August...

Do you ever wonder who wins those ENORMOUS stuffed toy prizes at carnivals, theme parks and county fairs?



Well wonder no more. That's Joey on the right (and his good friend Sam on the left). Three baseballs, 3 throws 3 clowns knocked down. Ding, ding, ding! Winner! And lest you think this is a fluke, he did the same thing last year. Now, he is the proud owner of a Scooby Doo doll that is bigger than he is and this lovely banana. Do I need to explain why I am a little bit excited that we will be in Finland next summer and will probably not have the time to go to Great America?

In many ways, this was a huge summer for Joey. He attended day camp and at the end got to help as a "junior counselor." He loved every minute of camp this year. They even took the kids to a YMCA sleep-away camp for a couple of nights.



These look like pretty posh accomodations compared to what I had at sleep-away camp, by the way. But again, he had a great time.

Joey also completed his first kids' triathalon this summer. I plan to document that in a seperate post.

As I write these blogs post about our summer, it seems as if we managed to cram a lot into our summer eventhough our mission was to save money for our upcoming trip to Finland. We did try to spend more time in our yard, at local parks and playgrounds, at the beach and at other places that don't have an entrance fee.

Millenium Park is always a hit with adults and kids. Honestly, the Bean (Cloudgate) has to be one of the best sculptures in the world...





At least it's one of my favorites!



And the Crown Fountain? Genius...





Bowling is almost free in the city during the summer....



water playgrounds are always free...



and bubbles are cheap if you make them from dishsoap you have on hand (but maybe not so cheap if your child uses the Costco gallon of dish soap you had in the basement for filling up the soap bottle on the sink every month or two...) Honestly, Joey spent hours making bubbles with his friends and siblings, but we seriously did go through 1 gallon of soap.









We had a great, end-of-year, last minute trip to the Michigan Dunes. Joey had had a fever for 6 days straight (including the day of the triathalon). He woke up the Monday before school started and said "I feel great!" We literally threw bathing suits and one towel into a bag and ran out the door to the dunes. Usually, I pack extra clothes, snacks, water bottles, toys, camera, books, ugh! No wonder why summer outing exhaust me. This time, we ran out the door with our suits and one towel and we had THE BEST TIME! it was a perfect day!

Summer...in review

Yeah.

Apparently, after taking a photo a day for a few months, I really loose interest in taking pictures.

So here is a recap of the first half of our summer.

This summer...

we played (and watched) a LOT of baseball



went to camp



had a mini reunion with 4 of the 7 families we traveled to China with



watched (and marched in) a parade



climbed some fences



played on the beach





a lot...




spent time with our cousins



learned to row a boat



trained for a triathalon



became an official "Lake Monster"



relaxed...



made friends with some farm animals



checked out the Chicago skyline from one of the tallest buildings in the world







and that was just July...

Strawberries mark the beginning of our summer

Strawberry picking marks the unofficial start of summertime!

Enjoying Spring

17/365

Technically, this is not the best photo, but I love it! We took the kids to the Planetarium today and I love the view of the city skyline from just outside the museum. The kids did NOT want to have their photo taken because it was cold and windy (this is the Windy City after all!). It's pretty clear that they were cold and it's also clear that they were humoring me!

Half hour later, they were ice skating outside without any regard for how cold, rainy and miserable it was.

Summer Road Trip - Day 7

Tybee Island, GA




Within the first 10 minutes of hitting the beach on Tybee Island the kids were back to their old selves again. These Midwestern born, summers-at-Lake Michigan boys were a bit turned off by the salty water, so we spent a good part of the morning looking for shells.



Lily would barely put a toe in the water, but she entertained herself for hours picking up shells and studying them!

There are miles of public beach on Tybee. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon at North Beach and then checked out South Beach in the evening. There is an amazing sand bar at the south beach that just seems to go on forever. Of course, if you stay there long enough, the tide will come in and you'll be in trouble!

By the end of the day, the kids were used to the salty water and they started to enjoy the ocean...

Summer Road Trip - Day 3

Sanders Ridge Vineyard and Winery
Boonville, NC



We went to Sanders Ridge Vineyard to "wine, dine and ride the line." We had a fabulous, locally grown meal, tasted wine made from locally harvested grapes and then the kids zip-lined through locally grown trees! We all had so much fun. Depsite the opressive heat, it was a fabulous outing!



Sam started out riding tandem with one of the guides, but later in the tour, he was zipping by himself.



Joey was a bit nervous at first, but he quickly loosened up (although that doesn't show in this photo!).





Even Rob got in on the action...



Good food, good wine and ziping with the cousins? Couldn't ask for a better day!

Rain, rain go away...

A year ago today, I came home to 4 inches of water in my basement. This year, it has been raining like crazy and I find myself running to the basement every hour to check for water. No water inside...yet (more rain forecasted for the weekend). But there certainly is a lot of water outside--and lots of mosquitos too.

What do you do when you are caught in the rain three days in a row? Have fun, splash and get wet!

Olympic Fever!

WE have Olympic Fever in our house!

Actually, for years I have wanted the boys to learn how to ski downhill. So, during our recent 5 day school holiday, we headed to a local ski hill to do just that.

Rob and I took bets about how the boys would feel about skiing after their first lesson. We both guessed they would NEVER want to go again. And, since the "ski walk" over to the kids' lesson area was comical (for me, not so much the boys) and nearly impossible, I wasn't even sure they would show up for the first lesson. Let's just say we should have carried the skis to the lesson area, but I have some stubborn, determined kids!

Sammy looking not so sure about this...



Joey feeling the same...



Lily waiting for her brothers on the sled...



An awful, over-exposed photo, but so cute to watch all the little kids learning to put their skis on!



Sammy learning to balance while going down a hill



Joey progressed quickly and advanced to the "bigger" hill.



By the end of the lesson, Joey was using the tow rope to get up the hill and his teacher told us if he had had a few more minutes with Joey, he would have advanced him to the big hill and the chair lift. He might have advanced him, but we were just fine with the tow rope!



At the end of 3 hours outside in the cold, both boys were unequivocally hooked on skiing and have since begged to return. We hope to get them there