We went to see a Tilly and the Wall concert with Kelli and Tyson on Wednesday night.  They were a fun band.  We might have liked it a little more if we hadn’t had to wait until almost midnight for them to take the stage.  I think the best part was the girl that tap danced on stage the entire concert.  

I’m still not quite sure what was going on, but there was a camera set up at the concert and people were jumping around getting action shots.  I was a little hesitant at first, but it was free and jumping into weird poses for the cameral turned out to be a lot of fun.  If you want to see more of these silly shots and some of the most horrible faces I think I may have ever made caught by camera, click here.

After hours of explosive thunder, wild wind, and heavy rain last night, our neighborhood was a little beat up.  This is what we found just around the corner on the way to work.  I couldn’t even walk on the side walk in a some places because there were so many tree branches and debris on the path.  I feel so bad for the owners of the minivan.  I hope their insurance will help them out.

Mark and me in front of the beautiful Nauvoo temple

Sarah, me, and Ruby’s backside right before the pageant began (you can also see a really cute little girl dressed up like a pioneer with a little white bonnet on the left)

i don’t see anything but a circle. what about you?

i’ve been made fun of enough at jobs, shopping trips, and other times in my life for discerning color, so i guess this at least makes it official: i am colorblind.

As you can see from all the empty seats, not many people wanted to brave the weather for the view, although we did have some other people join us up top a little while into the cruise.  I learned a lot about Chicago and saw the city from a different perspective that I loved.  Chicago is world-famous for it’s architecture and I’m glad we’ve been able to see some of it even though I was distracted a bit by the docent that was narrating our tour.  He was an older man with sagging cheeks wearing a big hooded rain jacket and he totally reminded me of the Emperor from Star Wars. 

Here’s a shot Mark got of the River City complex by Goldberg

After 90 minutes on the top of that boat everything except our head and shoulders was soaking wet and we were cold, but then we found an unexpected treasure in the middle of July.  

Duncin Donuts Milky Way hot chocolate.  It was so delicious that I might even drink it when it’s 90 degrees, sunny, and humid.

1. large groups of police busting people (i apologize for the bad photo, but i was looking out our front window and didn’t exactly want to draw attention to myself).

2. a random restaurant full of one of my favorite chairs (chair one by grcic)

3. one of the best gummy candies ever

4. and endless beautiful barcelona chairs in nameless downtown buildings for everyone to enjoy. 

so, we find life pretty interesting here. and we haven’t even gotten to the unbelievable architecture and other great things to see.

…usually around the 4th of July (hence, the I love America shirt in these two photos)… 

…and constantly proclaim about the utter cuteness of these guys…

…spend hours at the pool with me getting sunburned since I can’t seem to put sunscreen on evenly and it’s about my first time in the sun since last year’s vacation…

…hang out at the beach and play pickle ball…

…seek some sort of wheeled thrill (I won’t subject you to the video of going downhill in this thing because my shrieks and Will’s laughter might pierce your ear drums)…

…and follow Daddy D on a pretty nature hike.

Sounds like a pretty great formula for fun, relaxation, and good old family togetherness time.  I wish we could have stayed for the whole vacation, but we enjoyed the time we were able to spend there.  I love my family!

it may not have been the best decision, but tyson and i just couldn’t turn down the turkey legs. 

you should probably get something similar to this . . . 

then put some gloves on and ride in the sun for about 9 hours. worked for me.