Chicago Sights

My nephew Blake was in town this weekend. We took a Segway ride on Thursday (like we did with his sister last summer). So fun! So many weird people in Chicago this weekend for Lollapalooza.

Buckingham Fountain



(Husband and nephew)

Prairie Field out past the Planetarium, near old Meigs Field. I have lived in this area for 20 years and I didn't even know this area existed before Thursday!




By the Planetarium


Kids goofing around under the Bean



Ha! You go, boyfriend.

Guy shooting a rap video


For reals, yo! See him rewind his boombox to get ready for the second take. Hee!


Take two. Oh, distracted by the little girl!

Natchez Trace villa

The villas at Natchez Trace are fabulous: roomy, air-conditioned, with two outside patios, a gas grill, two floors of bedrooms, a full kitchen and living room, and a shared dock for keeping your boat. We were able to easily fit 6 people in it for a week.

For me, the frustrating part was the air-conditioning; it's hard to reset it (and my BIL needs it to be cold) so we had it at 70 the whole time. But it was so hot and steamy outside it was actually *too* cold for me inside! Ha. So I ended up spending most of my time at the villa out on the second floor patio.

Not that it was a hardship, since it was so pretty out there.







Can't wait to go back next year!

The original Kudzu Planet

Hubby says that he came up with the name Kudzu Planet somewhere else, but for me, this is where it all began.



Wave to Hubby! (We had to skip that hike down into the kudzu bowl; if we couldn't see him after a few steps down, we knew we might literally lose the seven-year-old in the thickets!)



This one was taken on our last trip in 2006. The elephant kudzu tree!

Spring Trees in Bloom

Blooming trees only last a few weeks in the spring, but they are gorgeous when they're here! We see them everywhere, especially the small trees along the train station and downtown and down our street. They've just started to turn into green this week, so I was glad I captured a few shots at the Botanic Garden before they were gone for the year.

On Evening Island, by the carillon tower


Around the bridge to Evening Island


Crabapple Tree Row


Purple explosion by the greenhouse


Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Postcard from Laughlin

The Colorado River in Laughlin Nevada, which I somehow managed to make look prettier than it actually was. :)

Northern Illinois Farm

Taken in November 2006. I think it's best viewed in large.

I'm looking through these older shots this week as I start to put together my annual photography calendar. All of my family and many of my friends will already be recieving one as their traditional Christmas gift (hope I didn't ruin the surprise, haha), but if anyone else is interested in purchasing one, send me an email at kristen@kudzuplanet.com and I'll add you to the order list!

Three Desert landscapes

The desert plants make the most of monsoon season -- everything turns so green, and so fast!






My aunt told me the name of these octopus-looking cactus, but I'm not sure how to spell it. Ocotilla?



Looks like a movie set, but it's not!

The foothills of the Catalina Mountains

Taken during my trip to Tucson a couple of weeks ago. It's my desktop photo of the moment -- feel free to click the photo to go to Flickr and download the largest size for your own desktop!