Megan's 7th Birthday

6!, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

Megan had a "Pump It Up" party for her 7th birthday. We invited 20 of her closest friends and the kids wore themselves out jumping on the inflatables. She had a great time. Jake had fun too, but decided there weren't enough boys at this party. Here's a pic of her with Lili:



Aunt Jenny came over to our house after the party (to watch the opening of the presents and wait out traffic):



And of course, we had to photograph the matching outfits of Megan and Francesca:

Lincolnwood Fest

Carousel, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

Here are two pics from our annual visit to the Lincolnwood Fest. Last year, Darin and I brought the kids in the late afternoon and missed the "All you can ride wristband deal". We ended up dropping $50 in about an hour. This year, Patti and I took our kids. We got there by 12:30 and stayed until 5:00 (when the wristband deal ended). It cost me the same $50. I'd say we got our money's worth this time around. I have a TON of photos, but I'll limit it to these two.

Megan had a grand old time riding the big rides with her friend, Julia. And, "lucky" for us the lines were short because it was about 95 degrees and humid!

Summer Cottage Fun

Silly kids, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

That's right......still catching up from summer. Don't judge. I'm busy. These cottage picks were taken the weekend of July 23rd. Megan and Jake like to play on Adolph's trailer. When they go outside, they ask, "Can we go up to the trailer?" It's a big deal because they get to cross the street on their own. Not that any cars ever drive down it, but.....

Here's some trailer fun:





And here's the road less-traveled. Gotta love rural Wisconsin, where you can literally go play in the street:



Who knew corn could be so much fun:



And just a regular smiling shot with the lake in the background:



Here's Megan at sunset (on the trailer):



And, Jake at sunrise (on the pier):



Jenny and Flip were up with us on this weekend and took us out on "Nuts Largo". Jake had his first tube ride:



Darin and Flip were at the mercy of crazy-driver Jenny when they took their turn:



And, we like to call this one the rib cracker:



Darin hurt for at least two weeks after that one. This shot was taken shortly after the crash (he wasn't feeling so good here):



Jenny toned down the craziness after that one - no major injuries for the remainder of the summer!