July Birthday Bashes

My goodness, July is a busy month for us!

Summer fun in New England comes in full force and

we have a few birthdays as well!

Wim's Birthday-- he doesn't prefer a lot of fan-fare.

He sure did like the birthday cards the girls made for him! 

Xavier brought out the big guns! 

A fire pit! 

Next up is Cousin Nate and Cousin Abbie.

Nate's Nana and Papa hosted the pool party for this grand affair.

Nate was in the pool when we arrived! 

This is where the kids spent pretty much all day.

They did take a breather long enough choke down some food,

open a few presents . . .

Josie, Abbie, Clara Rose with Nie Nie

Choke down some ice-cream cake-- all so fast and

Then there was a whole lot more pool time!

Ethan

The Cannonball Challenge! 

Josie

Nate

Clara Rose preferred a twirling styled jump.

Cousin Emily simply jumped! 

You know they had fun and played hard when this is the scene driving home. 



Chicago- the last bit

Our last day in Chicago we hit the Lincoln Park Zoo.

There is a lovely park/garden in front of the zoo

and a Plant Conservatory that we also visited.

Josie and Clara Rose Sandwiching Alexandra and Harper

Clara Rose and Alexandra were joined at

the hip today.

They were the best of silly-buddies all day!

The Polar Bear Exhibit was the big favorite!

This guy swam around a lot!

Clara Rose and Alexandra were more interested

in dancing and being silly than the polar bear. 

After a fun morning and afternoon everyone was

ready to cool off and relax back at the hotel pool.

Alexandra's big Sister Ashlyn was quite the helper--

she gave all the younger kids several turns

jumping off her shoulders. 

For dinner we all moseyed around the city to

the Rainforest Cafe.

It is a really cool restaurant for kids-- decorated like a rainforest inside! 

There is periodic sounds of thunder and lightening inside the restaurant--

part of the Rainforest experience.

Clara Rose- never one to miss an opportunity,

hopped right into Alexandra's big brother's arms for safety.

Oh boy-- this one is gonna be something when she hits puberty! 

After dinner we ordered the flaming volcano for dessert!

Another big hit! 

It was a bit late for the walk home.

Josie opted to wear the backpack I was carrying-

so I could give her a piggy-back ride back to the hotel

(Can you guess who gave Clara Rose a piggy back ride?). 

The next morning we started our long journey back home.

The girls made due at the airport watching cartoons on their DVD player. 

Clara Rose's face pretty much sums up our feelings about

the fun trip coming to an end. 

More Chicago Fun

After a sound nap we all headed down to the Navy Pier again for a night of fun and mishaps.

We kicked off with a scenic boat ride.

Our Group.

Everyone enjoyed the boat ride and

viewing the City Scape from the water. 

We didn't form the same type of friendships with

the families from Clara Rose's adoption group, so I was

thrilled to see her hit it off with the kids from Josie's travel group. 

We were fortunate that a Chinese Acrobat show was playing

at the Navy Pier while we were in Chicago that we were able to see.

It was an amazing show and the girls were able to pose for pictures with

some of the Acrobats after the show! 

My Dad lives relatively close to Chicago and was able

to come up and visit with us also during our trip.

Note Clara Rose's Blue Bandage.

She took a tumble rough-housing with some of the

big brothers and was treated by an EMT.

Never a dull moment! 

Fly Me to Chicago!

The girls and I recently spent a long weekend in the Windy City!

We met with several families from Josie's Adoption trip and

it was a great reunion filled with lots of fun!

The girls and I were psyched to have a room on the 17th Floor!

We spent most of the late afternoon and evening of our arrival unpacking, snacking,

and enjoying the city view! 

The next day we met with one of the other families and caught the

Trolley down to Navy Pier. 

Josie is actually big enough to go on the flying swings!

That is me and her on the double swings. 

It was a lovely day for sight-seeing! 

Later in the afternoon we met with more families from our

adoption group and walked down to Millennium Park. 

We visited the "Bean" and then came

across this fun splash park.

Josie was soaked with fun and water! 

The next day we all headed out to Shedd Aquarium. 

Josie with her friend Lily and her big brother. 

Clara Rose and Dylan making their best fish faces. 

Two of cutest Penguins ever! 

Watery Weekend Fun!

It was an action packed weekend of water fun for the girls following

the 4th of July Fireworks and Clam Bake.

Wim took all the kids to the beach on Friday, while I worked.

He met his sister and her kids at the beach.

All the younger kids had had a fun time hanging out and playing for second day.

Saturday we went to another beach for more

ocean fun.

 The beach we went to is known to have more gentle waves and there tend to be mostly families with younger children at the beach.

The girls were surprised and thrilled to find one of their

friends from school popping out of wave in the ocean!

Josie in front of our Mermaid Sand Garden. 

After so much running around, we took it a little easy on Sunday.

We hit our local spray park in late morning.

It was already quite hot outside! 

Me and the girls had a blast running around,

taking turns being the line leader. 

We took a break for a picnic lunch and then went right

back for some more splash run fun. 

It was great way to wind down from

the fun weekend!