Speechless

Last night my son came into the kitchen after dinner with a pile of money in his hands.  He dumped the money on the table and began looking through a brochure.  After a minute or so he began asking questions like, "what animal should I send money in for?"  I wondered what this line of questioning might mean for me (in terms of work :-) and time)...but then realized it was a Heifer International pamphlet and my kid was looking to spend some of his allowance to buy an animal for a needy family. I'm speechless.

Zoo babies...

My "babies" have loved the zoo (every zoo we came near) for many years, but now that they are growing up those trips to the zoo seemed to be gone forever.  BUT, this summer our zoo had a litter of four baby Siberian Tigers, and this we could not resist!!!  Above, if you look closely, you can see two cubs and the mama taking very good care!  Hard to imagine Siberian tigers as gentle, but I guess we're all a little protective when it comes to our babies!

The clarinet, the clarinet...

 We actually could identify the tune of Jingle Bells the other day!  How exciting! 

There is still the occasional squeak, but what's life without some unexpected surprises.  After all the Christmas concert is still a few weeks away!

Just a couple of kids in love...

 We celebrated our 18th anniversary in Chicago, the birthplace of our romance.  We enjoyed the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier and sailed the tall ship Windy as pictured below.

 The Chicago skyline was lovely at sunset, especially while sailing along on Lake Michigan!

My daughter broke into tears today because our plans for camping on Labor Day (Labour Day for our Canadian readers) were cancelled due to rain.  I wanted to burst into tears myself (mostly because I'd already done most of the preparatory work), but I pulled myself together and helped my 10-year-old pull herself together.  What a bummer!

Spent a lovely weekend with the love of my life in Chicago.  Visited the Art Institute (where we had our first date about 21 years ago) ate Chicago style pizza at Giordanos (best in the world!) and sailed on the tall ship Windy with the Chicago skyline outlined against the sunset.  Heavenly...  But, what made it all spectacular was my best friend and life partner, holding my hand...  even after 18 years of marriage!!! Sigh.

Minnesota camping!

Had a great time camping in Minnesota with our extended family.  Despite two nights of heavy rains, we were mostly dry in our tents.  We swam and caught sunfish, played games, learned about bats, and rode bikes.  It was a great camping experience!

This was Ben's first fish and it was so fun for Uncle Bret to share his love of fishing with another young convert.  Below, all-important nap-time!

We enjoyed holding our baby cousin, and had to share and take turns...  :-)

 

 A peaceful moment considering what to write in the journal!

 Tents that kept us dry during the storms!  Yay!

The tents held out despite the thunderstorms.  Above, the loaded down Jetta, which still managed to get about 30 mpg.  We filled every nook and cranny with some kind of camping gear!  Here we are heading home after four days of camping.