take only pictures, leave only bubbles

Greetings, all! Sorry it's been so long since our last post. Our secretarial staff (aka Mom and Dad) has been on vacation. Without my brother and me, if you can believe that. Never fear, Grandma Lipsey came up and stayed with us. We had a great time playing, going to the park, visiting the library, going out to eat and generally having a blast. A giant thank you from us and from Mom and Dad to Grandma...you rock!
As for what Mom and Dad did on their vacation...well, we decided to lend them some space so they can tell you about it. If you only care about us and not them, which is certainly understandable, feel free to ignore the rest of this post. Also, if you are prone to allergic reaction (including hives) at the sight of glorious azure water, palm trees and pristine beaches, please do not scroll down. Repeat, do not scroll down.


Welcome to Barbados! No photoshopping here...the sky was really that blue (most of the time), the water really that clear, and the beach that welcoming.


Not pictured: giant sea turtles (we saw them in the water right in front of our hotel and snorkeled with them on a cruise), tiny "whistling" frogs that made an unbelievable racket every night, kind people who were proud but friendly (except for one waitress who was about 8 1/2 months pregnant), amazing food (here's our favorite), lots of stray cats, decent beer (Banks), cooling sea breezes, and sun, sun, sun!


The view from our room at the Southern Palms Beach Club. Didn't suck.


Thursday we went on a cruise with an outfit called Cool Runnings. We are now accepting donations on behalf of the Lipseys Need A 60-Foot Catamaran Foundation. Alternatively, we will take donations toward the purchase of one of these run-down houses on the beach, which according to Captain Povey run about $10 million U.S.


As we sailed back into the bay, the entire boat was literally dancing with joy. Jim especially, because after his favorite Cubs hat flew into the ocean, the Captain circled back around and retrieved it! Very impressive.


As our favorite unnecessarily disgruntled traveler on tripadvisor.com says, "You've seen one Caribbean island, you've seen them all." Oh, yeah.

risky business

liberty for all (including balloons)

Okay, so it's the 8th of July and we're just now filling you in on our July 4th celebrations. Better late than never, right? Anyway, check out the elegant, understated headwear that Wynston and I created for the occasion.


Here we are making our way to the annual not-very-exciting but-we-keep-going-anyway parade in Oak Park. The event was made much more thrilling by the two orange balloons that Cousin Sam gave us. Keep your eye on them...


Wynston helped Aunt Marjorie cross the street safely. Stop, look both ways, and go!


Some of the people marching in the parade threw candy at us. So we threw it back.


Remember those orange balloons? In honor of the holiday, Wynston set his free. I followed suit soon after...you can see the tiny orange dot above the trees.


The entire clan was amazed by how high our balloons went. Wyn and I tried to talk Sam into liberating his balloon too, but he was having none of it. Maybe next year!