Sunday, July 5, 2009

Visit to Wisconsin

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Wisconsin to visit with Aaron's brother and his family.   It was so much fun to get to spend time with them.  That was one benefit of living in Chicago-we were so much closer to them!  We always have a good time when we're together.  The boys get to play some golf-and the girls get to shop :)  We drove up this time, stopping to pick up Aaron's mom on the way.  It was kind of a long drive-but Emily did good!  Dramamine was on board of course to prevent any car sickness.  It helped Emily, and therefore Mommy too, get some sleep in the car!!  We got to be there for Jack's first Tee-ball game and also for his preschool graduation too.  Emily and Jack had so much fun together too.  They got along so well.  Jack was such a good sport with Emily.  He happily played with her, and willingly shared his toys with her.  It was so fun to see them playing together!

 

Emily actually posing for pictures in Grandma's backyard.

Emily absolutely LOVED riding in Jack's cars.  He was so nice to drive her around :)
They drove the cars all around all weekend long.  
Jack at his Tee-ball game.

Emily playing in the dirt at the game.  Oh well-it kept her occupied.

They had their own little band.  I love Emily's cheesy smile here!

Such a big girl heading in for Jack's preschool graduation.

Congratulations Jack!!!!  

Of course more driving the next day. 

It gave us adults time to sit, talk, relax (maybe a few drinks enjoyed too!).

Emily actually got on the little 4 wheeler all by herself as we were getting ready to go to Jack's graduation.  Everyone was loading up the cars, we looked up and said "Where's Emily?" and right on cue you see Emily barreling out of the garage on the 4 wheeler-she ran right into a large flower pot that they had out on the driveway and knocked it over.  Thankfully she didn't get hurt-just her pride.  She was a little startled.  We all thought that it was pretty funny though.  Right as we asked where she was she comes out-as if it was staged or something!  She was talking about it the rest of the day too.  She learned her lesson!
So, after that, Aaron was helping her to do it by herself.

She was able to get the hang of it-she could barely reach the pedals!

Once again-Jack was so sweet to help her.  

We propped her up so that she could reach the pedals on the Jeep.  She looks all grown up.  Yikes!!!  Flash forward 14 more years!!!

We hardly have any pictures of us anymore.....so here's a self portrait....not the best-but it's us!!

We went to Build-a-Bear.  It was Emily's first time.  Jack is a pro.  Emily was so excited!

The look on her face as they filled up her little lamb she pick out. 


Of course-more riding.  

He's such a cutie!

Cheese!!

Not sure what she's doing exactly.

Emily and Jack holding hands at the zoo.


As we were loading up the car to leave-Emily sleeping through it all-what a fun weekend!


We had such a great time!  We were lucky to have decent weather.  We got to do a bunch of fun stuff and also got to relax and just spend time together too.  It was great!  We can't wait to see them again soon!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Circus

We got to go to the circus!  We had a great time!  We got there early and got to go see all the animals before the show.  We also got to go down on the floor to see a bunch of performers before the show too-it was neat to see them up close-Emily was in awe!!  

Twisty twirly light up thingy-$22


Cotton Candy-$12 (can you believe it??!!)

(At least it came with a hat)


The look of pure joy on her face-Priceless  :)


Tigers


Elephants

Family self portrait.

We decided after seeing these pictures that we had to get a new camera before we go to Disney in July.  Aaron's been on a mission to find the best, most practical camera (in our price range of course).  He gets to look into the technical stuff-and I get to play with a new camera!!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Beco the baby elephant, and a new sandbox!

A bunch of mommies from work met with our kids to see the new baby elephant at the zoo!  We managed to not have to wait in line too long, and the kids were pretty excited to see Beco!  Emily did pretty good for hanging out with new kids for the first time.  She was pretty cute trying to join in with the girls that already knew each other.  They all ended up playing well for the rest of the day!  
Lunch break.

  Why does she have to be showing off her belly??   
 

Emily in front of the Rhino-actually smiling for a picture!


Baby and Mama were staying cool inside this afternoon.  How little and yet at the same time-how big!




OK, so none of them are really looking...cute still.





Emily got a new sandbox!  She loves to go out and play in it!  She is truely just ignoring me...she never wants to look at the camera!



She must have gotten all those beads when she was showing her belly at the zoo :)




Sorry Em, it's the closest we've got to a beach around here.




Camden's first birthday

We got to go celebrate Camden's first birthday with Aaron's family. It was a great time to get together-and the kids had a great time playing! Emily was a little unsure as to why it was someone else's birthday and not hers-but was just fine to have some cake regardless!

The birthday boy.


Emily was commenting on the mess that he was making. Has she not seen the floor after she eats??



Emily and Alexis running off to play.



Playin' the saxophone.


We were trying to get a picture of the kids. Emily wouldn't sit unless I was there though, so I got to be in the kid picture!


Aaron's cousin Kevin, his wife Krista (and baby #2!) and Camden getting into his cake.



Emily-just chillin'.



Silliness!!!!

Just some cuteness from this spring. Thought I'd pass it along! Emily is so much fun! She always has something to say-I don't know where she'd get that from! She has a little (OK a lot!) of independence in her too. That can be a challenge, but we keep reminding ourselves that it's a good trait to have!

Messy cookie in the car!


It really hasn't been that cold-she just wanted to wear the hood from her winter coat-silly girl!


So close to the kangaroo at the zoo!! She wouldn't turn around though to let me get her face-she didn't trust the kangaroo enough to turn her back to it!!


She loves to play dress up!

This was just too funny! I think she was done with pictures for the day.