We had the opportunity to host three Swedish students from the Motola Music School, in Motola, Sweden. They were here as guests of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and played six concerts over four days, including the Scandanavian MidSummer Festival in Marquette. We had a great time with our guests and hope they enjoyed their time in the Upper Peninsula.
From Left to Right: (no, not Justin Bieber)....Ludvig Larsson, Robin Johansson, and Adam Lundgren. Mik is in the background. Not all of the pictures look this sepia, but Jeni dropped the camera on Saturday, so some of them turned out like this. Ooops.

Does it get any better than this? Robin chilling on the hammock, probably needing a break after hearing Rebecca Black's "Friday". Thanks for getting that song stuck in my head. lol.

The life of a rockstar: play amazing shows, eat some awesome food, then kick back and enjoy a summer evening.

Robin on the saxaphone. The jazz band played Big Band music, all from the United States. It got the audience toe-tapping and was a fun end to the music day at the Scandanavian Midsummer Festival at Presque Isle Park.

Ludvig playing it up on percussion. The jazz band looked like they were having a blast on stage.
Their sound was amazing, something they have put a lot of work into back in Sweden.

Adam played the Carcon?spelling?, a wooden box with two snares on the top and another drum in the middle. It was awesome! He made it look easy.

The entire Motala Music School Group. There were 40 students in all, four instructors and a lot of Converse shoes. Apparently they're all the rage in Sweden.

Saturday's concerts all took place at the Presque Ilse Pavailion. The weather was beautiful to spectate, but hot to perform.

Imported from Europe....Swedish Rockstars! Notice the awesome converses with the suits!

Adam (left) in traditional Swedish apparel. The folk group, Museli, all dressed in costume. The other groups wore black.

The Symphony Orchestra during the Festival.

From Left to Right: Linda, Robin Johannson, Ludvig Larsson, Adam Lundgren and Anna.

On Friday Adam, Ludvig, Robin, Linda, Anna and Jeni hiked up Sugarloaf to get a spectacular view of Marquette. On the way back down, the Swedes were amazed at the friendliness of everyone on the trail. Quote: "In Sweden, strangers would not look at each other and say hello. They would keep their head down and not talk to each other". Still, the group said they liked the Midwest custom and didn't feel uncomfortable when it happened.

From Left to Right: Adam Ludgren, Jeni, Ludvig Larsson, and Mik.

From Left to Right: Adam Lundgren, Robin Johansson, Ludvig Larsson, and Mik.

Jeni's Dad, Jim, her brother Joey and her Mom, Michele came to insulate the crawlspace in our guest bedroom. It is much appreciated and the room and the house feel warmer already. Thanks a ton!

Boy was it dirty down there.

Jim's foot. You can see how small the crawl space was, he could hardly fit under that beam.

Joey running insulation back and forth.

Our house. I have not posted anything myself for probably a year or so. Jeni has done the work. Here is my attempt at a post.
Jeni and I on the porch.
David mopping the floors. The sea green walls are no re painted in the living room. Thanks to Laura.
Deanna and the crew working hard. Thanks again.
David clearing snow while I eat a slice of pizza on the porch. I will post some new pics when I get the chance. Furniture is now in place and we are pretty much moved in. We are still working on some lighting and wall art to spice it up!

The ice pack at McCartey's cove is beautiful this time of year. We've walked down there a few times and the views are stunning. Shelves of clear ice, almost like tablets bunch up and thrust out of the ice pack.

The ice shelf is pretty amazing.

For the second year I headed to Ashland, WI for the annual Book Across the bay 10K event. Jeni went to ski as well, her first ski race ever. Here we're riding the bus from Washburn, where the race finishes, to Ashland, where it starts.

Biggest bonfire ever. It kept everyone warm until the race started.

Where did we put our skis?

The sun was setting as the race started. We skied the race by luminary lights, placed in ice bowls along the course. Every kilometer there was a roaring bonfire and refreshments. But we didn't stop, pressing on for a 21 minute and 1 hour and 13 minute finishes.

Post-race picture. Jeni's pretty excited with her finish in her first ski race.

The after-party was a blast. They fed us hot chili and cocoa. The band was great, and everyone was a jovial mood, dancing and having a good time.

We went for a walk out on the course the morning after the race. The wind was blowing so hard across the bay, that it felt like we were in Antacrtica.

This is how Jeni looked skiing (plus skis). Notice how icy the trail was for the race. There wasn't any snow on the bay, so the used an asphalt grinder to grind up the ice and set a track.