Qingdao Trip

Day 1: On the first full day of our vacation to Qingdao we decided to brave the heat and humidity and climb Mount Lao. Climbing a mountain was one of Seth's three major goals for the trip (the other two being going swimming and eating lobster), so he was eager to get started. We took a taxi to the tourist center and then purchased the bus tour of the mountain, but don't worry--there was plenty of climbing involved!

Seth was really attracting a lot of attention, and it took me a while to figure out why: we were the only visibly foreign tourists on the mountain all day. It became annoying rather quickly, but it was also encouraging to reflect that he no longer draws nearly as much attention when we are in Beijing.

Seth's 5th Birthday Party

We had a robot-themed birthday party for Seth at Aubree's Pizzeria in Dexter, Michigan, on Saturday, August 18. Seth chose the theme as well as the color scheme. He decided the colors should be purple, blue, and green because they are his, Daddy's and Mommy's favorite colors, respectively. I had originally thought of orange and turquoise, but I wasn't going to argue with adorable logic like that.

I designed the robots myself using Inkscape, an open source vector imaging program (and my favorite program as of today). I used the robots on the cupcake toppers, favor tags, and invitation.

We were a little disappointed that quite a few people were not able to attend, but we still had a nice time, and Seth now has a supply of new video games and videos that should keep him occupied for a while!

New Family Photo

Iargo Springs

Lumberman's Monument

Tawas Beach

Pictured Rocks

Tahquamenon Falls

Whitefish Point

Soo Locks

Binder Park Zoo