November was yet another busy month for us. Fortunately our weather has been really mild, which makes it easy for the kids to burn off that excess energy outdoors! We've had lots of park time this fall.
Mimi came in for the holidays on November 10th and we met her at the airport with a sign. Note the limo drivers standing there along side Megan!
We stopped for a group shot at baggage claim.
I rarely take pictures of down time, but how cute is this?!
More mild weather outdoor fun:
Papa showed up on the 17th with their dog, Boojie. Fortunately, this dog doesn't shed and Jake seems to be doing really well with his allergies around her. I think Megan is going to use this against me at some point to get a dog.
My girl scout troop wrote letters to various companies on behalf of our local dog shelter and were able to collect over 500 pounds of dog food, along with various gift cards and products. Here's the photo that made the local paper:
This is just a fun photo from the shelter tour. This big dog in the back kept popping his head over the wall. He was super friendly.
My company produces a 5k on Thanksgiving morning in Evanston. Megan worked with me at one of the pre-race packet pick-ups and decided that she likes to work and earn money. She also joined me at 5:00am on race day! Darin came out and ran the race. I have this photo of him after crossing the finish line.
We also hosted Darin's family for dinner on Thanksgiving -- but I totally cheated and ordered half of the meal!! I don't feel the least bit guilty because I was super busy and the food turned out to be quite good!!
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Megan and I took Ada to the American Girl Store to pick out a doll. It was her first visit there, so we went all out and had brunch in the cafe.
I think she had a really fun time. It was a nice, bustling day in the city!
We finished off the month by putting up our Christmas tree. This is the only photo I have of the 3 of them at work!
Monday, December 10, 2012
November 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
October 2012
October brought us my 40th birthday - yikes!! There's no way I can be 40! The kids had a nice time celebrating with cake on a stick from Mariano's.
Jenny was so nice to plan such an extravagant birthday celebration for me. We did the spa thing an Nordstrom, dinner at RPM, tried to go to a club but ended up at a dive bar and stayed at the Peninsula. Wow, what a gal.
We spent a fair amount of time at the cottage in October. In case you're wondering, THIS is how you jump into a leaf pile:
And Jake's version:
We love sitting around the campfire in the fall. I had to add this photo. Perhaps my kids think I take too many pictures. I see this look a lot!!
Here's a happier version.....cooking up her own dinner:
And, Jake would kill me if he knew I posted this photo, but I couldn't resist. He's really a very sweet kid.
They seem to get along pretty well when we're in Wisconsin. Maybe it's the fresh air, or maybe it's that they only have each other to play with. Either way - I'll take it. This pic made the Christmas card, but I'll share it again anyway.
And I absolutely love the genuine laughter and happiness that was caught in this image:
I made it to Megan's class Halloween party. They had a fun mummy-wrapping game and she was on the same team as her teacher.
Here are their costumes. Pretty self-explanatory:
And, boy, did they score on the candy. It's December 6th and we still have a ton leftover.
This girl loves her chocolate:
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
September 2012
Labor Day weekend was lots of fun! We spent the long weekend up at the cottage. It was a little overcast, but that never stops a boat ride. We went over to the northeastern portion of the lake where a little peninsula jets out. We docked the boat and the kids started running around on the "island". There were plenty of cat tails there and fun Aunt Jenny decided that they looked like corndogs and thus named that location "Corndog Island". Here is the mascot of Corndog Island:
We went to the Walworth County Fair on Sunday.
We saw lots of farm animals. One guy took this big turkey out of it's cage so that we could get a closer look (Darin got bit!).
The bunnies were a bit more their speed:
The kids always have a great time on all of the rides, but it costs a small fortune. I like to get the family fair photo. This year, Jake is wearing his own Batman hat.
The kids were too tired to walk back to the car, so strong, fun Dad carried them back.
We spent a little time at the beach that afternoon.
And, you can tell by the look on Megan's face that she loves when Jake does this.
After Labor Day, the kids had to start wearing uniforms to school. For some reason, I take a photo of their first uniform day.
On Sept. 8, Megan ran her first 5k. It was the inaugural Girl Scout Cookie Classic 5k. She and Logan were the only two from her troop to participate.
Here we are coming up to the finish. Yes, I'm behind her and not for lack of trying. She and Logan had it all planned out that they were gonna run fast at the end. When the finish line was in sight, Megan put up her hand and said, "I now declare sprinting!". And they took off.
It was such a nice day that we ended up hanging out in Millenium Park for a while and having lunch downtown.
We found this great little garden area behind the bean and just north of the Art Institute. It was like a little oasis in the city.
Jake stood in the water and the Singing Security Guard came over and asked him not to. He was a friendly guy.
Here's another random photo of dress up. I really have no idea what this is all about.
We went to one of the QAS cross country meets to watch Francesca run and Jake ran into his old friend, Sean. This almost looks like an album cover or something - don't you think?
My friend, Jeremy gave us some Ryder Cup tickets and it turned out to be a really nice day.
I snapped some close-up photos with my phone without getting caught!!
Then, we headed back up north and Megan took a great interest in Riggs. That is a dog with a lot of energy! We tried to tire him out on Corndog Island.
This is the moment when Jake gave Aunt Jenny her new nickname. Actually, Megan blurted it out before Jake had a chance and he was mad.....but they began calling her "Aunt Cray Cray". The name stuck.
We had some good lighting that afternoon. Here's a relatively serious look, but such a pretty face <3 <3
He's looking a little older to me here:
And then, on the way back to Chicago, we saw this little guy on the back of a motorcycle at the gas station:
I'm sure I left something out.....but this'll have to do for now!
