summer lovin'

 What a fun summer!  We have had a great summer filled with a bunch of day trips (a trip to the zoo pictured above), play dates, long car rides to visit family, a bit of swimming, and a big move. It's not over yet, so hopefully the fun continues...

 dolphin show at the zoo. Nora enjoyed it, while Teddy was a bit frightened.

 a little fair put on by St. John of the Cross in Western Springs. This was super cute!

 Teddy liked it too.

 This face painting inspired a couple other face painting sessions by Nora this summer.

 Having fun in a baby pool on one of the few warm days thus far. :)

 A very fun and successful Lemonade stand. Total profit of $6.00. Nora wants to "give it to someone"

 Mel Mel is growing by the day and Nora and Teddy will have a new cousin soon!

 Once she gets in the water, we have quite a challenging time getting her out.

 A really fun trip to Buffalo! Baby Luca was there the same weekend, with Aunt Tara and Uncle Steve, of course. We had such a great time.

 These kiddos did a great job on the 10 hour car ride home!

 running in a fountain in Oak Park because it looked "so fun"

 her own face painting.

 digging for dinosaur bones.

 The dinosaur "Sue" at the Field Museum.

 Hanging out by the lake because it was such a gorgeous day and I just didn't want to go home yet.

 A fun trip to Pirates Cove with some friends.

And daily deer sightings in my parent's neighborhood.

I will post later about our move. So far, things are going well, I cannot believe how we ever fit so much stuff in our other house because there are boxes EVERYWHERE!

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July! We started the day off with a parade. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Heather joined us, along with Uncle Tony and Aunt Steph. The weather cooperated and after a week of horrible weather, 4th of July weekend was gorgeous.

 Nora and Teddy enjoyed the marching bands the best!
After the parade, my parents had a big party. We enjoyed swimming in the pool, eating lots of food, chasing children, painting bird houses, starting a new tradition of "make your own sundae" and visiting with friends and family. 

 Teddy after he ate his ice cream. YUM!

     

 

I try to keep all our posts on this blog light and fun, and while this past Fourth of July was fun, we also experienced the loss of a special guy.

While we were able to spend a beautiful day with many of the people we love this past holiday, our family, and especially my younger brother, suffered a great loss just before the fourth. My brother's best friend past away in a motorcycle accident just a week earlier. He was so young and had so much to look forward to in his future. His presence at our party was surely missed and weighed heavy on many of our hearts. Not seeing him over by the grill and talking with the guys, was a harsh reminder of how quickly those we love can be gone.  Through his tragedy, I am reminded how much I need to appreciate the big and the little things, the family parties, and get-togethers with friends much more than I already do. 

On a lighter note...

I found these pictures after I uploaded TJ's photos from his phone. They were too cute not to post. :)