escaping the heat.

With the heat index at 109 degrees, I thought it'd be a good day to find an indoor activity - whew!  We drove up to Kenosha, WI (just about 1/2 hour or so from Grayslake) to visit the Dinosaur Discovery Museum.  It was a small museum, but it was air conditioned and educational!  When I gain some familiarity with Chicago, we'll take the kids to the Field Museum to meet "Sue".  For today, though, we learned about "Little Clint," a juvenile T-Rex.  And, of course, Lincoln schooled me with dinosaur facts and amazed me by pronouncing dinosaur names with 5- and 6-syllables (Quetzalcoatlus anyone?)

The remainder of the pics are here:  Dino Discovery Museum pics

i'm kind of a big girl now.

Cassie has graduated from her crib to a big girl bed. She's doing great and is loving it!  It just kind of blows my mind that she's gotten so big.  She speaks in full sentences, does everything she can to keep up with her brother as they play outside, and does a pretty good job of it. She's amazing.

What's a big girl bed without lots of friends to sleep with? Today, we see  "yellow blankie", Hello Kitty, baby Stella, Moxie, and Dolly (pictured from left to right).

dino dig.

Lincoln participated in a Dino Dig class through the park district where dinosaur lovers ages 4-6 gathered to learn about their favorite dinosaurs and to dig for bones. 
Here, Linc is wearing the velociraptor feet that he made.

Here he is with the instructor and his brush working to uncover dinosaur bones.

Still digging.

Hey ma...I found four bones!  Don't worry, I won't give them to the dog next door, even though she might really enjoy them for a treat. 

Did you know there used to be dinosaurs in Grayslake?  Holy moly.

And here is Cassie roaming on the dino dig area (aka the sand volleyball court by the lake).

Future volleyball player?  Watch out Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh!

dad's rule.

For Father's Day this year, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to a local park to enjoy the outdoors with the kids.  The park is similar to Kensington - paddle boats, lots of trails, playground, beach, etc.  It's great. The kids played, we ate, we watched giant carp beg for food and ducks paddle in the water.  Here are a few pics from the day...



indiana.

We spent the second weekend in June at a gathering of Matt's stepmom's family in Indiana.  We gathered to pay tribute to Matt's stepgrandmother, Helen Gilchrist, who passed away nearly a year ago. We attended a wonderful service honoring the life of this very special woman. Family members, young and old, spoke from their hearts regaling us with fond memories and great stories of a life well lived and of a woman who touched many lives. I'm so glad we were a part of this very special day.

This was the first time in a very long time for the entire family to be together so a photographer was hired to take family photographs. We did individual family photos as well as a group photo with more than 30 people.  I can't wait to see how that one turned out.  Of course, Matt & I have the youngest kids so we were probably the most challenging family to capture. 

I grabbed my camera and snapped some photos while I could. Here are the highlights.

Matt, Granny, Grampa, Linc:

Cassidy Lois:

Granny, Gramps, and the grandkids:

Gramps and Linc. How sweet.

One of our best family portraits. Cassie is somewhat uncooperative being a 2-year-old and all so I had to have some fun with her.

Me and my sweeties:

Us with Uncle Dave (Matt's stepbrother):

birthday q's.

Beginning with Lincoln's 4th birthday, I put together a list of questions that I'll ask the kids each year on their birthday. Just a fun way to see how the responses change year after year.  Below, find the answers from 5-year-old Lincoln.

Name: Lincoln
Age: 5

1. What is your favorite color? Why? Red because it goes on superheros and I like superheros.

2. What do you like to eat? Pastitio (a greek lasagna-like dish). Um, actually, like ummmm…all dessert things.

3. What foods do you dislike? Tomatoes, cabbage, oatmeal.

4. What is your favorite toy? I don’t really have a favorite toy. I like all my toys ‘cause I don’t want to give any away. I also like my new Battleforce 5 cars.

5. What is your favorite book? Transformers, Pokemon, Dinosaur books.

6. What is your favorite tv show/movie? Pokemon, How To Train Your Dragon, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Scooby Doo.

7. Who is your best friend? My cousin, Sam.

8. What are your favorite things to do? Go to the splash park, go to parks in our new city.

9. What are your least favorite things to do? Listen. Go inside when playtime is done. Stop playing the computer or watching a tv show.

10. What is your favorite thing to wear? Why? Batman pj’s. And comfy things. I don’t like jeans.

11. Who is the most important person in your life? Why? My family, counting all my friends. And my friend’s parents, too. Because they take care of me. We’re lucky to have them because some people don’t even have a mom and dad.

12. What would be the best thing someone could give to you? Nothing. Oh, wait, more Pokemon stuff.

13. What is your day like? (When do you get up? What do you do all day? When do you go to sleep?) I get up around 6:30/7:00 (mom isn’t working right now). I watch tv in the morning while mom gets ready then we go downstairs for breakfast with mom and Cassie. We do stuff around the house or run errands with mom or we go to the park or library. Then we have lunch, take a short nap, play, have dinner, play more, take a bath or shower, and go to bed. I go to bed around 8:30.

14. What do you want to be when you grow up? A superhero. Ironman. Because he has a lot of power. He keeps a lot of his power in his suit so other people can’t find it.

big brother turns five.

We made our first trip back to Michigan in June to celebrate Linc's 5th birthday with family and friends.

We gathered at Pump It Up, which is filled with a variety of bouncy houses and inflatable slides. Perfect for kids young and old. We didn't get my dad to go on the slide this time like we had a few years back at Alli & Nicole's party, but we did have plenty of parents jumping along with the kids. Love it.

Below, you can see Linc enjoying his time in the king's chair.


Here are the kids exhausted after jumping and ready for lunch!

On his actual birthday (a few days after the party), I took the kids to the local spray park. Linc had an absolute blast running through the sprayers and getting buckets of water dumped on his head. Cassie was content to sit on the sidelines with me and get her feet wet. She much prefers the swings on the playground.

Here is the new tree swing Linc got for his bday.

And the ever popular Razor scooter. Woohoo!

Happy birthday, my sweet boy.