Monday, November 2, 2015

March 2015

We celebrated 13 years on March 1st, with a great dinner at Libertad. IMG_6579 We also celebrated Mimi's 69th birthday. The kids hung balloons in the entry way and made signs for her to find in the cabinets and fridge. IMG_2584 Of course, there were lots of sporting events happening in March. Volleyball for Megan. IMG_2600 Here's the team photo: IMG_2792 On a nice day, Darin practiced volleyball in the front yard with Megan, Jake and Francesca. IMG_2774 Jake played basketball in the Niles league. IMG_2615 IMG_2907 And floor hockey in the school's intramural league. IMG_2930 Our Girl Scout troop took a cooking class at Whole Foods. They made veggie quiches. IMG_6616 Jake had Michael and Jack over to do the Diet Coke/Mentos experiment. It worked great! IMG_2869 And, finally, Jake and I ended the month at school's Mother/Son Fun Day. There were games (scooter races, tugf-o-war, etc) and video game trucks. It was a fun time. IMG_6635

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

February 2015

In early February, we had a monster snow storm. 23" overnight! IMG_2101 Megan started playing volleyball on the school's team this year. She had a mostly good experience (some of the coaching was a little intense for an introductory league). But she loved it and had a great time with her friends. IMG_2114 I caught a smile from the sidelines: IMG_2119 Jake continued his basketball season with the Niles league. This league was faster-paced than EPY and more fun to watch! IMG_2164 I have no idea what they were laughing at here, but it captured a moment of joy, so I thought I'd share. IMG_2248 Megan was in a play/musical at school this year. It was titled Wish Upon a Star (Disney themed) IMG_2268 She got to be the star of the last number, with a lift: IMG_2410 The after-party took place at the fro-yo place: IMG_6572 Jake and Michael came out for fro-yo and thought it was super cool that they were out at 10:00pm. IMG_6570

January 2015

Jake continued on with his Brooks Park basketball in January. IMG_1874 With a couple of his classmates: IMG_1909 Darin and I went out to celebrate Joan's 40th birthday at Yakzies. Didn't get Darin in the photo, though. IMG_6440 Jake finally acquired his pets in January. He got two leopard geckos. He named one Jake Jr. and the other, Timmy. Here he is releasing Jake Jr. to his new habitat: IMG_6453 And here's a close up of Jake Jr. (Timmy was too shy to photograph on this day): IMG_6455 The roller skating party at school had a country theme this year. Here are the outfits (Megan's boots were too small, but she insisted on wearing them to look the part) Ouch!: IMG_6482 And we spent a weekend at the cottage, where Jake practiced sliding on his belly like a penguin: IMG_6483 And we went skiing at the Grand Geneva: IMG_6486

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Texas Vacation

We visited San Antonio and Austin over Christmas break. We flew into Austin and drove to San Antonio first. On the way, we found a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives featured restaurant, so we stopped for burgers and BBQ. It's called Bun & Bsrrel and it was fabulous.....so good, that we stopped on our way out of town a couple of days later! IMG_1717 The hotel that we stayed at, did not have an attendant at the workout room, so we got lots of time on the treadmill, eliptical, bike and weights. IMG_6262 IMG_6271 We visited the San Antonio River Walk one evening and then headed to Sea World the next day. It was a bit chilly. IMG_1647 IMG_1686 We toured the Alamo: IMG_1723 Then, we made our way to Austin, where we stayed at a swanky resort and ate pizza in bed. IMG_1806 And chips..... IMG_1807 We had BBQ at the Salt Lick. IMG_1742 And then we went to Dave & Heather's for a New Year's Eve party. IMG_1747 Emoji masks are fun. IMG_1746 Happy New Year! IMG_6337 We visited the Swansons for a casual day of football games on New Year's Day. Then they were kind enough to give us a tour of downtown Austin. IMG_1793 And we had some sushi while we were downtown. IMG_6350 And as we headed out of town, we took one last family selfie at the airport. IMG_6360 A good time was had by all!

December 2014

December was a fun month. We visited Santa at the QAS "Santa's Workshop" event. Santa even asked the kids how Harold was doing. IMG_1156 Jake had his Christmas program at school. He was instructed to wear dress pants, a white shirt and tie. He brought his own style with the bowtie and jacket. IMG_6200 I took Megan and her friends to the mall for some Christmas shopping. We had a little stop at Starbucks first. IMG_6170 We made it downtown for breakfast at Macy's on Darin's birthday again this year. We got there early enough to eat at the Walnut room this year. IMG_1457 We had Portillo's chocolate cake later that evening. IMG_1499 And, Christmas eve was celebrated at Lisa's this year. Here's the family pic: IMG_1521

Monday, June 1, 2015

November 2014

November brought us basketball at Brooks Park. IMG_0856 Jake is pretty aggressive on the basketball court (and he's a good ball handler). IMG_1070 Since Michael is on Jake's team, Megan gets to hold babies while Jake is playing. IMG_0883 Speaking of Michael....he spends a fair amount of time at our house. The boys like to work out together. IMG_1062 Megan got her hair cut by Irene. Looking good! IMG_6075 I believe this is the photo that I used for holiday cards: IMG_0916 And, we had a last minute switch that moved Thanksgiving dinner to our house, so Jake pitched in to help Mimi get dinner ready. IMG_1044 After dinner, Jake and Pierce dressed like ninjas so that they could spy on us. IMG_1050