On the final leg of their vacation, Jeanine and Maya traveled with Lauren to Chicago where they spent time with Aunt Karen. The highlight of the trip was a visit to American Girl Place (1 of three in the country) where Maya adopted Elizabeth pictured here. The group enjoyed a tea party as part of the “experience.” Maya insisted on introducing me to Elizabeth herself and wanted the entire affair kept secret until they returned.

While visiting with Jeanine’s dad, the kids did a little fishing off the dock. 

Although the date is out of sequence I am adding this photo from earlier in the month picturing the kids with Jeanine’s Aunt Barbara and Uncle Walter. 

The fast shutter speed fails to convey the speed at which these cars were moving. Here we have a rare moment when all three are vying for position in one of the hairpin corners.

On the way to the airport (I am returning to Boston while Jeanine remains in Indy with the kids for another week) we stopped by to see Kyle racing with his childhood buddy, Tucker(yellow car), who is also visiting Indy from south Carolina. Little suprise that Kyle’s smile was biggest when his car was in direct contact with others contrary to rules of the track.

Bradley was celebrating his second birthday and correctly identifies the letters of the alphabet on his toy computer for Nicolai.

Yesterday was consumed with business, but today I returned to Indianapolis for a Board of Director’s meeting for a small company called Cinetal. After the meeting, I got a chance to visit with Bradley, Gabriel’s son, for only the second time.

Regretably, my vacation has come to an end and this evening I flew to Madison, WI to resume my business travels. My flight was delayed on the tarmac in Chicago causing me to miss my connection and I did not arrive in Madison till well after midnight. On the way to my hotel, I passed by the downtown area and had to stop for this photo of the state house rotunda.

Jeanine is always happy when she gets to spend time with her sisters. Today’s outing was a real treat for everyone.

As we were leaving I got a really good close up of a very big bumble bee.

Despite being quite soggy by the end of our visit a good time was had by all.

The kids, and I include Erica in that group, seemed more interested in redirecting the flow of water from the garden’s fountains than enjoying the botany.

After the butterflys we moved outdoors to enjoy the gardens which were magnificent.

Ever wondered how baby butterflys are made. Now you know.

Butterflys have a miniature trunk like appendage which they unroll to feed on nectar with. Click on the photo for a closer view.

There were hundreds of magnificent butterflys of seemingly infinite variety. Pictured here are some of my favorites.

During the afternoon Lauren and Bob took us to see the butterfly and flower gardens at the Indianapolis Zoo. While we lived in Indianapolis, we had never taken advantage of this truly amazing attraction.

We were fortunate to get to see our nephew Gabriel who now has his own place.

Today we are in Indianapolis visiting with Lauren (Jeanine’s sister) and Bob. Pictured here is our niece Erica.

The girls squeeze into some of Gina’s tiny furniture.

Sam was always cute and now has turned into a real beauty.

Nicolai took a special interest in his new cousin and was very tender with him.

Everyone takes a turn feeding Dom who seemed to enjoy each feeding.

Dom is a total cutie and one of the most tranquil babies I have ever met.

The main attraction was 3 month old Dominic.

On the way to Indianapolis, we stopped in Chicago to visit Gina and Vincent. Pictured here are second cousins Tony & Nick (Rob and Jen) with JD & Samantha (Vinny and Janelle).

The entire Bayside camp poses for one last photo until next year.

Stone Manor, one of the nicer homes on the lake as viewed from the path. Lake Geneva remains a summer retreat for many of Chicago’s elite.

A nice little art shot of the lake. These flowers mark the entrance to a 28-mile path which you can follow around the entire lake.

This morning, I drove into the city of Lake Geneva where I was joined several hours later by Jeanine and a group of adults from the camp who made the 9 mile trek on foot. They were all very pleased to see me or rather the van I was driving.

This is what teenagers look like after a night of debauchery.