Ann Arbor Art Fair

In the insanity of last week, we managed to cram in a visit to the Ann Arbor Art Fair right in between visiting with out of town friends, going to see our other friends' new baby and heading out of town for a weekend in Chicago. Our lives are usually rather boring, but not last week!

Nate's aunt Julia had a booth at the fair. Head on over to her website, Julia's Paintings, to see her fabulous work. She also has a blog, Time to Paint, where you can stay up to date on her local shows and art activities. Love her work!

We all really enjoyed the one-man band. Not quite as spunky as, Bert, from Mary Poppins, but quality entertainment! The kids loved dancing to rock band that was playing and they really enjoyed the corn dogs. Layla and Julius entertained their fair share of people as they jumped, twisted, shook and danced around. Those kids have no shame.

Long-Time Friends

Our family had the chance to visit last week with some friends that live about 5 hours away. Mary has been my best friend since first grade. We had the pleasure of going to school together all the way through high school. I miss her terribly, but we are both convinced that in order to see each other more often we would need to live on the same street! Maybe someday! That would be dreamy.

Our family, Mary, her husband, Matt, and their three children all met us at a local state park. We chowed on pizza while the kids ran around and got incredibly sweaty. Matt and Mary's kids are all about the same ages as ours, so they match up pretty good. I hadn't seen Mary in about a year and a half. It makes me sad to even write that. It is always great to see good friends, no matter how long it has been, because you always feel so comfortable around them. Thanks for the visit, Matt and Mary. Maybe we can head down your way sometime and invade your house!

Chi-town!

The kids' first ride on the "L"
Do you think they enjoyed themselves!?!

More Chicago pics to come.

Sleeping Beauty

A Hot Summer Evening

The boys cool off during an evening bath while Layla devours a book.

Late July Blooms

These Curls

are only here during the hot, humid days of summer. I am trying to enjoy them while they last.

A Three-Year Old Gets a Haircut...

...and gives a haircut - to his daddy! Not bad for a such a little guy!
Nate, you are a brave man!

Pure Summer

Nate entered this photo recently in a local contest. We are not ones to usually enter photo contests, but a random bit of watermelon eating inspired Nate to carve out good ol' Michigan from our summer time snack. For fun we took some pics with his phone and sent them to friends and family. One friend suggested that we enter it into a contest. The original phone pictures were really bad, so we staged this one to make it a bit more appealing. As fun as this picture looks, it pales in comparison to the amazing photos entered by most others in the contest. So we are pretty confident there will be no prize money earned here, but we had fun and hopefully entertained a few in the process. Enjoy your summer!

Favorite Perch