At the zoo

I know we go to the zoo ALL THE TIME, but it's just so fun! (and super close)

Sitting on the turtle with some new friends.

And it was super hot and humid that day- cooling off with the splash froggy.

Revenge is sweet.

Rick ALWAYS tickles Sophia to make her laugh.

And she loves it.

But she also loves dishing it right back.

Greenfield with Friends

Got to go to Greenfield Village with some of our great friends,

and as always, had a great time!

Us on the Model-T.

So excited to go on the carousel!

Enjoying the best frozen custard

Pure. Joy.

The great caper...

We went on a real life mystery hunt (think like Clue) through downtown Royal Oak the other night with our two good friends. 

It was us versus 20 other teams of 4, and took almost 3 hours- but it was SUPER fun!

We ran all over, had to interview suspects, and pick up clues. 

These are some pictures of random things we had to do during the adventure.

These guys are moving away next month, and I'm going to miss them like crazy!

Why kids are fun...

Kids are fun because you get to do awesome things with them, that are equally entertaining to you, and pretend that it's 'just because I have a kid' that you'd do any of this stuff.

She's totally my excuse.

Getting ready for the morning- she just looks so big in the picture to me. 

Even with the foot-y pajamas.

This time Sophia was my excuse to visit a fire station- so fun!

We both had a blast.

She especially loved the fireman's pole, and watching the firemen slide down it was her favorite part.

Cute old school (circa 1989) fire engine.

Reminded me of the one in Cars- I know, my references since becoming a mom may not be as scholarly.

Other reason kids are fun- 

they come up with stuff like this.

She was eating her seaweed and did this and said

"I have a mustache!"

She also does this lately.

It's a copy (and a pretty spot on one) of Grandma Smith's monkey face.

I'll have to get a picture of the original monkey face so we can have a side-by-side comparison.

Detroit Exploring

We went to the Detroit Historical Museum.

It was interesting, there's a lot to see, and I'll definitely go back.

Here's the kiddos hanging out in an original Ford.

And Hilary fawning over Kid Rock's pants...only in Detroit are Kid Rock's pants museum-worthy.

Just across the street is the Detroit Public Library. 

It's a beautiful piece of architecture. Reminded me of a lot of the buildings in Paris.

Details on the inside.

Unfortunately, as far as it's use as a library, it is basically what you'd expect for Detroit.

I.e.- there's this HUGE video game station in the kids section, and no kids reading anything.

I loved this statue outside for some reason.

Sophia by the pretty blossoming trees.

Another fun Detroit adventure!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day.

A day to wear cheesy corsages.

 

Have your own personal chef...

...who makes you delicious food

(while you get to play and watch movies in your pajamas) 

 

And wonderful people (thanks Mom & Dad!) give you flowers for just being you.

Rick spoiled me rotten all week long

 (between our Anniversary and Mother's Day- he was a busy man) 

And even got to skip early morning Sunday meetings and make me breakfast.

But best of all, is just getting to be a mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Holiday in Holland!

We took a quick trip to Holland!

(alright- Holland, Michigan)

But taking a look at these pictures, you'd be confused where you were too!

Little Dutch town

And it was the Tulip Festival- so TONS of these.

What's a Dutch experience without the wooden 'Klompen' shoes?

Das ist meine klompen!

 

The Daddy Klompen!


Vas?! Der mommy klompen?!

Beautiful tulips and authentic windmill from (the real) Holland

 

 

 

Running through the tulips

 

Inside the windmill- the actually still use it to grind wheat.
The miller who runs it had to actually learn Dutch in order to become certified.
Talk about job commitment.

 

Fields, and fields, of tulips.

Up at the top

 

 

We got to catch up with one of my old dorm-mates from college, who actually grew up here!
So fun!

 

And some of our other buddies who recently moved out here.
Sophia was so happy to see her friends.

The Tulip Time Parade!

 

Who'd want to walk a parade in those wooden shoes?!
Commitment.

 

 

Yep. This just happened.
We live in the Mid-West.

Super cute Dutch Village

 

 

 

Those crazy shoes are actually carved out of a whole piece of wood

The stages of production.
Crazy.

Dancing time!
These guys were just so happy.

Lots of kicking.
Watch out for flying klompen.

A giant klompen slide!!!

We are so good looking.

Sophia on a the mini-train

This place was so cheesy and kitschy- it's fantastic.

 

More beautiful tulips and water wheel.

Holland is for Lovers.

 

It was just like we were on the canals of Amsterdam.
Sort of.

What a GREAT time we had.

We were pooped!