that he instantly put on...they're just like dock shoes but even nicer! We drove back to Midland and bummed around the neighborhood with Sampson before dinner. Nathan took me to a local Mongolian Barbeque restaurant, Ghengis Khan Mongolian (like Charlies from Evansville...past post). It was delicious but oh-so-filling! I love watching them make your dinner on that super hot mongolian grill!
Sampson was exhausted from his busy weekend in Midland. He went on several walks, a long trip to the dog park and some exploring in a nearby playyard. This is the pose he struck once we started our trip back to Ann Arbor. After Nathan took this photo we headed out of town and Sampson was snoring like a nobody's business by the time we hit the highway.
We had a great time exploring Midland. I can't wait to go back in August!
3 comments:
Oh my gosh! You went skydiving!!! That's so stinkin' awesome! I have become such a baby about doing scary stuff now, what has happened to me?! Your trip to midland looks like so much fun and I can't believe how big Sampson is getting! What a cutie!
Looks like you had such a fantastic weekend! I am so jealous of all of your "couple time." I guess that is what 2.5 kids does to you! :) I hope all is well! We need to catch up sometime soon - are you up for a date for a phone call?
You sky-divin' diva! I wish I had the guts!
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