Six Flags ("Great America")

I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but at the end of last summer, our St. Louis family all bought season passes to Six Flags because they were offering a crazy good deal. We figured it was a fun outing for the cousins, plus we'd have the option to go to the Six Flags near us, as well.

*Quick sidenote: I've never understood why everyone up here call Six Flags "Great America" and it always inexplicably bugged me a little. We don't call the Six Flags in St. Louis "Mid-America" (its full title used to be "Six Flags Over Mid-America"). After doing a little research, I discovered that it used to be an amusement park called "Great America" owned by Marriott until Six Flags bought it in 1984. Now I'm not as annoyed by people calling it that, although my kids will not be raised that way. And you're welcome for that nugget of Midwest amusement park trivia.*

Anyway, Matt took Wednesday off so we could go out as a family and enjoy the park. Brooke was incredibly excited to ride her first upside-down roller coaster. They rode "The Demon" four times.

While they were doing that, Miles, Paige and I headed to the two-story (!) carousel.

Next was Miles' first real roller-coaster, which also meant it was Brooke's first time riding solo. It was a big day for the Alley family.

I also took one for the team and rode the Scrambler-esque ride. It was worth it to hear them giggle for a minute straight.

Matt and I took turns riding the giant rocking boat ride with the big kids. Again, giggles the whole time.

I tried to take a picture as we were riding and got yelled at right away. Breaking rules makes me so nervous and getting caught makes me feel even worse. Matt and I are obviously not cut from the same cloth in that regard.

After a semi-edible, overpriced lunch, we determined that Paige was not going to nap in her stroller so we headed to the kiddie ride areas where she was able to do almost all the rides, and Brooke and Miles still had a blast, too.

Paige seemed to enjoy herself, but did a good job keeping her poker face. In her defense, she gets hot more easily than someone smack in the middle of menopause and it was not a cool day. Plus, she usually naps at 9 and 1 and hadn't slept at all that day. We were lucky she held it together as well as she did.

We finished the day with half-melted ice cream bars and a ride on the log flume. Matt talked me into taking this.

It was a really fun day and I think we all had a great time (despite Paige's recurring expression)!

Father's Day

On Father's Day, we had pretty nice weather (for a change). We got up for early service, then headed out to Medinah for Matt to golf with his dad and brother while I took the kids to the pool. I've done that twice this summer and have come to the conclusion that at this stage of life, photos will not be taken while I'm making sure that three humans have their heads above water. Suffice it to say that we had fun, especially when the rest of the non-dads in the family joined us.

After Paige napped (it makes me sad that I can no longer say "naps" when referring to that time of day), we got a little dressed up and headed to Matt's parents' for dinner, Mike's belated birthday celebration, and let's be honest - the end of the U.S. Open. We had a little photo opp with the grandkids before they got crabby/dirty. Paige opted for one stinkeye pose and one semi-smile.

My kids LOVE Baby Bri (How could you not? She really is too cute.). It's fun to see the babies interacting more.

We tend to be on a bit of an earlier dinner schedule than the rest of the family, so my kids were ready and eager for dinner to be served.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Mike and had a dessert smorgasbord.

Then my kids bugged Will and Jamie we all hung out for the end of the U.S. Open.

The kids started to go a little crazy by the end of the night, but it was really fun to be with everyone again for a couple of great celebrations.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, but specifically to my husband, dad and father-in-law, who are all such awesome examples of fatherly love.

June Randoms

Just like that, we're more than halfway through June. Since I've last posted, the Hawks won the Stanley Cup, yet again.

While Paige was never awake for any of the Blackhawks' victories, we made sure she represented before bed.

Not sure what this attitude was about, but I'm sure something ridiculous. Ah, Brookie.

Speaking of Brooke, the poor thing had a UTI a couple of weeks ago. She never runs a fever but it spiked pretty quickly and she was miserable. Thankfully, we seem to be out of the woods now.

Maybe I should have named this post, "Mean Pictures We Take of Our Kids." This was when Paige woke up one night before Matt and I went to bed.

This guy seems to be over napping. Just like Brooke, he would still sleep during the day, but then be up until 10:30 or 11 at night. It's a sad day for me. Hopefully soon he'll be able to entertain himself for rest time. Lately, I've been letting him and Brooke play together. It's working out okay, but I feel like the charm will wear off soon.

Backseat shenanigans.

Morning stretches with Daddy.

Hanging out with Will.

I'm really thankful that a majority of the time, my kids play well together.

We planted a vegetable "garden" this year. We'll see how that goes. We at least had fun shopping for our plants and planting them.

Crummy weather makes for good baking weather.

Brooke is *usually* pretty helpful around the house, especially when it comes to Paige.

We have lots more fun stuff coming up these next couple of weeks, so I'll be back to update soon!