Wedding #3 (or #4, depending...)

I told everyone this summer that in July we had 4 weddings and a musical (nevermind that one of those weddings was in June and we didn’t even go, it still sounded funny).  This weekend was the fourth and final wedding, and it was a great way to close the season.  Our friends James and Jessa were the lucky couple and they got married in the park right on the Huron River, with the sun glinting off ripples in the water and light breeze keeping the attendants as cool as possible.  We may have gone a little crazy at the party.  We (along with Curtis, Patty, Sara and an unnamed little girl) were the last to leave the dance floor at midnight.  The really amazing thing is that with all of those weddings, at least one of them should have suffered a rain storm or something, but it didn’t happen.  This wedding was just as sunny and bright as the others.  Fantastic.  And now on to the musical, Sondheim’s Into the Woods, musical direction by Jon.  Actually, they have already been rehearsing for the entire month of July, but the opening night is Thursday.  It’s going to be a busy week.

Art Fair in Ann Arbor

Every year, on the third Wednesday of July, Ann Arborites everywhere (in Ann Arbor) run for the hills (up north, on a lake, anywhere but here) as visitors from all over the country swarm onto our streets and our restaurants.  Yep, it’s Art Fair week.  Maybe we’re masochistic, or maybe just plain crazy, but we never leave town during Art Fair.  In fact, we met at a swing dance the night of the first day of Art Fair, so we kind of see it is a floating anniversary.    Every year we join the Ophoff family for lunch and then peruse the fair throughout the afternoon and into the evening on opening day.  And every year we buy ourselves an anniversary gift there.  The first year, a cutting board, the second year the letters of our name in photographs, and this year?  A giant stuffed turtle.  Yes you guessed it, we are regressing in age.  But we also got a beautiful safari photograph for the large blank space above our bed.  This picture is fantastic and has been treated to make it appear a little like an oil painting.  It will be like waking up on an African safari every day of the week (without the bugs)!  Suddenly we have an urge to fly overseas and actually go on a safari, but that will be some ways off in the future.  Ah, well, it never hurts to dream.

Making it up to our zoo

It wouldn’t have felt right to go to visit the animals in Toledo this weekend but not go say hello and “hey, we’re back in town” to our favorite critters at the Detroit Zoo.  Besides, the capybara, prairie dogs and polar bear would miss us!  And the distance is about the same, so we plan to visit Toledo again, but the animals in Detroit are really our favorites (yes, we are aware that playing favorites is a big no-no, but what are you going to do?).  Besides, we keep figuring that the more times we visit, the more likely we are to actually see the Aardvark do something! (still waiting…)
But there is always something new going on there.  This time we got to see the anteaters attacking a log with their huge claws.  And we finally got to see one of the new white rhinos!  They arrived a few weeks ago and have been taking some time to get used to their surroundings before coming out to say hello.  We can’t wait to go back next weekend in hopes that the other one will be out, too! (and maybe the Aardvark.  Still waiting…)

Cheating on our zoo

Yesterday we abandoned our Detroit Zoo furries and accompanied some friends from church to the Toledo Zoo where they are members.  We loved the hippos, who have a large pool where we got to see them swim and play from a viewing area half under the water.  Did you know that hippos actually play when they have room?   We also got to see the baby elephant nurse which is a treat not often stumbled upon (again, this is why we visit so often... something new every time).  They also have cheetahs (one of our new favorites, since the babies in D.C,)!  Our favorite part, though, was probably the African Savannah, which is a very large field with multiple species co-existing (giraffes, antelope, guinea fowl, etc.).  We ate in the African village nearby and went on a safari (train ride) that went all the way around it for better views.  It brought back fond memories of the San Diego Wild Animal Park (by the way - if you’re ever in southern Cal, we highly recommend it).

Wedding #2

Woo hoo!  Another day without being lost!  We got up early this morning and made it home by about noon thirty, which was good because then we got to take a nap before heading out for the second wedding of the weekend:  Kate and Alerk’s.  Once again, a fabulous wedding!  Alerk’s family is Indian and many of them wore traditional clothing and his cousins did a traditional dance after dinner.  Both ceremony and reception were held at the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn, which is a wonderful house steeped in history.  It felt a little like The Great Gatsby; dancing in the ballroom and spilling out onto the terrace and towards the bar.  The only real difference?  The Indian techno music!