Bonnaroo

In June, Jim and I left the kids with my parents and went to Tennessee for the Bonnaroo Music Festival.  It is a 4 day festival (Thursday through Sunday), but we only went for 2 days.  Many people arrive on Wednesday and stay until Monday, which seemed like way too long for us.  We arrived on Thursday and were assigned a parking space.  Then, we set up our tent in front of our car.  It is nothing like real camping, in that we are surrounded by other people in their tents and their cars.

The view from our spot.  Lots of people had pop-up tents that they put over their camping tents.  It was a good idea - giving them some shade.  We met the people on either side of us.  On one side were two girls, just out of college.  When talking with them, one of them said, "Wow!  I didn't know we'd meet any parents here!"  Yep, we felt old.  On the other side were many college-age kids.  As Jim spoke with one of them, he kept adding "Sir" to the end of his sentences as he addressed Jim.  Yep, we are definitely old.

After setting up our tent, we were ready to head to the music.  It was about a 15 minute walk to the venue.

Here is a picture from our wait in line.  You can see some of the typical outfits.  I also wanted to point out that a (very) few people did bring their kids (one is in the stroller and you can't see the other one in the wagon in front of the stroller).  The kids looked miserable.  It's pretty hot and their is very little shade.

The line to get into the music festival:

Here is a video of the line; everyone is excited and giving each other high fives.

One of the first things we did was ride the ferris wheel.  It provided us with excellent views of the festival.

There were several stages at Bonnaroo.  The 2 big, main stages were called "What Stage" and "Which Stage."  The next largest stages were called "This Tent," "That Tent," and "The Other Tent."  There were also several other smaller stages for lesser-known bands.  You can imagine the confusion when discussing which stage/tent you were going to. 
"Which stage is Wilco on?" 
"What Stage." 
"Fine.  What stage is Wilco on?"
"No.  The stage that Wilco is playing on is called What Stage, not Which Stage."
"Um.  Okay."
It could be just as confusing with this, that, and the other tent.

I saw this cute kid dancing and had to capture his moves on film.

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There is a Silent Disco, where everyone is given headphones.  Looking into the disco, without headphones on, it is humorous to watch people dancing without any music.  We joined the fun:

There were a LOT of food vendors.  This is just a small sample (the picture was taken early in the day before it got too busy):

 One of our favorite concerts was Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.  We were able to get really close, too!

To stay cool, we bought day passes to the 40 foot high "Big A$$ Water Slide."  

 Here is a video of Jim going down the slide.  He started out on his feet (like he was surfing).

 

Paul McCartney was the headliner on Friday night, and he was amazing!  That guy can definitely rock!  He played for almost 3 straight hours!

 A little video from Live and Let Die:

Michigan!

 We went to Michigan the last week of May this year.  Jim was only able to stay for the weekend, and I didn't take many pictures, so this is my only picture of him from the trip.  He was our grill master!

We went into town for a trolley ride and then walked along the pier one day.

These two would wake up before anyone else, so we spent some time playing outside in our pajamas before the rest of the crowd was up.

We were lucky to have a few good beach days.

Jack:

Patrick:

Charlie:

One of our favorite families:

Our three boys rarely take a bath together.  They were having so much fun I had to get a picture.

No trip to Michigan is complete without an ice cream cone from our favorite little ice cream place.

Enjoying the sunset with my boys:

Kindergarten Graduation

Summer is only halfway over and I am finally posting end of Kindergarten pictures.  I think that means I am catching up!  ;)   Jack had a wonderful Kindergarten year.  We were very pleased with his school and teachers.  Here he is standing at the door before his last day of school.

First day of kindergarten on the left, last day on the right:

The 2013 graduating Kindergarten class:

Our little graduate, looking so grown up in his cap and gown:

The "gown" is actually one of Jim's shirts, worn backwards.

The eighth grade angels walked the kindergarteners into the church.  We love Jack's angel!

Jack receiving his diploma from Father:

At the end of the ceremony, the class sang a song they had prepared.  

We went to the gym where they sang a few more songs and we enjoyed refreshments.

Jack with his teacher:

 Jack with his eighth grade angel:

Jack is lucky to attend the same school his grandfather (Jim's dad), grandmother (Molly's mom), dad, aunt, uncle, and several great aunts and great uncles attended.

Mother's Day and My Birthday

My birthday and Mother's Day were in the same week this year.  I think that makes things a little stressful for Jim, but he didn't need to worry; I had two amazing days.  On Mother's Day, we went out to a delicious brunch with Jim's parents.  Then they offered to keep Charlie during his nap while the rest of us went to the Cardinals game.  After the game, we picked up Charlie and went to my parents' house for dinner.  So, we each got to spend time with our mothers and I got to spend time with my boys!  When Jim asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, I told him I wanted to go to the Cardinals game.  Jack insisted we take the MetroLink (he loves it)!  Despite the Cardinal loss, we had a great time!

The view from our seats:

My awesome zoom lens:

My birthday was an equally nice day.  After dropping Jack at school, Patrick, Charlie, and I went out to breakfast.  Then, we went to my aunt's house to play with the boy she babysits.  My mom stopped by during her lunch break and my aunt had mini chocolate cheesecakes for my birthday.  Yum!  That night, Jim, the boys and I went out for Mexican and then ice cream!  It was a great day!  Here's a picture from lunch at my aunt's house:

Track

Jack ran track this year.  I pretty much signed him up for it and then he didn't like it very much.  He went to practice every week, but wished he could stay home.  Unfortunately, we were only able to make it to one (of three) meet.  He was only running in one event (100 m dash).  The race started a little earlier than scheduled, and we almost missed it entirely!  Luckily another mom saw us when we arrived at the track and rushed Jack to the starting line.  He is second from the left in the picture below.  He didn't win his race, but he didn't come in last either.  After the meet, he said he liked track and wants to do it again next year.  Go figure!