Death, taxes, and rain during Art Fair

Art Fair opening day.  It's been a tradition in Jon's family for many years, and has been part of my life as well for all of the eight years that I've known him.  Sure, lots of locals avoid the Art Fair like the plague, but we run straight for it the day it arrives.  For us it's a chance to spend time with family that we see, well, once every July.  It's also an excuse to gorge ourselves on pizza (during the annual Cottage Inn lunch) and to window (or tent) shop our way through art we can appreciate but can't afford.  This year we were fortunate enough to snag the entire day to spend traversing the many corridors of varying artistic abilities, tactile, visual, and auditory.  It's always fun to look for artists you've seen in years past, and also to recognize new booths and new talents.  Strangely enough it wasn't ninety degrees this year, and it didn't rain buckets, either.  Instead we enjoyed coolish temperatures, a mostly cloud covered sun, and, except for a five minute downpour in the afternoon, an incredibly dry day.  Unfortunately, a combination of the economy and the forecast of scattered thunderstorms kept the crowds to a relatively minimum–good for us, not so much for the artists–and there were far fewer people wading their way through the crowds carrying unwieldy bundles of unique purchases (the upside of which is the lessened risk of having your eye poked out by someone's art on a stick).  But even if there were fewer eye catching (or eye threatening) moments in the crowd, there were certainly several stand outs punctuating our enjoyment of the day:  the Michael Jackson impersonator was a particular favorite of Calvin's (and maybe all of ours); Calvin and Auntie Rite's performance of an MJ rain dance for the fifty or so people gathered under the LS&A overhang during the short downpour; the ludicrous, but enjoyable, entertainment at the corner of William and State in the form of dancing pizza, water, banana, and carrot.  There were some more serious stand outs, too, like the beautiful 8 car wooden train that Calvin came home with (thanks to his doting grandparents), our group's gorgeous jewelry purchases (also a yearly tradition), the bronzed rabbit with the huge ears (that we did not purchase), and the magnificent purple wood we kept seeing everywhere (made from the purple heart tree–we learn something new every year).  And that about sums up our 2009 Art Fair experience.

The laundry is done

Ahhh, vacation, you were very much our friend this time around, and parting was such sweet sorrow, as was returning home to mounds of laundry and empty cupboards.  We spent five days basking in the sun (and one day of clouds) in Holland, Michigan, staying only 115 steps (the vertical kind) from the beach.  I love the sound of the waves, the sight of the sunset, and the cool breeze that comes off the lake, not to mention the feel of sand between the toes and frigid (oh so frigid!) water on the ankles.  When we visited in May my parents came with us, and this time we were joined by Jon's parents for a few days.  We grilled, we sipped wine, we walked the beach, we hunted for stones, and some of us even swam and constructed sand castles, sand pancakes, and sand hamburgers (or something of that sort).  Calvin delighted in having his grandparents to dote on him, and we delighted in a little extra adult company, plus a little extra alone time, which we filled with pretending to be able to play tennis on the condo court, which was, thankfully, rather private.  Unbelievably we actually had wonderful weather during all of our waking moments.  Though Friday was overcast the rain held off until the wee hours of the next morning when a storm swept across the lake with the violence of driving rain, blinding lightning, and a power outage that lasted just long enough to force us out to eat in order to get our morning coffee.  then the clouds cleared, leaving us with two more days as brilliantly sunny as the first.  Five days was just the right amount of time away, and while we enjoyed every minute of those days, we also enjoyed the thought of spending that next night at home in our own beds.  That did not, however, stop us from spending all of the last day soaking up the sun and lake air before heading home just before sunset on the final day.  Thankfully it's an easy drive and we have an angel of a child, who handled the whole vacation like a happy, well adjusted pro.  And now that the extra vacation laundry is done, real life is welcome to resume.

Jiggity Jig

As in home again, home again, after five delightful days spent in Holland on beautiful Lake Michigan.  I will come back and post about the trip as soon as I am able to dig my way out from under the mountain of laundry.  How do we produce more laundry over five days of vacation than over five days at home?  It's a complete mystery.  If you can explain this phenomenon to me, please let me know.

For now, here are a few of our favorite shots, and the rest of pictures are already up in the Holland trip, July 2009 album.

Going by with a bang

July already?  Really?  Every other year it seems like by this time summer is already beginning to wear out its welcome, with temperatures reaching, and staying in, the mid to high 80s, and grasses and other greenery losing their spring crispness.  This time last year we were working like crazy putting in new gardens.  In fact, the weekend of the fourth we spent collected rocks from a local farm digging out foot upon foot of clay and sod to put in the rain garden.  This year we've barely begun any massive garden work, other than the never ending weeding and water and the planting of the edibles, and the temperatures sure haven't cooperated.  Only a few days has it seemed warm enought o venture to the lake or fill up our little pool, and I honestly miss those sweltering nights when open windows just aren't enough and I'd like to knock down all the walls to get some air in the house.

So the fourth of July snuck up on us this year.  I could have sworn it was still mid June, and here we were, buying leftover fireworks at road side stand along with all the other procrastinators, only hours before dark on the holiday itself.  The fourth is especially special in our house because it is also grandpa's (as in Calvin's, not mine) birthday, making a true family occasion.  Even more especially special was the fact that Uncle Curtis (as in Calvin's, not mine) was in town for the weekend with his friend, Julie, so we got some extra party fun in.  We spent the fourth with my Aunt and Uncle (mine, not Calvin's), enjoying a delightful dinner at their house, and we spent the following day at my parents' house, playing frisbee and watching golf with Curtis and Julie.  It was everything a holiday weekend should be, and more.  Now if only the summer would slow down so we could enjoy it...

More holiday weekend photos in the July 2009 album..

Fathers, family, and fun

We absolutely love to celebrate with our family and have been fortunate  not only to have many family members nearby, but also in that they are often ready and willing to come to our house for special occassions (because let's face it, it's easier to enjoy yourself with you toddler in his own environment).  Fathers' Day was different only in that we were lucky enough to add a couple of family members from farther away, my uncle Smokey from up north and cousin Abby from California, an increase in numbers that only greatly added to the evenings enjoyment.  Opa played with Calvin, us girls tried out Guitar Hero, and my uncle Jack made good friends with our cat Cookie.  We played some of our favorite music, a collection of folk and rock from days gone by, including some Beatles for Oma, and looked through the photo albums of our childhood years as a way to include the dads in our lives who could not be with us.  We grilled sausages and veggie burgers (for Aunt Ann and Oma), served with tabouleh and asparagus, and finished off with fresh strawberry shortcake.  Mostly we just had a great time sharing jokes, anecdotes, and memories, because that's what families are for, and that's why we love have them surround us whenever we can.  And we'd like to thank our families for being willing to share their holidays with us, for the wonderful foods they bring to share along with their laughter and fun, and for all the ways they make our special celebrations so much brighter.

We hope everyone had a wonderful fathers' day!