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

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Oct 2014

We wrapped up the cross country season in October. Check out this form!! IMG_5832 Since MC was in such great shape, we ran the Frank Lloyd Wright 5k (and she dug deep to beat her cousin, Pierce). It was chilly, but nice. IMG_5979 They got their school pictures back. Jake wanted to wear a tie this year. JakeSchoolPic2014 MeganSchoolPic2014-5thgrade Here are some photos of before-school morning shenanigans: IMG_5990 IMG_5991 IMG_5994 Darin and I attended a party at the Mackin's house. I had to work the Trick or Treat Trot the following morning, so it wasn't a super late night for us. IMG_6031 And the kids' Halloween costumes this year were, Cleopatra (she wanted a costume with make-up): IMG_6033 And, Scarecrow: IMG_8662

September 2014

IMG_7760 September brought us cross country season, which I obviously happen to love. Megan had a good season. She was really close to breaking 7:00 for her mile. She'll get there next year. IMG_7451 Jake played flag football at school and was a stand out athlete. He scored a touchdown in every game that he played. (He is the fastest boy in second grade, after all). IMG_7632 He also played in a fall baseball league in Niles with many of his school mates. IMG_7582 And, last but not least, we had a nice visit from Jimmy, Michele, Dane and Wrigley. The visit was short but super nice. IMG_7786 IMG_7828

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Aug 2014

August is Megan's month! IMG_5484 We were at the cottage on her actual birthday. IMG_5450 Damien and Ada were with us that weekend as well. IMG_6998 Then, she had a slumber party with a few of her besties. I took them out to Moretti's in Edison Park for a fun dinner before heading home to stay up super late. IMG_5555 Cheers! IMG_5559 IMG_5563 Darin took the kids to a Bears pre-season game (I still haven't been to a Bears Game). IMG_5629 We had a country/covered wagon them at the lighted boat parade this year. IMG_5656 Kids went back to school at the end of August. Megan in 5th grade and Jake in 2nd. IMG_7331 And of course we ended the month with a visit to the Walworth County Fair over Labor Day weekend. IMG_7418