Monday, June 22, 2009

Happy Father's Day

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day! We went to the lake with Ryan's family and had a "Mexican Fiesta". The food was great but it was super hot. The kids cooled off with a little dip in the lake. Notice I took all the pictures from the sand. I like seeing what is in the water with me!

Speaking of icky lake critters, Emma caught her first fish! It was a little sunfish and she was very proud of herself. Emma takes her sketchbook with her everywhere in case she gets the urge to draw. This was a masterful scene of the lake. Happy Father's Day to some of the best dad's I know. (We are celebrating with my dad this week!)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Wonderful Summer

Summer is finally here and we have the schedule to prove it! We have had a busy few weeks filled with lots of family, friends, and fun.

We tried out the local farmers market and the selection was pretty good for this early in the summer. We are going to try to make it a regular outing-especially when the berries and the sweet corn start rolling in! Ryan got some perfect looking (and tasting) spinach and I got a new basil plant. Hopefully I can keep it going-I don't have the best luck with keeping things green.

Cari and the kids came over to my parents house to swim but it was a little cold still. The kids didn't seem to mind too much but the moms only lasted about 5 minutes. At least we got a little sun! After we were sufficiently frozen, we headed over to their house for a cookout. Emma and Evan are at that age where they would rather beat each other up than play and Ella is content to just go with the flow. They all came together for a little dancing at the end of the night-too cute.

I saw a cute idea for a camping invitation online and decided to make it into an invite for a smore party. I have been wanting to have lots of fun little parties throughout the summer for Emma and her friends and this was a fun last minute get together. We just sat around the fire and chatted while the kids ran around being crazy from all the sugar. For Mother's Day, we had gotten my parents tickets to see Mary Poppins in Chicago. We all headed up there for the weekend. Overall it was pretty low-key, just a lot of window shopping and a quick trip to the zoo. We saw some lovely flowers at the Lincoln Park Conservatory and I am going to try to use the pictures for some kind of project. Mary Poppins was fun and Emma really liked it but it was no way near as cool as Wicked. I guess when you already know the story it isn't really as exciting. It was very well done though, and perfect for Emma's first musical.We don't have anything big planned for a while which means a lot of time by the pool. Ahh, summer. I always love these first few weeks when you have the whole summer ahead of you. The possibilites are endless. Playing outside until your parents have to carry you in because you are so tired. Eating dinner at 9:00 because you were having too much fun to come inside. Parties in the cul-de-sac with all your friends. Spending the entire weekend by the pool. Tan lines. The smell of barbecues, sunscreen, and even bug spray. The excitement of hearing the ice cream truck coming down your street. A pair of flip flops for every day of the week. Watching the Cardinals beat the Cubs. Again. Popsicles and lemonade. Camp-outs and sleepovers. September is so very far away.