I love summer. I especially love summer because right around the end of June and the beginning of July there are tons of summer festivals in the Chicago area. One of my most favorite is the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove. We went on our yearly pilgrimmage today and it was heavenly. Although it’s becoming more challenging to do with two little ones, it is nonetheless a good time. They have lots of chocolatey things to eat two of which I always must have before I leave. 1) the strawberry cake donut covered in smooth chocolate and precariously placed upon a stick and 2) skewers of strawberries, cake, rice krispie treat, and marshmallow doused in liquidy milk or dark chocolate heaven (really, this is how they should advertise them, it’s nothing but the truth). We bought these as soon as we arrived there today and that is when we realized two-year old boys and their little sisters that love to do everything they do and melty chocolate are a huge mess waiting to happen. Noah had chocolate dripping down his leg within minutes of handing our money over. Penelope was soon to follow. And, of course Clif and I couldn’t leave without some chocolately handprints on our clothing too…deep breath…it’ll come out in the wash, right? The last thing we did before we left was get some balloon animals for the kids. There is the best balloon animal maker guy there every year and he can do some really neat stuff with balloons. Noah picked out a monkey in a tree and Penny got an elephant…so cute! Now, we just have to see how long they last before Noah sits on them and pops them.