July 29, 2011

Vacation Bible School

We returned from Portland to a heat advisory in Chicago, so we didn't do much because it was SO hot.  Then, just as the heat advisory was lifted, our air conditioner broke.  And not just a minor break- we had to have a new inside and outside unit installed.  Not fun.  So, we didn't do much while the air conditioner was broken either because it was SO hot.

This week was VBS at church.  I was a crew leader for a group of first and second grade boys and let's just say they were a challenge.  Lila was part of the preschool group again this year and had a fantastic time!  She told me all about what she did every day and couldn't wait to go back.  Two of her teachers even told me how impressed they were with her knowledge about Jesus!  Cara spent the week in the nursery at church playing with her friends and having fun.

Last night was the VBS Finale where the kids could show off the songs that they learned.  The preschoolers sang Jesus Loves Me by themselves and then sang two songs with the rest of the group.  Lila did an excellent job singing the words and doing the hand motions!








After the singing, everyone had ice cream to celebrate!

July 28, 2011

Meanwhile...

While we were in Oregon, Mom stayed here with all three kids.  The kids loved having time with Nana!  They played at home, went to parks and even tried out a new park!

 Cara swinging

 Playing with the water table in the backyard



 Blowing bubbles in the bathtub





 Cara demonstrating her fork skills.

Adam and Molly's Wedding

On July 16, Chris's friend and college roommate Adam got married in Oregon and Chris served as a groomsman.  We flew out to Portland on Thursday for the rehearsal dinner.  Then on Friday we drove about an hour to Hood River which is where the rest of the wedding festivities took place.  Friday was the rehearsal followed by an outdoor dinner so we could enjoy the perfect weather.  Then, on Saturday, Adam and Molly got married at Mt. Hood Organic Farms.  The weather was rainy in the morning and a little chilly at wedding time, but the sun came out and everything was able to go as planned.

 Chris with the Best Man, Marc.

 Chris and I before the wedding.  It was a little windy!

 Chris gave one of the seven blessings during the ceremony.

 The view from the reception.

The happy couple.

Renaissance Faire


On Saturday, July 9 Mom and Dad took Ian and his friend Owen to the  Bristol Renaissance Faire as his birthday present.  Ian had a great time!


 This is what Ian picked to buy with his birthday money.  It's a long leather cloak.  I don't really know what else to say about it.
Ian apparently spent most of his time at this booth where you can throw tomatoes at a man who insults you.  He had a blast.

July 12, 2011

Ian's Birthday Weekend

Technically, Ian's birthday was last weekend, but he was with his dad.  He got to go camping and spend time with his dad's family.

On Friday, Mom and Dad came up to babysit so that Chris and I could go see Beauty and the Beast.  We had dinner with Katie and Tim first and then saw the show.  It was fun, but not nearly as amazing as Lion King!  After dinner we had drinks with Emily to celebrate her birthday and then headed home.


 Lila and Cara's new thing is to use my foam roller to "stretch".

On Sunday Mom, Dad, Katie and Tim came over to celebrate Ian's birthday.  We had lunch, cake and ice cream and presents.  Lila got dressed up in her "party costume".


Ian got money, gift cards, a savings bond and a new book.  He also got the XBox he's been asking for! 

He got some new XBox games from Katie and Tim. 

And then we had chocolate mousse birthday cake.

On Saturday, Ian and a friend went to the Renaissance Faire with Mom and Dad for his birthday present.  Mom took some pictures and I will add those as soon as I get them from her.

July 5, 2011

4th of July Weekend

We had a fun and busy 4th of July weekend!  Katie moved into her new condo on Wednesday so on Friday I helped her shop for some essentials and clean.  Then, on Saturday morning, I had a brutally hot training run followed by furniture shopping with Katie. 

Then on Sunday we went to the Taste of Oakbrook for the first time.  We loved it!  First and foremost the Jesse White Tumblers were there, and as a life long fan I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see them up close.  It was awesome!  I had only seen them as a half time show at Assembly Hall, but here we were so close we could touch them.  Lila was amazed and Cara said "woooo!" while we watched.

After that, we tried some food and enjoyed the beautiful day.  The girls had lots of fun running around and playing Ring Around the Rosie.


Cara and Chris eating our free fries.

 Cara and I

 Lila and Cara eating gelato

Later that night some friends came over and we enjoyed the weather some more, sitting outside to eat and play bags.

On the 4th I ran a 4 mile race (4 on the 4th) here in town which was a lot of fun.  I finished in 35:30 which was ahead of my goal time of 36 minutes and meant I kept an overall pace of 8:53.  Plus, because the race was short and in town the girls got to see me go by early on and again at the finish.  In this picture I am waving and yelling at the girls to make sure they saw me.  They did!

Lila's 4th of July outfit

Cara's 4th of July outfit

After the girls got up from nap, we went to the pool.  They continue to amaze us with how well they can swim and how much they enjoy it.  Cara jumped off the side of the pool over and over again to Chris and I yelling "Two! Jump!" (like One, Two, Three... Jump) and walked around in the shallowest end sticking her face in the water to blow bubbles.  Lila jumped off the diving board five times by herself!!!  Not just little jumps either, running big jumps off the end.  Chris waited for her in the deep end to make sure she got to the side safely, but she did all of the jumping and swimming by herself.  Then last night, Lila got to stay up late and go with Chris to watch the fireworks.  She had fun watching them and naming them as they went up.

July 3, 2011

This and That

The last couple of weeks have had a lot going on.  Two weekends in a row, Mom and I had a garage sale.  It was my second, and most likely my last garage sale, but I had a lot of baby stuff to get out of the house and that did the job. 

Mom is Cara's BFF, so Cara thoroughly enjoyed spending all of that time with her while she was visiting.


Then, during the week between the two garage sale weekends we had a major storm go through the area.   Funnel clouds were spotted, trees were uprooted and 300,000 people lost power.  Including us.  We were fortunate and were only without power for 24 hours.  Some of my friends were without power for 48 hours and I even know a few people who were without power for four days.  We were fine without power and just had to keep the freezers and the fridge closed.  But since being without power isn't enough, my car battery died and my cell phone stopped working.  Not my favorite 24 hours.

Chris happened to be out driving when the sirens first went off for the storm and a tree branch fell on his car!!  He was very fortunate that the heavy part of the branch hit the front of his car and only the leafy part hit the windshield.  It was after that that he called me and told me to get the girls out of bed and take everyone to the basement.  We were in the basement for about an hour and everyone handled it very well.

The next day Ian headed out for a summer visit with his dad and the girls opened their new shoes from Erin!


Random picture of Lila