Time for a video

1st day of school

One of the things I love about my kids is how well they handle change.  They are starting at a new school and have both been so excited about it.  I haven't noticed a bit of worry or anxiety.  I'm sure I'm more nervous about it than they are.  Just hoping they like their new school, teachers and make friends easily.  They both had tons of friends at their old school.  Fingers crossed it goes well.

Kyla is going into first grade and will have 2 teachers - they apparently job share.  I wasn't sure how well I would like it but according to my neighbor, they have been doing this for years and they are both fabulous.

Mason got a teacher that has been there for a long time and is well loved.

 

They look like twinsies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop it Mason!!

 

Visiting Aunt Joy

My mom was visiting Aunt Joy in Michigan during our trip to Chicago so instead of flying home with the family, I took a train ride to Grand Rapids to visit all of my family in Michigan.  I don't think I've seen them (except Aunt Joy) since I was about 8 years old.  The timing was perfect and I was able to spend 3 night there (thanks also to my wonderful hubby).  She has Alzheimer's and repeatedly had to be reminded of who I was but each time I told her, I was able to see how happy she was to see me and the delight in her face.

 

I loved seeing all of the cousins that I haven't seen in so many years.  Most of them, I don't even remember seeing.  So fun.  Thankful I made the trip.

 

 

My mom and I took her for a walk.  I love how green everything is in Michigan.

 

 

Just look at how beautiful she is.  77 years young.  This is evidence that taking good care of your skin morning and night works.  She just used Oil Of Olay too.

 

 

Sisters.  Love.

 

 

Auntie and I.  Love her so much.

 

 

Mom being silly and trying  to give Aunt Joy a good scare.  Didn't work, she wasn't even phased.

 

 

Hanging out in her chair.

The last Chicago post - John Hancock Tower

We had such a wonderful vacation.  If you haven't been to Chicago, plan a trip.  I would recommend going in August, the weather was warm and we only had one gloomy, rainy day.  It definitely didn't slow us down though.  There is so much to see and do, we could have easily spent 2 weeks there.  (I'm sure Sharon and Brian would have been sick of us)  We had a little bit of time left and decided to squeeze in the John Hancock Tower.  It was similar to the Willis Tower (another big building) however they had a self guided tour that was awesome.  We all walked around with our headphones and iPod touches.  The kids thought that was so cool. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tashina was dog-sitting and sent me this photo of Roscoe.  I'm not thinking he's in a big hurry for us to get home.

 

Chicago Cubs

You can't go to Chicago without going to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play.  It was built in 1914.  They played the Cincinnati Reds and unfortunately didn't win but we all had such a great time.

 

 

 

A statue of Harry Carey, the Cubs Hall of Fame announcer. 

 

 

 

 

 

The fire station right across the street from Wrigley Field.  That wouldn't be a bad gig, right? 

 

Our seats ... not bad at all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanging out after the game. 

 

 

 

 

My fave from the day. 

 

 

Hanging out

We went to the Shedd Aquarium on our last day.  It was a good time but between you and I, this aquarium doesn't even come close to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  After a few hours in there, we went for a nice walk along Lake Michigan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting Auntie and The Field Museum

We visited Sharon at work at Rotary International in Evanston.  The kids loved seeing the beautiful flags and even got a special Rotary Pin.

 

 

Love all of the colors. 

 

 

We also went to the Field Museum of Natural History.  It was great to have Sharon with us ... she used to work there and knows so much about everything.

 

One of the most interesting exhibits they had is Sue, the most complete T-Rex ever found.  58 dagger like teeth.  ROAR.

 

 

Creepy. 

 

 

Just a cute photo. 

 

 

With Sue.

 

 

She's sneaky ... he wasn't expecting it and she laid one on him.  Love his facial expression.  She loves him so much.

 

 

Art Institute

We love museums and couldn't wait to go to the Art Institute of Chicago.  It has more than 260,000 works of art and artifacts.  We spent an afternoon there but if we would have had more time, could easily have spent an entire day in there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I couldn't believe was how much the kids enjoyed it and were totally into it.  We all carried these speaker thingies (technical term) around and could enter a number for the pieces to hear information about them.  They even had one that would tell about the art at kids level.  So cool.  Brian and I like listening at the kids level better.  ;-) 

 

 

Mason was very interested.  He liked to read everything also (just like Brian). 

 

 

Shhh.  Listening. 

 

 

We couldn't leave without seeing American Gothic. 

 

 

So good about getting their pictures taken. 

 

Random Chicago Pictures

The kids are such troopers.  I'm not kidding.  We were on the go from 8 am to who knows what time every night.  We spent a large majority of time walking and they NEVER COMPLAINED ONCE.  I mean, not once.  It rained one of the days and we walked around in it an never said a word.  They were such a blast and we all got along great too.  Fantastic trip.  Here are a few photos from around town.

 

 

 

Stopping for lunch. 

 

 

Love this boy. 

 

 

Michigan Avenue, baby.  No shopping for me though. 

 

 

Kyla took this photo of Brian and I on her camera.  Turned out good too. 

 

 

I mustache you a question.  Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

 

Kyla and Auntie Sharon selfie.