Recovering from a Tom Thumb stupor

We've been having a ball around here with Lee's parents in town. I'll post pictures of them later, but here's a little taste of the fair. We haven't been there in a couple of years, and I missed it!

Partly because these things...

...are a little taste of heaven...

...in a sack!

YUMMM!

And this guy had the nerve to get in the way of a great picture of my father-in-law (back on the left). He is a Minnesota icon. Eating a Pronto Pup. Because that's the way it should be. Does anyone NOT from Minnesota know who he is? If you are from MN, feel free to give me a hint that you know. ;-)

Turkeys got you down?

What do you do when the turkeys come knocking at your door?

(Or your neighbor's door.)

I just did what came naturally. Got my camera...

...and started shooting.

They got the message.

They high-tailed it right on outta there.

You know what they say:

"It's hard to soar with the eagles

when you're surrounded by turkeys."

BUT...

"Those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:31

Where's #4???

I'm not sure it's out in pink yet.

Wordless Wednesday: Look who came to dinner!

Hello??????

One night on our vacation, we went out to the end of a pier to watch one of the famous sunsets over Lake Michigan. We were glad we went early to get a good spot, because lots of people had the same idea. There were sort of two tiers--one to sit on...

...and then one right at the end of the pier. People were pretty perceptive about not staying on the end too long in front of all the people with cameras, so they would wander out there, take their photos, and move on.

Until these guys. Can you say oblivious? I so wanted to yell, "Hey, down in front!" Eventually the two guys on the right got a clue, but not their buddy. No, because he was...

...talking on the phone. Yes, he was. So here is this crowd, hushed (not to mention incredulous) with the impending sacred moment, and this guy is yacking away as if by himself, for all to hear. One woman even went and asked him if he would move, so he did...

...about five feet to his left. I was left with no choice but to take his picture. I wonder if he noticed that I was looking and shooting straight at him. After all, he had his back to the sunset. Mmm hmmm.

Speaking of poor judgement, this is apparently what happens to kids who misbehave while on vacation at Lake Michigan.

Summer Nights

One great thing about life on the tundra is that we know how to revel in summer. There is an unbelievable amount of things to do available at pretty much any given moment. This park is a great example. They have free music in the band shell probably five nights a week, and many days over the noon hour. And movies on the nights they don't have music.

A model yacht club sails their boats there, and once a year they have a night where people light them up and sail after dark, while the Sousa band plays the band classics. We had to check it out!

I can hardly wait to go again next year!

Let them eat cake!

If it's your birthday...

...and you are usually the cake baker at your house

...and your family thinks it's the perfect day for pancakes

(because what day isn't???)

It is perfectly acceptable to whip up some

Birthday Pancakes

and put sprinkles and stuff on the table

just in case...

...your family should happen to want to decorate them in a festive way...

because they might!

It is, after all, a special day.

They will probably even sing Happy Birthday!

Postcard from the Past

This little stretch of the journey took us back in time to the days when the 20th century was young. We spent two days in Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum, where Henry Ford very literally gathered some of the greatest minds and innovators to reinvent a community that would bring about unfathomable change within a few brief decades. It was wonderful, and anyone who goes to Detroit should definitely plan to spend a couple of days.

Although I am a color addict, and the place was beautifully vivid, these photos begged to take on their unique turn of the century flavor.

Postcard from the Tigers Game

If you know us very well, you know that Ben's passions are baseball and tigers, and that the best of his worlds come together in Detroit. It was a dream come true for him to get to see the Tigers play at Comerica park.

Doing their "Tiger pose" with Mickey.

Who apparently is a Tigers fan.

Aren't tigers cats?

Paws is so smart. He knows the kids' caps cover up their faces in the pictures.

He's got the solution for that. Thanks, Paws!

The Orioles scored five runs on Justin Verlander in the first inning. In fact, the first pitch was a home run. Ben was a little nervous, but kept his cool. The Tigers answered with three in the bottom of the first, and after that Verlander pitched a gem. By the end of the fifth inning, the score was tied 5-5, and stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth. Clete Thomas came to the plate with two out and went full count...

...then he crushed one straight into center field for a walk-off homer.

It was the kind of night that dreams are made of.

Postcard from Lake Michigan