Wow, I'm actually finishing a blog post before 10!

A self portrait of me and Lily.

She loved all the dangly silver in this booth, which then required a hasty exit when she was unhappy about not being able to lay her little sausages on any of it.

Jen's first day back...and she took off for a spa day and left me alone with the kids all day. Typical.

Kidding, of course. When the girls woke up, I went to get them. Abby was ornery right from the moment I opened the door; she wasn't being a total jerk or anything, she just was not happy. So I swiped the girls, one in each arm, and took them into our bedroom. Abby's face, when she saw Jen and that first wave of recognition took place, was astounding. She was so happy. I've never seen her go from that crabby to that laughing and squeaking so quickly. Lily was definitely very happy too, and her reaction was nice, but Abby's was especially fantastic.

The morning was passed lazily while all the female memebers of the family reacquainted themselves with each other. I think Lily's platform is still a little "pro-Daddy" right now, but it won't last long. Jen is staring down the barrel of a whole summer with these girls, so by the time the leaves change, there will be no doubt whose kid Lily is.

This afternoon we toddled off to the Edina art fair, not the most exciting thing in the world but it was all about getting out of the house. I'm starting to get a little burned out on art fairs; there is a strict quota for how many laps I can make around the same canvas tents sequestering kitschy wares, hyper-real 5' x 12' color photo prints of Greek islands, unending jewelers, ho-hum ceramic vases... there's not a lot of innovation at art fairs (shocking news, I know), usually just a couple stalls of interest that draw me in and leave me asking mysef, 'Have I not already seen this guy last year?' Any reason to be outside and get a corn dog, though. Which we didn't get. The girls seemed to have a good time. And I counted 3 grown men carrying lap-dogs around, which gave me a constant source of chuckling and glee. It's mostly about people watching the Edina crew for pure enjoyment. It is a masochistically claustrophobic fair - the average lane between stalls being around 2.9 feet - and there is no shortage of older women darting this way and that, interminably annoyed at both my presence and my gall for bringing children. I eye them quickly ducking into several artists' areas, then reporting back to their waiting spouse, some guy sitting idly on the sidelines, talking cooingly to his chihuahua. Good. Stuff.

Afterwards, off to my Dad's for dinner, delicious as always. Anarchy as always. Fun. Tiring.

Day one hundred and twelve.

Mommy and Abby navigate the cutthroat art fair milieu.

These photos were taken in the most barren stretch of the event (on purpose), so they in no way reflect the severity of the crowdedness.

Warning! Only a rock star can manage this get-up at art fairs. I wish I could be the first working father to bring their kids onto the New York Stock Exchange, equipped just like this. "Buy! Buy! Sell! Sell! Sippy cup!"

I thought about cropping myself out, but no....I like this photo as-is. Jen was making googley at Lily during the walk back to the car, and she was devouring it. I managed to snap this over the shoulder, and it turned out sublimely good, I think, even though I look like that random d-bag who ruins a good photo.