A Stormy 34th

Awesome swimming weather.

Hi America.

Well, ol' Ma Hough up and had herself a 34th birthday today.  Didn't really do much of anything for it, really - we're a bit too old for that nonsense.  Nay, we happened to be in Clare for the weekend visiting with our respective parents and to brush up on the girls' swimming skills while the weather still somewhat permitted.)  Marcy ended up keeping the girls for the night, after a botched attempted at swimming at Dad and Cindy's, and Kris and I enjoyed a morning 'downtown' without the nuisance of offspring.

Check it out. . .

Perhaps not the best time to go swimming. . .

We ended up dropping the girls off to Marcy's earlier than anticipated, postponing the swimming until the following day.

The next morning - Kris' birthday.  Wouldn't be a drive through Clare without seeing these weirdos about.

Tea Party with Grandma Jordan outside her place. . .

Sooo. . . is the elephant a hired musician or something?

Definitely not a smart move leaving a hot pan on a fancy tablecloth. . .

One of the more awkward, forced selfies to be found on this blog.

Shortly before Kris left her Mom's, the girls presented her with her very own birthday cake that, clearly, they decorated themselves (and hell no, we didn't eat it.)

Kris wanted to spend the morning walking around downtown (Mama gets what Mama wants on her birthday, America), and so she decided we'd start by hitting up Cops and Doughnuts downtown. . .

Long story short, the Clare Police Department stepped in and bought the old City Bakery as it prepared to go under.  Some marketing lackey put 'Cops' and 'Doughnuts' together and - voila - the local community considered it a 'genius marketing move'. . . 'cause, as we all know, cops reportedly 'like' doughnuts.  Why this bakery suddenly took off only after the bakery's image was changed to reflect the association between pastries and police officers is beyond me - I think it speaks volumes to the idiocy of the local population.  But hey - that's just me.

No, Kris didn't write what she was arrested for - her handwriting isn't that bad.

After Kris got a doughnut and coffee from the former City Bakery, we walked around the shops downtown.  As could be expected, all of the craft-ish shops were comically over-priced.

The hustle and bustle of downtown Clare.

See that old clock hanging up to the left, there?  Someone found it in storage in one of the downtown buildings somewhere, had it cleaned up, and hung it back up downtown (I guess it used to hang downtown back in the 30s or 40s, thereabouts.)

My St. Patrick's Day stomping ground. . .

You never get tired of seeing this.

The White House: an institution of fine dining.

One of Clare's more iconic building (though I forget which church this is.)  Anyway, after walking around downtown for awhile, we picked up the girls and swam for a bit before heading back to Midland.  And that's how we spent Kris' 34th birthday.

- Brian