We had a wonderful weekend in EGR! We visited Grandma Freeman with Poppy and Yaya, went to Robinette's Apple Orchard with Nonna, Aunt Ashley, Olivia and Allyson, watched Michigan's exciting victory, and had a really fun first birthday celebration with our family (including Aunt Veronica). Thank you everyone for a fantastic birthday weekend!
Today Eloise and her good friend Griffin celebrated their birthdays a few days early. We had lunch at John's Place and then had our very favorite Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes. What a fun party! Click on "Eloise's 1st Birthday week" below for more photos.
another wrestling video! This one is more of a lick-fest than a wrestling match, but it is still great - and complete with Elle's famous body slam move. We almost got her first steps at the end of the video but alas, she fell down instead.
Daddy Day, otherwise known as Saturday, is our favorite day of the week. Today we spent the afternoon at the Garfield Park Conservatory for the 8th Annual County Fair.
Eloise has been sick with a cold the last few days, so we have been spending lots of time outside and away from our friends. On Friday we went to the zoo and for the first time, Eloise really noticed the animals. Her favorites were the swinging monkeys and the zebra. She and this gorilla couldn'tve cared less about each other.
Today I went to a toy store to buy Eloise part of her birthday gift, a doll stroller. I fully intended to wait and give it to her on her actual birthday, but then I thought that it would be fun to test it out. Andrew was very disappointed in me when I told him that I let her play with her gift before her birthday. Maybe he'll be less upset once he sees this video...
What a party! Thank you all for braving the rain and coming to my celebration. Especially thank you to Dave, Reed and The Molly's for making the trip from Madison and to Jon and Laura for driving from GRaps for my birthday weekend! I love you all!
Ellie's creepy Uncle Jon was in town for the weekend. After watching Michigan struggle to a (satisfying) win over a MAC team on Saturday, we headed to the Vic Theatre to see Derek Trucks. I haven't been to the Vic in about 5 years, but it is a pretty great place to see a band. It is general admission, but the main floor still has an incline so it is easy to see the stage from every where. We got there just before the local opening band, Lubriphonic started, and I am glad we did. The lead singer was wearing a straw hat and a Wayne Chrebet NY Jets jersey, so I was understandably skeptical at first, but the music was great. It seems like nobody ever pays attention to opening acts, but these guys had the crowd into it. Then Derek Trucks came out and put on a slide guitar clinic. As Dr. Dave would say about any number of talented musicians over the years, "he is a true, virtuoso"! For the first half of the show we could see Derek's wife and fellow musician, Susan Tedeschi, sitting back stage soaking up the tunes with their two kids. Then she just strolled out on stage and sang some songs. The show was great before she came out, but she took it to the next level. She and Derek were riffing back and forth. It was the best voice v. slide guitar battle I have seen. Here is a video I took of a different song. After the concert let out, we hit the Other Side for some cheese curds and brats. Good times. The walk home was a nice way to finish off a great evening, but it was a little warm...
Kate and her 6 week old son John stayed with us this weekend. It was so wonderful to meet John, hang out with Kate, catch up with the Niehoffs, and introduce Eloise to her future husband.
After watching Michigan struggle to a (satisfying) win over a MAC team on Saturday, we headed to the Vic Theatre to see Derek Trucks. 
I haven't been to the Vic in about 5 years, but it is a pretty great place to see a band. It is general admission, but the main floor still has an incline so it is easy to see the stage from every where. We got there just before the local opening band, Lubriphonic started, and I am glad we did. The lead singer was wearing a straw hat and a Wayne Chrebet NY Jets jersey, so I was understandably skeptical at first, but the music was great. It seems like nobody ever pays attention to opening acts, but these guys had the crowd into it. Then Derek Trucks came out and put on a slide guitar clinic. As Dr. Dave would say about any number of talented musicians over the years, "he is a true, virtuoso"! For the first half of the show we could see Derek's wife and fellow musician, Susan Tedeschi, sitting back stage soaking up the tunes with their two kids. Then she just strolled out on stage and sang some songs. The show was great before she came out, but she took it to the next level. She and Derek were riffing back and forth. It was the best voice v. slide guitar battle I have seen. Here is a video I took of a different song. 
The walk home was a nice way to finish off a great evening, but it was a little warm... 
