Summer Days Drifting Away...

It's hard to believe that it's mid-August already. Though our schedule is not tied to the academic year just yet, there's still a sense that summer is almost over, despite the fact that fall doesn't officially begin for almost six weeks. Here's a little summary of what we've been up to the last couple months...

We kicked off wedding season at the end of June with a trip to Lexington, Kentucky for Jeff's college roommate's wedding. We were a bit concerned about the long car ride, since Juan Pablo only has about a 20-minute tolerance level for his carseat, but armed with a computer and plenty of Baby Einstein DVDs, we made it there with almost no complaints. We snuck in a stop at the Cincinnati Zoo on the way down, which helped too. (It may not be totally obvious from the picture, but Juan Pablo is kissing a goat in the picture below.)

Once we arrived, we had a very happy boy on our hands. Lexington is the horse capital of the world, and so for our horse-obsessed toddler, this was heaven. There were pictures of horses on billboards and on the walls of the hotel, real horses grazing in fields along the roads, statues of horses around town...it was pretty much a dream come true. And we were staying in a four star hotel in downtown Lexington, so it was pretty much a dream come true for me too. There's nothing better than leaving in the morning, and coming back to a completely clean room later in the day. I wish that happened at our house.

The wedding was great, and it was especially fun to see all of Jeff's college roommates again. We had planned to come back on Sunday, the day after the wedding, but since we were having so much fun, and the hotel was a steal on hotwire.com, we decided to stay one more day. We made a stop at the Kentucky Horse Park, which was almost too much for Juan Pablo. There were just so many horses, and ones that he could actually pet, that he just didn't know what to do with himself. He was so overexcited and overstimulated that he instantly fell asleep in the car after we left.

On the way back up, we stopped at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio. The most exciting thing about that was definitely the water table, although I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Juan Pablo or Jeff. Juan Pablo definitely got more wet, despite the waterproof apron he was wearing. We had just planned to go to Kentucky for the wedding, but we were pleasantly surprised that Juan Pablo did so well in the car, that there were great places to stop along the way, that Lexington ended up being such a fun place for all of us, and that we were able to take an extra day to turn the trip into a vacation, even if it was just for a long weekend.

As much fun as vacation is, there really is no place like home. Especially when home is Ann Arbor. On a Fourth of July Saturday. We kicked off Juan Pablo's first 4th of July on American soil with a parade downtown. Juan Pablo especially enjoyed all the goodies the various groups give out...

After the parade we walked over to the Farmer's Market, had a coffee (and croissant for Juan Pablo) at Sweetwater's in Kerrytown, then spent some time at Mudpuddles, the toy store upstairs. On the way back to the car, we stumbled on some live music in Liberty Plaza, and Juan Pablo had a great time dancing. I have no idea who the band was, but Juan Pablo is a huge fan. We also introduced Juan Pablo to the cube on campus, which he thoroughly enjoyed, although I kept freaking out that he was going to get whacked in the head as the cube spun around.

Later that week, we had more Ann Arbor family fun listening to the Ann Arbor Civic Band play at the West Park bandshell. It was their annual children's concert, with the highlight being the teddy bear parade at the end. The kids all bring their teddy bears, and then march around the park to the music, and get a bag of animal crackers at the end. Juan Pablo took the whole thing very seriously, actually lifting his knees as he marched, and making his bear clap in time to the music.
The following weekend we decided to go across the state to Grand Haven for a day at the beach, and a visit to one of my good friends from college and her family. (Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so no pictures, sorry). Juan Pablo absolutely loved the beach. He immediately ran right into Lake Michigan, despite the fact that the water was so cold and there were waves over his head. After a while of playing in the waves, his teeth were chattering and his lips were blue, but when we'd ask if he wanted to get out, he would say "No. Over there!" and point out to the water. We did convince him to get out of the water and play in the sand for a while. Jeff pointed out the beaches must be paradise for toddlers...it's fun to play in a sandbox or a pool, but only at the beach do you get to play with sand and water together!

Unfortunately, the week after our beach trip, Juan Pablo came down with a really bad cold...which of course he gave to me...and then one (or both) of us gave to Jeff. The whole thing lasted three weeks, during which we had two more weddings. Juan Pablo was such a trooper and for the most part managed to be his usual, happy, energetic self through the late nights of dancing and partying, despite his runny nose and lack of sleep. We had a great time at both weddings, and especially loved getting to show off our little boy to our friends....and watch him show off his dance moves to anyone who happened to be around. After two weekends of weddings, as great as they were, it was a nice change of pace to have a more casual, peaceful weekend the first weekend in August. We were able to spend some time at a house on a lake in nearby Chelsea with our good friends, the Millers. As is always the case with them, there was lots of great conversation, great laughs, and great food.

This past weekend we celebrated Juan Pablo's 2nd birthday, which deserves its own post, so I will leave that for another time. And summer is not over yet...