We left Lake Erie in the morning to make the 5 hour drive to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sara Walker greeted us with a warm smile and freezer pops! Ty went to grad school with Sara at UCSB, and has been living in Ann Arbor for the past three years finishing her internship and post doc program. Ann Arbor is a vibrant college town full of young families. After taking a hot shower which refreshed our weary bones, we all headed downtown to the Summer Kids Festival. The streets were lined with houses that each had their own character. The downtown scene was right out of an all American movie. Cafes, coffee shops, and used book stores all in neat rows, with families and University of Michigan students strolling happily along. We arrived at the festival that was bursting with summertime fun. A quirky kids band played on stage, and kids dressed in summer dresses and red, white, and blue danced and sang along. The weather lent itself perfectly to the lazy summer Sunday. It was early evening, but warm enough so that tank tops and flip flops were the only attire needed. Young parents filled the bright green lawn with their strollers, diaper bags and picnic blankets. We hadn't eaten a meal since that morning, so Ty promptly headed for the food vendors and ordered us a box meal of noodle stroganoff. We picnicked on the lawn happily as the sun set and the fireflies began to shine into the night. Noah was in awe of all the action that surrounded him. Sara had fun playing with him on the blanket and putting objects just out of his reach to encourage him to worm himself towards it. He's getting close to crawling, but is not quite there yet. He used to hate Tummy Time, but now rolls like a pro from his back to tummy, and shifts his body all over the blanket with his little army crawl arms.
The best part of the evening was the firefly walk through the town. Fireflies are pure magic, and I could watch them for hours. We strolled through the warm summer night, watching a spectacular light show that the fireflies were putting on. They sparkled all across the great green lawns; there were hundreds of them everywhere you looked! Noah was tired, but Ty managed to keep his attention a little longer by catching a firefly with cupped hands and placed it carefully on Noah's blankie. Giant scoops of creamy, homemade ice-cream at the local ice-cream shop ended our lovely summer night in Ann Arbor.