No Tan Lines!

Here is a typical day in our backyard during the summer:

Florida

We've been so many fun places this summer! Florida was so much fun, we had a great time just being together and seeing new things. We didn't dare go to Disney World without the kids, but it left us lots of time to explore other places. We did spend a lot of time at Downtown Disney, but we also go to see The Kennedy Space Center, lots of trees, Bay Hill Golf Course, lots of trees, Cocoa Beach, and lots of trees. John never got to see an alligator, which was a disappointment for him--but not for me. We got to eat out alone, see movies alone, and just hang out. What more could you ask for from a "kidless" vacation? Thanks Mom & Dad for watching them!

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Happy 4th of July!

This year we were able to have my Mom & Dad and sister, Tyra and also my sister Jessica and her husband, Jordan come for the 4th of July. We had a great day, here is what we did:

We got up early to run the Freedom 5K. I did it with my Mom, sister, and John's sister, it was my first race since my back surgery and it was AWESOME! I remembered that I really love running races so I'm looking forward to my next one!

2 of John's sisters ran the 10K, way to go! It was great to do it all together.
We found this puppy at our house, he stayed for a couple of hours and the kids had a wonderful time playing with him.
While the boys golfed, we went and saw Kit Kittredge, An American Girl movie. It was really great and we all loved it. After we got home we had a BBQ and a birthday party for Jessica, her birthday is the 5th.
My Mom bought all the kids matching 4th of July outfits, I feel bad I didn't get more pictures! This is the girls at Stadium of Fire. We had such a great time and it was a great way to finish the 4th!
Here are the boys:
My Mom bought the kids glow necklaces. They loved them and it was fun to look around after it got dark and see all the kids wearing them. Josie was scared of the fireworks and fell right asleep!
The whole show was so amazing! We loved every minute of it and all the performers did a wonderful job.
Yeah for Glen Beck to support the home team!
All the girls were in heaven with Miley Cyrus. People all around us were angry and disappointed that she didn't sound better and sing more songs that everyone knew, but Maggie said, "I wanted to hear all her new songs but I know that she read my mind when she came back out and sang the songs I wanted to hear". The mind of a 5-year old! She loved it and so did Josie, she was standing on the bleachers letting the music overcome her and did some crazy dancing!
We all left happy and the firework show was so great! John's office is really close to the stadium so we got to park in his underground parking and after the show we hung out in his office for about 1/2 hour to wait for traffic to die down.

Pictures

I suppose it's time for some updates, I've been kind of a slacker lately, or just really, really busy ... ??

Maggie's new American Girl Doll, her name is "JULIE":
Johnny with his new Indiana Jones Legos we brought him from Chicago:
This shirt was John's old scout shirt from Canada when he was 9 years old. The stuffed lion was also his:
When we haven't heard from Josie for awhile, we always know she's up to something:
Here is John standing by his office door at work.

Chicago 2008: Friday

Sadly, Friday was our last day. We spent the morning in Wisconsin at the Jelly Belly Factory and then we drove to America's #1 Drive-In, Superdawgs. It was tasty and kitchy! We spent the rest of the day doing some shopping, making hairbows for Madelyn, painting toe nails, and packing up suitcases, hoping we wouldn't have more than 50 lbs.

Jelly Belly Factory, YUM!

Superdawgs

Everyone enjoying their Superdawg

Who can eat more?



We had such a good trip. HUGE thank you to Mom and Dad L. who watched our kids for us, it was wonderful to not have to worry about them knowing they were having a wonderful time, especially while they had Jeannie's kids at the same time!
AND thanks to Mike and Melissa for having us all at the same time! It was a party the whole time and they drove us all over, let us eat all their food, and mess up their house! We miss you already and we can't wait for next time!

Chicago 2008: Thursday

On Thursday we visited Wrigley Field, home of The Cubs! We took in an awesome baseball game that couldn't have been any better, especially since the Cubs won, 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th inning! The neighborhood around the stadium was so fun to walk through, I loved the all the houses and trees.

Chicago 2008: Wednesday

We spent Wednesday downtown. We did lots and lots of shopping and spent lots and lots of money. It is an amazing city, I was so happy with how clean it all was. We saw lots of fun things and went to lots of fun stores.

This is one just one of the many pictures of downtown Chicago. What a great place!

This is at American Girl Place, every little girls dream come true!

Me after making my Maggie's dreams come true (and lots of $$ later) ...

We made Johnny's dreams come true at the Lego store, this is Chicago made out of Legos. Maybe someday Johnny's Lego talent can be put to use for something this cool!

This is me, more surprised than Christmas morning! John absolutely STUNNED me with a couple peices from Tiffany's. What a guy!

This is the "bean", it reflects the whole city behind you

Here is John and I with Chicago behind us

This is a cool little water puddle at the park downtown

This is a picture of the water taxis, they were pretty awesome

Here is a view of Chicago from the Sears tower

Chicago 2008: Tuesday

We had an easy-going Tuesday morning. The boys spent it golfing while we went and cruised the outlet mall for a bit. Later that afternoon we left to go see the Broadway show, Wicked. It was so amazing, I would love to see it again. We saw it in the Oriental Theater and it was beautiful inside! The boys were wary about losing a bit of their manhood by going to see it, but I think they all secretly loved it.

This is the famous Chicago Theater sign downtown

This is the view of the city as you drive in. It is huge!

This is the theater where we saw the play

John and I inside