Old and New Friends

A couple weeks back one of our good high school friends came to stay for a few days. He brought with him his wife, 2 kids, brother-in-law and his wife. We had such a great time with them. We packed a lot of fun into a few short days. The first stop was the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Not only did we find some awesome animals, but we also found some great leaves! The boys were asking for the bears the whole time and we finally found them at the very end. They were all pretty excited.

I truly consider Emily a new friend. She is such a sweetheart.

From the Zoo, we had a great view of the Hancock building.

We went straight from the Zoo to the family free night at the Children's Museum. I'd forgotten how fun that place is.

Wesley's favorite part was the water area.

But the rain jackets were way too big for him so he got drenched!!! We had to take off all his clothes and hold them under a hand dryer so he wouldn't freeze on the way home.

We took a trip to IKEA and got a much needed break from the boys when they went to the play area. Then I watched all the boys so the "adults" could go down to the city for dinner and the world's greatest dessert--Jackie's Chocolate Bag!

Saturday we went into the city to walk the Magnificent Mile.

We stopped at the base of "The Mile" for a little photo shoot.

I love where Michigan Avenue crosses the river. It's my favorite part of the city.

Before heading home we stopped at Swirls, where I was introduced to gourmet cupcakes. They were amazing!

It was so fun having the Pattersons in our home--even though Dillon and Grant fought like cats and dogs a few times. We love having visitors and showing them around Chicago.

Halloween

I'm finally getting around to posting some cute Halloween pictures. The boys had fun carving pumpkins together. They created the perfect little jack-o-lantern. When the pumpkin was all done, Aaron had us drive around the block so he could put the pumpkin on the porch, all lit up. Dillon got pretty excited and was quite proud of himself---even though Aaron did most of the work.

Dillon had a fun little "Harvest Party" at preschool. I was one of the "room moms" so I got to see how Dillon really acts at preschool! I tried to at least wear something to coordinate with his cute Thomas the Tank Engine costume.

That night was our church party. Dillon was actually smiling for pictures! I think he looks so cute in this one.

There were lots of fun games...

...and of course the trunk-or-treat.

Do you like Aaron's teeth?! His idea of a costume is putting on the most random things he can find in the closet!

Wesley just had to try on big brother's cool hat

On Halloween we went Trick-or-Treating with Aaron's co-worker and family. They have such a great little neighborhood.

Wesley was the cutest puppy dog I have EVER seen!

Barking...

He was so soft and fun to snuggle!

We had lots of fun and have been eating way too much candy ever since. It's actually a pretty good deal for parents--the kids like all the pure sugar stuff (e.g., smarties & dum-dums) and we get the good stuff--CHOCOLATE!

It was so fun to watch our boys experience all the fun traditions. Happy Halloween!

Birthday trip

My mother-in-law, Lori, turned 50 last week. To celebrate, Don planned a trip to Chicago for all the siblings. We told Lori about the surprise trip just 3 days in advance so she would have time to pack. But Dillon had no idea they were coming. They flew in on Thursday (22nd) and Dillon was so cute when he saw Grandma Lori get out of Daddy's car. His jaw dropped and he said very calmly, "I didn't know you were coming." Over the next hour he realized what had really happened and had a perma-grin on his face for the rest of the weekend. He LOVES his grandma! We had Chicago-style pizza that night to welcome them to the city.

On Friday the kids and I stayed home while the rest of them headed to the opera--Faust. From what I hear, it was pretty amazing.

That night we all went swimming at the hotel where Lori was staying. Our ridiculous silly impromtu pool games were probably the highlight of the trip for me--I haven't laughed that hard for a long time! I have such awesome in-laws!

Saturday we went into the city to see Navy Pier and walk the Magnificent Mile. We got some fun pictures from the huge ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

That evening we ate at the "All Aboard Diner" and then left the boys with a sitter while the adults went to see the Broadway production of Thouroughly Modern Millie. It was such a fun show! I highly recommend it.

Sunday was Lori's actual birthday and we were able to spend some nice time just together. Our awesome friends staged a delivery from Lori's favorite fast food place--Fiesta Ole!

We presented Lori with some sentimental gifts everyone had been working on and then enjoyed dinner and cake with some cousins.

Lindsay's birthday was three days later so we got to sing to her too!

Monday morning they flew back home.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. We stayed up way too late every night, but it was because we were having too much fun. I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. Thanks for coming fam! We miss you already!

Undocumented Fun :(

On Thursday I drove into the city, picked up my wonderful friend, Christine, and went to the Shedd Aquarium. We haven't been for 2 years, so it was time. The best part of the day for me was when we found street parking and the meter was almost full, so we paid 50 cents for parking instead of the $16 I was expecting!!! As always, Dillon's favorite part was the dolphin show. Unfortunately in an attempt to delete a couple blurry pics, I deleted all them all!!! So you'll just have to trust me--it was a great day!

Pumpkin Farm

Thanks to some of our friends, this last Saturday we took a spontaneous trip to a local pumpkin farm/zoo. They had lots of animals that you could pet and feed. Wesley loves animals especially now that he is learning to make all their sounds so he was really fun to watch.

We were able to hold little baby chicks. Dillon thought it was really fun... ...until it started to flap its wings! (Please excuse my wind-blown hair!)

The highlight for Dillon was of course the train ride. He also loved all the big blow up toys. It was hard to get him to leave.

Of course we went on the coldest day we've seen yet, and since. Wesley was a trooper!

The pony rides were another highlight

Thanks Nate, for playing with these pics and making them even more fun!

Wesley was "neighing" the whole time.

His face looks so serious, but he really seemed to enjoy the ride. He liked feeling the soft horsey!

Before leaving we got apple cider donuts---Mmmmm! It reminded me of good old Carter Mountain in Virginia---man, I miss that place. But we're sure having a lot of fun here!