Summer vacation in Chicago!

We just returned from a week in Chicago! We were really busy!!!

At the beginning of the week, Nate and I escaped without the kids to visit our friends in Naperville to go to Ribfest. It was a perfect night to walk around and enjoy good food, friends & some beer. Nate and I chuckled at all of the strollers and babies who were out at 8:30 at night and were very grateful that my mom & dad watched the kids.

No 4th of July celebration in Hawthorn Woods is complete without the town parade. It was a perfect parade for Kevin & Katie because the entire thing lasted 10 minutes! They collected a full bag of candy and were thrilled with the fire trucks. Later on on the 4th we enjoyed a bbq with the Koutsis family. It is always great to see them.

We took several trips to the local waterpark. Kevin was 1 inch shy of the 42" height requirement to go on the waterslides, but we snuck him in and he loved it! We took him down the tube slide all afternoon.

My parents took Kevin to see Cars2. Of course, he loved the movie and they even bought him a cars toy.

On Tuesday we went to the Kohl Children's Museum. That is an awesome place! Both kids enjoyed the instruments, vet's office, toys and water works. If you're ever in the area with small kids it is worth it to stop for a few hours.

The highlight of the trip came at the end of the week for me, Nate & Kevin. Nate and I took Kevin to downtown Chicago while my mom & dad watched Katie. Our downtown Chicago adventure started on Friday morning at the Lincoln Park Zoo. In all the years Nate and I lived near Lincoln Park we have never spent too much time at the zoo. Kevin really enjoyed it and so did we. After the zoo, we rode the L to the loop so we could check in at our hotel. Kevin's ride on the CTA Brown line may have been his favorite part of our trip. For dinner, we took Kevin to Rainforest Cafe (Not a place we would choose again, but he loved it). After dinner Kevin rode his first city bus, we went for a boat ride at Navy Pier. We were all exhausted when we made it back to the hotel. The next morning we walked to Millennium Park so Kevin could splash in the big fountains and see "The Bean" sculpture.

On the carousel at the zoo:

I am sure Kevin was the happiest passenger the CTA had all day!

Checking out "The Bean" in Millennium Park

We made home earlier today and we are all happy to sleep in our own beds. We have another fun summer week ahead filled with Y camp, pool time and Nate has a few rounds of golf this week. Life is good!

Too cute...

I made her these bloomers to match the dress :) I love this dress, it's reversible. We flipped it to the red side after lunch.

Horseback riding and other summer news

Yesterday Kevin had a blast at his best buddy's birthday party. Luke's party was held at the Jester Park Equestrian Center. All the kids were treated to pony rides. Kevin, of course, was not shy or scared at all. He climbed right on and rode his horse named Snowball. He commented that the horse wouldn't go fast enough because I did not buy him cowboy boots with spurs. Oh, Toy Story, you teach so many lessons!

In other summer news...

Kevin is finishing up a week of swim lessons. He can swim so much better than last year. He learned how to back float and is really proud that the teacher let him jump off the diving board! I was nervous for that, but he did great. His last lesson is tonight (it better not rain)!

Two weeks ago we all went to Vacation Bible Camp. Well, Kevin was the only camper. I helped teach music, Nate lead the fourth graders and Katie played in the nursery. I know Kevin enjoyed the week because he has not let me stop playing the CD of songs in the car! Nate found his experience with the 4th graders to be surprisingly rewarding. We will make it a tradition for the four of us to participate each year.

Katie is recouping from a few days of a fever, now she has a cold. I think it's from the pool, but who knows? She has a few new tricks of her own such as the steps and sliding at a few of our neighborhood parks, and nearly running everywhere. She is so eager to explore everything, she exhausts me!

Our summer is in full swing!

Photos from the Riggan's farm

Tanya's mom captured some really cute pictures of the kids. Kevin absolutely loved their machine shed!

Justin & Katie:






This one is my favorite!

May update

Since my blog entries for the Month of May have somehow vanished, here is a recap:

Last Day of preschool and picture with his teachers:







Memorial Day visit from Grandparents:


Katie loved watermelon and Kev is set for lots of pool time:






We turned the play set into a waterslide!

May blog entries...

Where did you go?

Road trip

I took the kids on a road trip to visit Tanya on her parents farm in Muscatine. Kevin had so much fun! It did not matter to him one bit that the tractors stayed in the machine shed; he was allowed to climb on them!




Tanya's mom took some great photos of the kids, I will post those soon if you have not already seen them on fb.