Grandma and Papa T Visit

My dad had his vacation last week, so my parents were able to come visit for a few days. We got a lot in, including trips to Portillo's, Butterfield's, Chuck E. Cheese, and Toys R Us. I wish I'd gotten more pictures. We made a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry one day, too. 

It's a huge place, but I think we hit a lot of the highlights, like the circus exhibit.

And the agriculture exhibit.

And the transportation exhibit.

My kids love a photo booth.

And Miles found a few opportunities to dance. He loved this movement/shadow exhibit.

I don't remember what this one was, but there was music playing, so he had to bust a move.

Stink Eye and Papa T got in some quality time.

We also went a a playground one morning.

We finished the trip with a visit to the O.G.

And some crusher hugs. It was over much too fast and we can't wait to see them again soon!

The Family that Golfs Together

Golf is one of Matt's favorite things to do, and we'd both be really happy if the kids end up enjoying it, too. Matt's taken Brooke and Miles out a couple of times in the afternoon to "play a few holes."

There's a decent chance that they enjoy riding in the golf cart as much or more than they enjoy playing, but whatever it takes to make them happy out there!

Brooke starts Lil' Chippers next week, so I'm sure I'll have some golf updates in a few weeks.

There have also been a couple of nights that we've been able to join Matt for dinner after he golfed. We tried really hard to get a good family picture this particular night.

Really hard.

Then everyone finally smiles looks at the camera at the same time, and the server cuts off Brooke. I know the course, is pretty, but really?

Oh, well.

Fun Run

A couple of weeks ago, Cosley Zoo hosted their annual Run for the Animals. I went early and ran the 10k, then Matt and the kids met me after for Brooke to run the Fun Run.

 

I think she was a combination of nervous and excited prior to the race (aren't we all?) and was happy when I told her I'd run with her.

It was a 1/2 mile run, and was a total of 4 blocks. One block in, she said she was ready to walk. I told her we weren't going to walk (I'm a pretty tough coach) but we could slow down. Another block in, she looked at me and said, "This is fun!" She finished strong and was very excited to receive a medal.

We ran into our friends Aurelia and Beth (and about half of Wheaton). We both had a lot of fun and hopefully it was our first of many races together.

Afterward, we walked around and checked out all the booths. Miles was really excited about his "Milton Township Democrats" balloon. Strangely, it disappeared before we got back to the car.

The kids got to meet Anna, Elsa and Spiderman at our dentist's (and friend's) booth.

We went home for about an hour, then it was on to Brooke's last soccer game of the season. She was pretty wiped by the end of the game, as evidenced by her expression in these pictures (she's the one in pink shades - top row, second from the right).

Overall, the season was a success. She got her first goal in the second-to-last game of the season. (It was a team effort. Her coach definitely used the line, "We've got to get Brookie a goal!") She looked forward to every game and wants to play again in the fall. Not much more that I can ask for as a parent.

After another quick stop at home, we met our friends back at the Taste of Wheaton. Paige, Max and Bri hung out.

And the big kids danced to a cover band.

Kellen rivals Miles in his dance moves.

Brooke and Miles also said hi to the police officers.

It was a great way to spend a beautiful day and we were all pretty exhausted when we got home that night.

Splash Pad!

Wow, it has been way too long since I've posted and to my tens of readers, I apologize. A combination of laziness, busy-ness and sickness contributed to the delay. In the next day or so, I hope to be caught up with our goings-on.

A couple of weeks ago, we met my friend Sarah and her boys at the park/splash pad for a play date. The day started off cloudier and chillier than we'd expected, so we took our time getting wet, including taking a walk around the pond. Brooke was very inspired by the scenery and had forgotten to bring her camera, so she asked to take pictures with my phone.

She didn't do a bad job, considering that she had to shoot through railings.

 

After our walk, the kids play at the playground for a little while. They didn't have a lot of equipment for babies, but Paige was pretty happy to rock on a lily pad.

The bigger kids had fun riding the frog.

 

Paige is at a stage where she's kept busy emptying things, so after it was determined that the water was too cold for her, she hung out in the grass and took things out of the pool bag.

 

After the sun came out and it warmed up a bit, Brooke and Miles had fun running through the water.

 

It's not quite the pool, but it's a good way to cool off and we'll take it!