Time to Catch Up!

Lord willing, we'll post a birth announcement and photos of a new family member here soon! So ... it's about time we caught up on all our summer adventures.

Click here to see the rest of June & July Memories.

Click here to see the rest of August & September Journeys.

March Madness

More fun pictures are here.

Family Vacation, Days 3 and 4

Sunday morning we again took the train to downtown Chicago. This time our final destination was the beautiful Shedd Aquarium on Lake Michigan.

Our next stop was the Hancock Observatory. I was surprised to see how much all three kids enjoyed the view 94 floors above Chicago. They loved looking at the cars on the road below, people on the beach, sailboats on the water, and swimming pools on top of skyscrapers! Ali and Jair had fun pretending to be window washers like Curious George.

Dinner came from a tiny pizza place near the train station. Leftovers doubled as the next morning's breakfast.
Before we checked out of our room, J.D. and Daddy said goodbye to the airplanes landing outside our hotel window.

Family Vacation, Day 2

Bright and early Saturday morning, we caught a train from the airport to downtown Chicago. Then we traveled by bus to the Lincoln Park Zoo and American Girl Place.

Jeremy made sure we found our way to a Polish buffet for dinner. After we stuffed ourselves with good food, he dashed across the street to a Polish convenience store to buy bread for the next day's lunch. He also picked up some pierniczki, which J.D. thoroughly enjoyed at the bus stop.
Back at the hotel, mommy and baby crashed while daddy and big kids went swimming again. After our eventful day, Jeremy asked the oldest two what they had enjoyed most. Ali's answer was "Swimming!" and Jair's was "Going to sleep."

Family Vacation, Day 1

Through Jeremy's work, we were able to take an inexpensive family vacation to Chicago this summer. We started out on a Friday, stopping first at the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN. Ali and Jair loved the bounce house, pony ride, and Bob's Bumpy Barrels, while J.D. hung out in the shade.
We couldn't leave without getting our pictures taken as dancing pierogi.

Next we drove to our hotel near the O'Hare airport. Ali and Jair were thrilled with the revolving doors, the glass elevator, and their bed "in the kitchen!" (i.e., the pull-out couch next to the frig and sink). We all enjoyed cooling off in indoor pool before bed.