helicopter flyin' with Uncle Brian

heh...that rhymes. Anyway...

As you might be able to tell by the title, M's uncle (Andrew's brother) is a helicopter pilot. Today, his school hosted an open house for a few family and friends of the pilots to come visit. M couldn't miss this and while Andrew and I weren't able to go, M hitched a ride with Grams and Gramps and he was on his way to Kenosha for a day he won't soon forget.

He sat in helicopters... "Two helicopters, mommy! I sat in two helicopters!"

..."flew" helicopters...

...then Uncle Brian took him and Grandma B up for a ride! "I got to wear ear muffs with a microphone so I could talk to people!"

I'm using all sorts of exclamation points because M's excitement over the day's happenings require them. He's ready to go hang out again... tomorrow, he said. A huge thanks to Uncle Brian for giving M an experience we wouldn't be able to give him and for making him truly happy. That makes me happy too.

fourth of july weekend - part one

Our holiday weekend started off with a family barbecue at Uncle Brian's.

The cousins waded in the kiddie pool and played with the hose while the standard fare was grilled and prepared.  It didn't take long for M to think it was time to skinny dip, but I'll skip posting those pictures this time...you're welcome.

 Rafferty did his fair share of streaking too, and who doesn't SQUEE at a cute baby butt.  E hung out and picked grass.

After a delicious dinner, the dance party got started! No really, Andrew found a techno station on Pandora and everyone got.down!

E does love to dance!

Then, the big kids had fun with poppers while the even bigger kids played a game of bags.   
(M put his clothes back on for this.)

Thanks for your help, M!

We crammed a ton of fun in the few short hours we were able to spend there before bedtime.  What a great start to our weekend...

Happy Fourth of July!

July 2

We started off the long holiday weekend on the 2nd by having a friend over to get crafty. In hopes that we would be able to take these along with us to the fireworks, we ended up with some star wands and hand print flags. Both M and Maguire enjoyed getting so "mesty".

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July 3

This would be our holiday. We started the day with a red, white and blue breakfast. It was going to be a busy day.

Strawberries, yogurt and blueberries...yum...

First stop was the beach with our friends.
Uncle Gabe dug out a big hole for splashing.

This sign has ABC's on it...

After lunch and a nice nap, M's friend, Maguire, came over to spend the evening with us. We went to Grams and Gramps for a barbecue, first. There, we played and ran and dined on ribs with all the fixings.

This was a rare sight...children sitting still.
Not to worry, it didn't last too long.

Connect Four, anyone?

Handsome daddy. (I couldn't resist throwing this one in.)

Next, we made our way to the beach to claim our seat and watch the fireworks. Since we were there pretty early, the little ones got some time at the playground.

Of course, M liked the race car. Maguire kept asking if M could take her home (let's hope she was pretending). He happily "obliged" (let's hope he was pretending too).

more running...

Now it was time to settle in on our beach blanket for the "BIG BOOMS"!

We spent some time with our lollies before we got too sandy.

Then, Uncle Gabe and M got silly...

Time for the show!
M wasn't afraid, but I would say he was apprehensive. He definitely didn't want to get off of mommy's lap.

ooohhhh...

...ahhhh...

M wasn't in bed until 11pm, and I think by that time, he was happy to be there. What a great day!

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July 4

Today was a dreary day marked with the news that Andrew's grandmother had unexpectedly passed away. Plans were made and tears were shed...she will be greatly missed.

Later that day, the skies cleared and we went over to Uncle Brian's house for another barbecue. After dinner, we had some time for play and our own fireworks.

M enjoyed stomping the poppers.

He thinks he needs more booms to stomp.

My boys getting ready for tonight's "show".

We watched our own fireworks from a safe distance...and still jumped out of our skin every time they went off.

We got to see a couple of big firework shows on the way home which was a nice end to our holiday weekend. Here's hoping everyone else's holiday was just as wonderful.

- From 13 to 4 -

Disclaimer: 1) This will be a lengthy post. 2) Pay no attention to the date attached to this post. I started it that day but as the weeks passed...more happened!

We've had visitors here in Chicago for the past couple of weeks. Eric, Danielle, Tatumn, Hadley, and Imogen came up from Florida for their family vacation. There was also a sprinkle of Gabe and Grace Ann in there, as well as Grandma B and Elizabeth. Last Saturday night, there were 13 people sleeping in this condo! It was so much fun! Miss Hadley (5) is as sweet and polite as ever. Imogen (3) is getting to be a big girl now and I think got a few more lessons in sharing this past week than she would have liked. Tatumn is a wonderfully mature 11 year old that is always so helpful with her little sisters. Morgan did his best everyday to keep up with Hadley and Imogen and took some real strides in his speech development as a result. What a little chatterbox he is now!

Put your feet up and let's begin...

Our activities started off with the Fourth of July. We went to two displays, the first being at the Taste of Chicago on July 3rd. The fireworks were great, but one thing I know now is that I will never, ever, ever be taking children to an event like that again. Too many people...too frightening. So on the 4th, we had a big cookout and went to a much more family friendly display here in Evanston. No complaints about that at all. The show was impressive and Morgan loved them as well. He just kept saying "Wwwooooowwww", and after the grand finale, he exclaimed, "All done!".

Family on the Fourth

Who likes staying up late?!

Then we went to watch our friend Ted play some baseball. The weather was great so we took a picnic and really enjoyed the outdoors. It was just too bad Ted wasn't fond of the kisses Hadley was trying to pass out.

Morgan likes his Pirate Booty..."Argh!"

Guess Ted will just have to strike out again...could have used a good luck kiss???

On to the beach! Danielle and Eric had had some bad luck the day before this outing, so I took all the kids out to the beach so they could get some things taken care of. The water was cold, so we stayed on the sand. There were castles to build and knock down and "bathtubs" to dig.

Busy, busy.

We all needed a real bathtub after the beach.

Then, Hadley turned 5! We had a Wall-E birthday party for her at a beach side park in Evanston. By this time, Gabe, Grace Ann, Elizabeth and Grandma B had joined us. After cake and presents, there was lots of time to play.

Morgan could not get enough of Hadley and this party favor.
I've never heard him laugh so hard.

Aunt Danielle caught some really nice pictures of the man...

Grace Ann and Gabe. Sooooo glad they were able to join us.

Morgan and Grandma B listening to the tree. What is in there???

Hurry! Let's go play on the playground!

Tatumn and Imogen. Looks like fun!

This is how Danielle got around the party.

That's right folks, crutches. Danielle broke her foot and still managed to hop around and get lots of great pictures.

Next was a housewarming BBQ at Brian's. Morgan was a real boy that day. He was stomping ants and squeezing watermelon enough for it to run down the front of his shirt. He was just being dirty. When we arrived, there was a picture on a table I could not believe. I remember these boys looking like this. It's a picture of a picture, so please excuse the quality here.

Gabe, Andrew and Brian, circa 1999.

Brian and Andrew, circa 2008.

The kids enjoyed sidewalk chalk, silly string, bubbles and of course, the sweet treats.

Taking a short break. Oohhh, this is nice!

This is right before Imogen started sneaking off with the bean bags required to play this game.

Hadley Bear. You can tell she is getting worn out.

Millennium Park - Morgan and I have done this a few times before, but I really wanted to take the girls there for some fun. It didn't fail to deliver. We listened to songs, made puppets, played with hula hoops and of course, waded around in Crown Fountain. Let me rephrase...Morgan and I waded, Imogen was off like a bolt of lightning. Hadley and Eric had the daunting task of staying close to her. Eventually, Hadley felt like her best option was just to tackle her. Morgan would see them fly by and he would yell, "Hadee! Immy!" As I'm sure you already know, they didn't hear him.

The fountain sure feels good on such a hot day!

Hadley, just being sweet.

Immy working on her hula hoop skills.

So that's going to pretty much wrap up this incredibly long post. Suffice it to say that we had so much fun having a full house and now that everyone is gone...it is too quiet. Everyone is welcome back anytime! Ok...a few more pictures.

Buddies - Hadley "reading" Morgan a book.

That girl can really make him laugh.

Lead singer of our in house rock band.

Hadley-isms...
"This applesauce is good, but it would be better if there wasn't a pill in it." Upon trying to give her a Benedryl. She's got a cat allergy.
"Abbi, you sure are one fun lady." After bath time.
"Do you like pancakes? Then you'll love Pancake Puffs!" It's an infomercial. Sidenote: She got one of these pans for her birthday and was very excited.