Annual Summer Mooch

Hey and happy July! How was your Fourth (if you celebrated independence from those dastardly British oppressors)? We enjoyed ourselves in the Mid-West where we celebrated the annual week-long mooch off of our families. Ironic, isn't it? Let's pay homage to our American Independence from the imperial parent country by freeloading for many days at our parents'! A winning idea. So what do you talk about when you get together with your parents, if you also live distantly from them? We've lived > 1000 miles from any family for the past 10+ years, and I'm always surprised that even after months of not seeing one another face to face...it's still pretty anticlimactic. It's wonderful, but it's not like I imagine the pioneers experienced in their sweet reunions with parents after having to part to go find their destinies and then maybe doubling back after they'd set up house for a few years in the New World.

Wow, I am on a kick with talk of colonization today. Oosh.

Anyway, Loverpants and I identified two major themes in our recent chats with parents:

1. Wholesale Shopping Clubs 2. Birds

That's right. All of our parents, at some point, talked at length about their membership or acquisitions at Sam's Club, Costco, etc. AND made mention of birds. My old man was overheard saying, "It's been a great summer for birds, hasn't it?" It was a pretty raucous time, as you can imagine.

Oh, we also talked about this:

(Wuz'n me!)

Other topics of interest included: - How patently awesome Cleveland, Ohio is - How patently awesome Ann Arbor, Michigan is

Evidence of the above:

"If you don't know what you're doing, do it neatly." Truth.

Loved the matching walls + ceiling fan panes

With Amelia, Loverpants' favorite camper, taken in Corktown - Detroit's oldest neighborhood

Coasting toward home plate at Old Detroit Stadium

Vernor's Float. MidWest at its Best.

What I do with watermelons in my in-laws' kitchen. (Thanks, Jensa ;)) Poor, carefree swimmer...

Chillin' at the botanical gardens at the U of Michigan.

Waiting for her knight in shining armor. Oh wait! Look! He's here! At the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Clown Cone - Malley's, Cleveland

Li'l Skipper

Joke all you want about Cleveland. This is how I see it.