Festivals, barbecues and painting

I've been pretty quiet lately about what we've been doing this summer. Mostly it's been a lot of backyard barbecues and a few summer fairs.

We don't usually go to a lot of summer fairs, but we're making a conscious effort this year to get out to see more bands. June 25 we finally made it to Bloomingdale Family Fest to see a Monkeys cover band - with a bonus(?) Beach Boys cover band - and July 1 we made it to Naperville RibFest for REO Speedwagon.

We're heading off to the Ravinia Festival this weekend to see Tom Jones and Etta James. Since we have lawn tickets at Ravinia, I should probably say we're going to "listen to" Tom Jones and Etta James instead of "see". The place is huge and I doubt we'll see much, but the picnicking should be great. (As an aside: Dave and I were married by Tom Jones a few years ago in Las Vegas. OK, it was a Tom Jones impersonator, and since we were already married, it was more of a vows renewal. It just seemed like one of those must-do touristy things. But Tom Jones holds a special spot in our hearts none-the-less!)

Our painting class is midway through. We're learning a lot, but still have a lot more to learn before I'll be posting any samples...

More stories on a more regular basis, I promise!