MSI

We always love when we can coordinate our schedule with a free day at the Museum of Science and Industry.  A free day fell on the day after school got out, so it was a perfect time to go.

Wesley and Jackson are such cute buddies!

Caleb was super excited when he saw the big tractor.

The big submarine is always fun to see.

An attempt at a family photo.

Our sweet friends.  Thanks for coming with us!

Dillon LOVES the trains.  This boy was in heaven!

Playing on the trolley

Wesley kept looking for a good pirate ship.  He liked this one the most.

And he knew his dad would like to see a picture of this cool car.

Super fun day with awesome friends at a great museum -- we love Chicago!

 

End of another school year

With the end of school comes the end of piano lessons too.  Dillon participated in his second ever piano recital.  The poor kid gets real nervous, but he did a great job and I'm proud of my boy.

   He played Can Can and Baby Skunk.

He has a great teacher!

Just a few days later, we celebrated the last day of school.  I grabbed a quick picture of my second grader before he walked out the door.



 One of my favorite things about our current location is that the bus stops right in front of our house.  Everyday we all gather at the front door and wave goodbye to Dillon as the bus rounds the corner.  He waves right back and flashes the "I love you" sign.  Caleb likes blowing kisses too.

You finished another year of school and piano Dillon.  I am so proud of you and I love you!!!  Onto THIRD grade!!!

Double Birthday Party

I'm a pretty lame mom when it comes to birthday parties.  I always take the easiest way out which usually involves meeting a few friends at the park or something.  For some reason, I decided this year was the year to do something a little bigger.  Dillon and Wesley's birthdays are about 6 weeks apart, so I picked a date in between and made it a double birthday party at Petland.  (For the record, this was a great way to go!)

 We picked up 5 pizzas on our way and they were all devoured.

 I grabbed a quick picture of the mommies.

 Up next, the aquarium tour.

 I love this little girl.  Julia has the best camera smiles!

 Then onto the real fun --- the puppies!

 All the kids had so much fun.  When they went to pick out the next puppy I kept the rest of the kids busy dancing. What's better than dancing with 20 kids?!

 This little girl was my favorite!  I really wanted to take her home :)  -- I like the guy in picture too!

 Quick shot of the cake before it was devoured!

 Happy Birthday Dillon and Wesley!  Love you both -- a lot!

Caleb's first haircut

I've always trimmed Caleb's hair myself, but with Caleb's 2-year pictures and Dillon's baptism looming, we headed to the salon to get all the boys trimmed up.  I told Caleb he was going to get his hair cut about an hour before we went.  Once he knew, that was all he talked about -- "Taybo heh tut?  Din din heh tut?  Ses ses heh tut?  Daddy heh tut?"  Yes Caleb, you and Dillon and Wesley and Daddy are all going to get hair cuts!  He talked like crazy until the moment he got in the chair, and then he was silent.

I didn't get a good picture of the completed hair do, but he looks lots better.  You can actually see how cute his face is!!  And he's still talking about his "heh tut!"

Day in the City

We always love spending time downtown.  We have German friends that used to live in Chicago and have moved back to Germany.  When Christine emailed that they would be in town I jumped at the chance to meet up with them.  We met at Millennium Park just in time for a dinosaur presentation that was pretty cool.  They had dinosaur puppets that were pretty life-like.

 T-Rex was pretty cool!

 There were some pretty terrified children in the audience!!!  Can you spot our boys?

 The best part of the day was reconnecting with my sweet friend Christine.  I miss seeing her and it was so fun to just talk!!!! 

We found a nearby Cosi and did just that :)

 The language barrier took a minute to get over, but eventually the boys reconnected too.

 They kept themselves entertained running the halls while the mommies chatted.

 As we walked back to our car we took some pictures of our favorite places in Chicago.

  I've always loved the Wrigley building.

We also stopped at the Picasso on Daley Plaza.

 The boys had a lot of fun turning this piece of artwork into a slide!

 I love the Chicago River too.

 You can see the Opera House in the background of this one.

 We had to capture a picture of Aaron's office.  The boys always love seeing where Daddy goes every day.

It was a great day!  I'm so glad we got to see the VanVoordens.  Christine is really one of my favorite people in the world.  I have been so blessed to have the most wonderful friends -- people I really connect with.  Christine is one of those.