One last Zoo visit ....

our membership expires tommorrow :D After the trip to the zoo we stopped in at the Fractured Prune Donut shop - Yummo! The kids had never been in the store before and i thought they would enjoy the visit!

The start of summer dance

today was alyssa's first day of dance. The dance team is required to attend a summer session. This is her first official dance team participation. She looked so pretty in her new leotard and skirt.

Auntie Monica's sweet little ray of sunshine! Isnt she a doll! Took some bribing to get these photos but they were soooo worth it!

We always have a great time with grandma and grandpa. This year Andrew and Grandpa got to play a round of golf together, which he is still talking about. While the boys were golfing the girls went to a Movie. While we were in the movie the fire alarm was pulled or went off. The evacuated the theater. The girls are still talking about this too :D

we sure miss grandma and grandpa and are glad we were able to spend some time with them!And Andrew is willing to bet that on the next visit he will be taller than both grandmas

A trip to the big city

Getting to downtown Chicago from Kevins parents is so easy. They live about a mile from the metra station. Hop on a train , no parking, no traffic, no stress..... can actually carry on a conversation with my kids or on this trip my cousin Debbie.

This adventure into the city included our favorite "usual stops" like American Girl and The Hershey Store and we added a few new things that might become some of our new favorites. Including Millineum Park, a water taxi ride down the Chicago River, and Ed Debevicks .

On a another note. Today is our anniversary, 13 years of wedded bliss. On this day in 1995 Kevin and I became Mr. and Mrs. This was the hottest day ever recorded in Chicago History. This is also the first time Kevin and I have been apart on our anniversary.

Happy Birthday to ...... everyone !

We decided to have a group birthday party for all of the summer birthdays. The June birthdays are my sister Nicole, her daughter rachel(3), Alyssa(9), and Aryn(7). July birthdays are my mom and Joshua ( both on July 12th) . Joshua turned 1. And Miss Jessie will turn 1 in August. We also celebrated Andrews birthday even though he doesnt turn 12 till September.

We went to Lake Menitonka near my mom and sisters house. The highlight of the day was the water snake that came up on the beach just a few feet away from me and all the kids ! Talk about an abrupt end to our fun! :D

cards for the Everybody Birthday party!

Good to have some time to be creative again! :D

We are back from the beach. No one got too sunburnt and no close encounters with sea life. The weather was great and the sun was hot! The kids had a great time playing in the water. We were lucky on Monday that the tide was low.... Andrew walked out a good 400 yards and was still only waist deep.

i of course enjoyed my soft shelled crab sandwich and Andrew discovered Nada Colada (silly boy had 3 )

happy beach birthday too you - happy beach birthday to you ...Cant believe my baby girl is 9! She was lcuky enough to celebrate her birthday at Carolina Beach. After playing on the beach all day, we dined on the Pier and retreated back to our room to open gifts and have a ocean themed cake . ( made by mom ):D she had a great birthday!

Happy birthday to you,(cha cha cha) happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha) Happy Birthday dear ARYN! Today Aryn celebrated her 7 th birthday! When i asked her what she wanted all she said was Webkinz, webkinz, webkinz, ..... so i said : hey, you need to give me something else to go on " her response... " ok, how about webkinz clothes, webkinz playing cards, and webkinz cleaner" so what do you buy a child who wants webkinz, webkinz, and more webkinz... well webkinz of course! WE had a homemade kitty cake ( at her request, chocolate of course) and she also go a hannah montanan sleeping bag, a new watch, and a fun outdoor game that she totaly rocks at!

Fun in the Sun! Today we spent the day at Lake Johnson pool. The kids are begining to out grow the sprinkler part( it just doesnt compare to The Great Wolf Lodge) . But the best partof the day was that Kevin was able to come with us this time and the kids really enjoyed racing dad back and forth across the pool!

happy fathers Day !

Happy fathers day to all the dads, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and friends who have touched our lives! Hope you enjoyed your day!

36 eyes watching me :D The girls love their webkins. Alyssa and Aryn line them up - tonight they were watching me on the computer . Probably making sure i wasnt selling any of the girls stuff on ebay!

Speaking of ebay- i bought this cookie jar on ebay last month ! Isn't he a hoot! :D love it!

On the last note - Our entire area has a smoke advisory. From the wildfires that are about 100 miles away. This morning on the way in there was thick smoke every where and it smelled like a bon fire ( grandma hilda would like it!) !I have really never experienced anything like that ! in fact the visibilty is down to 1/2 mile in some areas. here is a local weather link http://www.4042.com/4042weather/index.php i cant get my links to work so this will have to do !

Officially now in 7th grade, 4 th grade, and 2nd grade - really where does the time go ! I still am in shock ! Kids are looking forward to a summer of travel, play, and lots of fun! And because they worked so hard thought i would toot their horns! Andrew made straight A last nine weeks ( and twice this year!) Alyssa made all A's and B's ( she has worked so hard this year and we are so proud of her!) and Aryn got straight s's !

Early Birthday Parties! The girls had a few friends over we went to see Kung Fu panda and had a sleep over. This is the first birthday party they have had in a few years. A good time was had by all ! But what i was i thinking having 9 girls under the age of 9 sleep over!?! As you can tell from the photot they were a fiesty bunch ! arghhhh !

Today was the girls recital! They have worked so hard over the past year and their day has finally come! They both did so wonderful ( as did dad in his 2 routines! They are both looking forward to being on the dance teams at step ahead

Happy Mothers day - to all our friends, family, neighbors, teachers, grandmothers, and of course our moms.

Today we went out for our traditional mothers day lunch at the Outback steakhouse.

And my lovely hunny and kiddos suprised me with a kitchen aid mixer! I cant wait to do some hard core baking with that baby!

well after 7 years of wash out and disrepair we finaly got something done about the slope in the front yard. Before ........

and after......
love how it turned out! It is so much more beautiful than i could have ever imagined!

Game on! The girls recital is in just a few short weeks. The dance studio makes special shirts every year for the girls (and dads). The girls love the shirts, they have their name on the back , as well as daddy's name.