Little Fishies

We have had a lot of water time lately and it has been a lot of fun.
(practicing kicking)
I mentioned before that Hayden was taking swim lessons. Well, on the last day of class, parents were allowed down by the pool to take pictures. It was so fun to see how much Hayden loves to swim.

Hayden had been telling me that she was supposed to jump off the diving board at swim lessons but she was too scared. So, I noticed her sitting on the side talking to her teacher and decided to be a "hovering parent" for a minute. I went over and sure enough it was time to jump off the diving board. Miss Jessica was trying to convince Hayden to do it, with no success. (Hayden can be very stubborn) So, I told her I would hold her hand in line until it was her turn to jump. She agreed and did it! I was so proud of her for being so brave. Of course she thought it was so fun.

Avery, whom Hayden calls her best friend, was able to take swim lessons at the same time. Obviously they weren't being too cooperative for the picture.

Here's Hayden with her teacher Miss Jessica. She asked me if Hayden was taking another class this summer because Hayden's so cute and she wanted to teach her again :)

Once swim lessons were over, we headed to Lehmann beach for playgroup. It's just a little beach but it was so nice because it has big shade trees, benches and a playground. Cole was. in. heaven! He immediately took to the water and obviously the sand. Ryan saw this picture and said, "So, you saw him eating a rock and your first thought was 'I should take a picture', instead of 'I should take that rock out of his mouth.'" Yes, actually. That's exactly how it went ;)

I had to keep picking him up and moving him closer to the sand because he had no fear. He crawled straight out and would have kept going. The mouthfulls of nasty lake water were no deterrent.

Hayden, of course, loved it too! Especially since Avery was there.

Good times being little fishies!

Brookfield Zoo

Ryan's on a business trip to China, so the kids and I have been trying to stay busy to make the time go by more quickly. We made a trip down to the Brookfield Zoo. It was the first time I have taken the kids without any friends or anything. It was really fun to have some us time and do our own thing there.

This is how Cole spent most of our time at the zoo. We were there during his nap time and he was really tired. He did perk up for the dolphins and giraffes and was so cute waving to them. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I was holding him so it wasn't happening.

Hayden couldn't decide which animal was her favorite. I liked the bears this time around. They have a new bear exhibit and it's awesome. There is a grizzly and a polar bear. They were both swim and playing in the water. The exhibit has a glass wall so we got up close. Well, as close as you can get when there are a hundred people in there with you.

Hayden found this stick and was very excited to get her picture taken with it. Silly girl.

The lighting by the giraffes is obviously not ideal.

We stayed for a couple hours then headed home exhausted. I love getting out and having fun with my kids.

This is the last of my posts for the night. Sorry again for the overload. It's just so hard staying caught up when we're so busy playing ;)

*On a side note, I just finished scrubbing my bathroom after Hayden made the toilet overflow. Picture water pouring out of the toilet, a few calls to good old dad, a plunger, and about 12 towels. Good times being the "man of the house" while Ryan's away.

4th of July Festivities

We had a very busy and fun filled 4th of July weekend.
It started off with a pool party at our friend's the McMillans on Saturday morning. We've been swimming in their pool a few times this summer and it's always so great. Hayden the fish loved it, of course. Cole loves the pool too. He was in for about an hour then went in the house for a nap. Here he is after he's fully rested.

Later that night, we went with my bro's fam and some friends to see fireworks. We got there about an hour before they started and just let the kids run and play.

Cole found a red vine one of the kids had left laying around. He was in heaven.
Ryan was helping the kids find fireflies. Hayden does not like bugs. At all. But she was so excited about the fireflies!

I decided since I'm usually the picture taker instead of in the pictures, that I would get some proof that I'm actually an active, involved parent ;)

I asked Hayden why she's ornery in all of the family pictures and she said because she just wanted to play. Silly me. Hayden was not a huge fan of the fireworks. She kept saying "they're too loud." She was scared and wanted to sit with Ryan or me. We had to cover her ears for her. We covered Cole's ears too, and he just hung out watching.

Sunday was spent going to church, then lounging and recouperating from Saturday. Then Monday we headed up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. We walked by the water, showed the kids the boats, and visited the shops. Later that night, we went to a BBQ to say goodbye to some good friends, the Greenwells, who moved to Kansas.

It was such a fun week and we really enjoyed spending time as a family!

Welcome Home Stanley!

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley cup last month. All of Chicago was partying. They even had a big parade and party with the players downtown the Friday after. Ryan took the day off and we decided to brave the crowds and join in the fun.
Hayden's been on the metra before but she really enjoyed it this time. She was running upstairs, then downstairs, then upstairs, etc..... This was Cole's first metra ride and he enjoyed flirting with the female passengers!!

The train was running behind and got us downtown late. So, we missed the parade. But were greeted by LOTS of confetti. The sidewalks all looked like this. I've never seen anything like it.

We did get to see the players speak. We watched it on the jumbo tron. They were at the top of this street. It was so fun to see all of the red (the blackhawks color).

The police were out in great numbers and Hayden thought it was cool that a lot of them were riding horses.

This is what the streets looked like after the event. I've never seen so much trash in the street before. Crazy!

We watched the games and Ryan loves the Blackhawks, but I'm just kind of along for the ride. However, I was so excited to go downtown for this. Ryan says I just like to be part of the party with things. And it's true. I think it's fun. It was really cool to walk all over town and see all of the flags, banners, signs in stores, decorated statues and everything else people had put up to support the Blackhawks. It's the city's team and they really showed their love and support. It was awesome.

We spent a few more hours downtown getting lunch and checking out the shops along the mag mile. We were really impressed because the streets were totally clean when we headed back to Union Station. Then we headed home. Home to a $15 parking ticket because Ryan couldn't get the parking meter machine to work at the train station. Oh well. We're always so exhausted when we get home, but it's so worth it. I love spending time downtown. It's one of my favorite things :)

Random Happenings

Here are some random things our family has been up to...

Cole has been pulling himself up on everything.

And getting into the cupboards. He has also recently learned to climb up stairs. We haven't tried down yet. That's for another day ;)

Hayden has started swim lessons at the local park district. She just finished her first week and has one more to go. She is a little fish with no fear of the water. Needless to say, she LOVES swim lessons and is doing really well. In the above picture she's in a pink suit next to the teacher and her friend Avery is 3 kids to the right.

Her cousins came over to play and Anika helped her transform into a princess. Complete with lip stick. She was loving life with all that pampering....

We have season passes to Six Flags again this year and made our first visit to their water park, Hurricane Harbor, a few weeks ago. Cole was loving the water. Hayden would only slow down long enough for me to snag this quick picture. We played in the kid area, the wave pool, and of course the lazy river. It was a lot of fun and I enjoy it as much as the kids!


As I said in the previous post, the kids were sick for a while. So a lot of our time that week was spent cuddling and lounging.
We won this awesome kite at a super bowl party we went to and broke it out a while ago. Hayden loved it and even flew it by herself for a while. Cole and I just hung out on the grass enjoying the show. We need to get it out again for another go.

I didn't get a picture, but I went with a few friends of mine to the midnight showing of Eclipse last week. I don't love the movies, but this one was a lot better than the first two. It was also great to be out with friends and act like a teenager again ;)

Hayden's Party

We've been playing hard the last few weeks and I am way behind on my posts. So, it's time for another post overload.
The night of Hayden's birthday, we picked up a happy meal for her and headed to a forest preserve near by. Cole had his first taste of french fries. Then we let Hayden ride her bike around the preserve.

Then on Friday night, Aunt Camille and Uncle Eric came into town. We hit Lou Malnati's for some pizza that night. The next day we had Hayden's party with all of our friends at a nearby park. Ever since her last birthday, Hayden's been telling me she wanted a ballerina cake. So, my cake decorating friend Tina, helped me put together this beauty....

It turned out so great and Hayden loved it. She also loved opening presents. Her friends enjoyed helping out on that part too.

She loved the mixer from Grammy and Grampa. Unfortunatley Cole broke the beater off later that day. Which reminds me, I need to get out the super glue and fix that ;)

I had taken the kids into the doctor earlier in the week and Hayden had a double ear infection. The doctor said Cole had a viral infection and there wasn't anything we could do. Then on Friday night Cole was just screaming and inconsolable. So, about 3 am and after hours of crying, Ryan took him to the emergency room. And what do you know, he had a double ear infection. Poor guy!! They gave him medicine there to relieve the pain so he could sleep, but he was so tired and miserable at the party. This is how he spent most of the time.....

Hayden had such a wonderful birthday! Thanks to all of our friends and family for making it so special ;)