Visitors from WA

In case anyone is wondering where I've been lately or why I haven't been blogging, it's because I've had a friend visiting. My best friend from WA was in town for the week with her daughter and we have been busy doing all kinds of fun stuff.

D'Arcy's daughter Jacqueline is somewhat of a homebody, so between her wanting to stay at home and Tony needing two naps a day, we spent quite a bit of time just hanging out at the house.

They got a tour of the farm on the gator, which was a big hit. Jacqueline was super excited to pick vegetables, but not so excited to eat them. She even thought the green beans were magic, because when you pick them they are purple and turn green when you cook them. She still didn't want to eat them though.
Chewing on a green bean made Tony very happy.

Rare moments when we get to see Todd. It has been so hot here that he has been really busy at work.

We made some time to go to the beach with my sister Rachael and her kids one day. I was trying to tell Jacqueline that Lake Michigan is just like the ocean, the only difference is...

There's no palm trees?

The waters cold?

There aren't big waves?

I was going to say the water isn't salty, but apparently that isn't the only difference.
We managed to squeeze in a pedicure after the beach, and Katya, my niece, came along to play with Jacqueline. Then Kristen, came over later, and the three girls had a sleep over at my house.The next day we did some swimming.We kept Tony up past his nap time at the pool and he fell asleep. Unfortunately it didn't last long and we had to head home.
Of Course we had to feed the cows. They have a big bin full of day old bread for feeding the cows, ironically it is all hamburger buns, funny huh?

Playing at home again.
Then we went to Chicago for the second half of our trip. The highlight of our time in Chicago was going to see Cirque Shanghai Gold. It was a great show. Kind of like Cirque Du Soleil, only way cheaper and maybe not quite as impressive, but still very very good. Here are a few pictures.
We did a few other fun things in Chicago, and witnessed an impressive thunder storm from the 28th floor which was pretty cool. It was neat to look down at the street and see the pouring rain and watch the crazy people caught in the rain trying to run for cover.

Anyway, D'Arcy and Jacqueline went home today and my vacation is over too. I have to work tomorrow so I am signing off and going to bed. I can't wait to catch up on all the blog posts waiting in my bloglines folder. Hopefully on my next day off. Oh and I need to post on the farm happenings and a baby update, because Tony is growing and changing so much, I've got to get it written down.