Looking back on this month makes me realize why I'm so tired...buckle up, it's a doozy.
Eliza loves to help make bread, and every once in a while I let her.
We decided to take Emily and her kids to see a bunch of baby animals at our good friends' house. Eliza loved this baby kitten and cradled her in her arms most of the time we were there.
There were the sweetest baby bunnies; they looked right out of a Beatrix Potter book.
And more bunnies.
We got to look at a bunch of sheep
And of course, Chet caught a fish.
These girls could have been there all day.
Baby animals are the best!
Vivi with her buddy. Brother Peters always makes an effort to talk to all my children at church. We love the Peters family!
The next day on Asa's birthday we went to Lake Rathbun and everyone had a blast on Em's paddle boards.
Asa ate his fair share of sand...
That night we had hotdogs and s'mores around a fire. The kids had been begging to have a campfire for weeks and I kept saying we would do it when the cousins came. And then that day came and we had to do it even if we were all tuckered out.
These three had so much fun together. The only downer was the "wee, bonk, owe" or the bench that both Sofia and Grayson fell off of.
You have to get a bathtub picture
My one request on my birthday was lots of pictures and the kids were happy to oblige.
Some Marshallese sisters from church surprised me for my birthday by coming to the house and singing to me. I felt so loved I wanted to cry. I love all these women so much.
Tanner was at Scout Camp during Asa's birthday so we sang to Asa on Sunday as well.
He loved the chocolate cake.
Emily made the most delicious chocolate strawberry cake. She helped me feel so loved on my birthday.
Sadly we had to say goodbye to her the next morning. I loved having her here keeping me company while Tanner was gone. She is one of my best friends and such a wonderful mother. We were all sad to say goodbye to Sofia and Grayson, they are just adorable and so fun to be around.
We got to pick Bethany up at the airport! She was the first cousin to hold Asa as a newborn so it was fun to see how much he has changed since she last saw him. We were sad to take her down to the cousins but she gets to snuggle a sweet baby so we can't blame her.
We spent a day at the state fair and we can't pass up the free eggs.
That day they had Cowboy Mounted Shooting which was so fun to watch.
We only lost Eliza and Vivi, at different times I might add, but they didn't seem to be traumatized...I was.
"Mom is this a bar?!", Austin.
The weather was so perfect and we got to see about everything we wanted to see. Except Tanner, he really wanted to go into the exhibition hall but after seeing how crammed it was with people and having already almost lost two children, that was a big no from me. There's always next year!
A sweet little old man took this picture, hence the finger...
There were the most beautiful clouds one night and we got some pretty good pictures of them.
Eliza came up with this picture idea...Tanner and I are totally in "kissy face" love.
We have been wanting to do the mud run at the cousins' for a long time and finally got to do it.
Here's a before...
The older kids went on their own so we didn't get many photos of them.
Austin got nice and dirty right from the get go.
Eliza's goal was to get through as fast as she could. If there was a long line at one section she just ran right past. The girl couldn't be slowed down.
We didn't think about how it would probably be helpful for one of us to do the course with Vivi, but luckily Uncle Baydon saved the day and helped her through the tricky parts.
Some of the big kids at the end. Jack wanted to do every obstacle, so he hadn't finished yet.
I was so impressed with Vivi. Right at the beginning she slipped and fell right on her back in cold, muddy water but jumped right up and kept going. She was probably the youngest one out there but she had a positive attitude the whole time and only said no to the tunnel slide and the net she would have had to crawl under.
She especially loved the bubbles at the end.
We went back to the cousins' and had fun on their new zipline.
These girls were just loving on sweet Elsie Joy.
Mariah got glasses! She is near sighted in one eye and far sighted in the other. Her eyes do a pretty good job compensating for each other; She has 20/20 vision when she uses both eyes. But she has been getting headaches lately and we're hoping the glasses will help alleviate that.
At the end of the month I got to go on a sisters trip to celebrate Amanda's 40th birthday. I was the first one to arrive at the airport and it was so fun to meet everyone else as they got off their planes. I was just giddy the whole time.
We used a lot of public transit, did an architectural boat tour, checked out the bean, ate at a delicious Italian restaurant, went to the top of the tallest skyscraper to see the skyline, and got more second hand weed smoke than we've ever wanted.
We went to church right in Chicago and it was fun to walk in to a lobby that led right to an elevator. The chapel was on the 4th floor, and was huge. We were running a little late but we were grateful there was a baby blessing so we didn't miss the sacrament. It was the first time I've had the sacrament without children in...many years. It was glorious.
On Monday Tanner and the kids arrived in the big ol' city. I really missed my family, Asa especially so it was so good to be back with them. We got to be tourists with Amanda and DJ's family.
The Art Institute was so amazing! The kids loved the medieval armor and weaponry section.
Funny story with this picture. We had our horde and were heading for a new section of the Art Institute when this employee stopped me to comment on our beautiful family. I thanked her and went to leave when she stopped me again to ask all their names. I told her and then again attempted to leave when she again stopped me to tell me how wonderful big families are. She then asked if we had seen the "Blue Window" or something like that and told us how wonderful it was and how we really needed to see it. I thanked her and said we would be sure to check it out and once again tried to head in the direction we were originally heading. She then firmly said, "I'll take you there now!" grabbing my arm and taking us to the elevator. We finally took the hint and didn't go back to that area of the museum. But now I really want to know what was down there...Her customer service skills were quite impressive though.
I was probably the only one excited about The American Gothic, but the inspiration is right in our backyard! We couldn't miss it. Some of the Geogia O'Keefe paintings were so beautiful too. My favorite exhibit were the Thorne rooms. They were so detailed and perfect.
It was real hard getting a picture with everyone looking or not being covered up...
We decided to try some kong dogs for dinner and they did not disappoint.
Mariah was up all night sick after this, so it might be a while before she eats another hotdog. Which is a shame, because they used to be her favorite.
Eliza wasn't feeling well that day but she did get out of the stroller for a few pictures at the Bean.
After Mariah was sick I was so worried we were all going to get it, but they were the only two. So grateful for that tender mercy.
Vivi was Elise's little buddy and loved getting piggy backs everywhere. I loved having an extra set of eyes on her.
We then went to a fun splash pad/art installation. The kids had a blast cooling off.
That night we went to Ally and Levi's amazing apartment right in the city.
The next morning we headed to the Field Museum and were once again amazed.
It was such a beautiful, huge building. I especially loved the statue at one corner that represented the dissemination of knowledge which was a mother reading a book to her toddler.
Our kids loved the taxidermy animals.
We were excited to meet up with the cousins again.
They liked the Japanese puppet shoe and we were all happy to sit down for a little while.
The Egypt section was another favorite. Which is where I learned that the Egyptian God of pregnancy and childbirth is a hippo...rude.
We got to see the T-rex Sue and learn that they aren't quite as svelte as previously thought. She looked a little thick is all I'm saying.
And we only lost Mariah there. At one point I got an unknown number from Canada and showed Amanda sarcastically saying, "I wonder who this could be?" and then promptly ignored the call, feeling proud of myself for not falling for a robocall. Less than a minute after that I realized I hadn't seen Mariah since we had left the basement. As Amanda and I began looking for her I said, "I'm not as worried about Mariah because she knows my phone number...whoops" It was mid-sentence that I realized the Canadian number might not have actually been a robocall. Right after that I got a text from the same number letting me know that they were waiting with Mariah. A humbling moment for me. But they were the kindest people and they made Mariah feel at peace as she waited for her ding dong mother. I promise we really are good parents...we just have really bad kids. I kid I kid...they just like to wander off.
That night Ally and Levi hosted a pool party with Chicago deep dish pizza. It was delicious and we finished just in time to hurry back to the apartment and watch an epic Midwest downpour.
The boys had some fun with Beyblades while they waited for the storm to pass.
The next morning the big kids got to walk Charlie, Alice, and Jack to school and then we headed to the Griffin Museum of Science. We took our kids on the Metra which was thankfully much cleaner than the underground. Although Eliza excitedly told us that there was pee in the elevator that she went on with dad and the stroller, it's going to be a core memory for her. She'll forget the museums...but that puddle of urine in the elevator, forever seared in her mind.
The Griffen museum was also so amazing.
We had to take this picture for Grammie because this was one of her favorite warnings to her college aged children. Except she didn't include the "might"...it was a for sure thing: "loose lips sink ships!". I don't think Tanner and I have taken a kissing picture since our wedding day...and here we are with two just a week apart. And we accidentally wore the same shirts that day! I know, we're just so cute and in love.
We loved the submarine exhibit but decided Tanner wouldn't do so well on one.
Vivi was so cute trying out the periscope game.
The Tesla Coil was so loud but really cool.
There was this amazing castle with so many different fairy tales and nursery rhymes throughout it. Eliza would not let us forget about the castle and was so enthralled with it all.
Asa was such a trooper the whole time. Ethan loved to let him take off his hat and was so sweet playing with him.
This was Asa's favorite part of the museum. These screens were motion activated and would laugh whenever someone walked by. I think Asa thought people were laughing at him and he would do a big ol' fake laugh every time he heard it.
It was this section where we learned Chet is much better at emptying his mind than I am. We put sensors on our heads and tried to move a ball by not thinking of anything. It was no contest...I need to work on that.
We then had to say goodbye to the Crandall cousins which is never my favorite. We love our family so so much.
We weren't the best at timing our trains, so we had to wait a little while at the platform, but we made it in time to pick up Jack and Alice at school. Ally and Levi were at a musical for their anniversary.
They treated us to Chicago dogs and I surprisingly enjoyed them, considering I'm not much of a pickle person.
We then headed up to Lake Michigan for the second half of our vacation. When we got to the house we were going to be staying at, Vivi said, "I think our house got away". She had fallen asleep on the drive and I think she was expecting to wake up at our house. She really thought it was our new house and seemed ok with it. While eating dinner one night she dropped some food on the floor and then looked up and asked, "where's Josie?"
Eliza's peace sign cracks me up...
I wanted to take our kids to a beach this year without the extensive travel that would require. So when I heard about the beaches at Lake Michigan, I knew that was where we needed to go and they did not disappoint.
We started out with a hike at Warren Dunes.
It started as a forest...
The kids really wanted to forget the hike and go right to the lake, but I kept repeating our mantra, "we are a hiking family, we love to hike." They almost believed me.
We had a few moments of uncertainty, but after a little debate about which was the right way to go, we hiked up an incredibly steep path that was just really soft, deep sand. It about killed me. The rest of the hike was through the dunes and was beautiful. I felt a little like Phar Lap (If you're a horse nerd you might know what I'm talking about). The sand got a little hot for my sandaled feet so I had to run a few times and Asa thought that was pretty funny, so then I really was a racehorse running through the sand with my jockey; childhood dream fulfilled!
Vivi liked the running too.
We eventually made it to the beach and the kids were in heaven. "It's just like the ocean without the nasty salt water!" The older kids spent the whole time in the waves. There were tiny pebbles under the water instead of sand so that was fun in the shower later.
The next morning we went to the Sarett Nature Center. It was such a cool place! The people there were so nice and made our kids feel so special.
All the kids got to hold Lucille the boa constrictor. There were lots of turtles and they had places where you could bird watch and we had fun watching the squirrels and chipmunks too.
They are trying to get their birds ready for field trips so we got to meet and learn about some of their birds: A screech owl, barn owl, and a turkey vulture.
And then we went on another hike around the center.
The board walk through the marsh was different and no one fell in. Yay!
There also was a fun, balance/obstacle course that we had to do multiple times.
And then Eliza and I found a rat snake. Chet touched it and it immediately coiled up, ready to strike. Chet decided he had enough snake holding with Lucille after that. He's a smart one.
We then tried out Silver Beach. First we walked out on the pier and saw this cute little lighthouse.
And then we got a lot more beach time. This beach had softer sand, but our kids decided Warren was the best beach.
That night the Daugherty's arrived and our kids were excited to show them the foosball table and try out the hot tub with them.
The next morning some of the kids chugged the rest of the milk. Definite highlight of the trip...
We decided that we wanted to take our friends to Warren beach. I saved a spot at the beach with Asa while everyone else did the hike again.
I thought my kids might be done with beaches but they had a blast. It was a lot busier but that didn't make it any less fun. Except for Asa, he was done and wasn't afraid to let us know how done he was. Poor little fellar. At one point I got tired of rescuing him from the waves so I decided to let him get a little water in his face and that traumatized him. He didn't want to go near the water and he didn't want me near the water. At least now we know for sure who his favorite is.
I am so grateful for Ally's friendship. She is one of those people that you can go months without talking and then start right back up as if we never were apart. Her kids are just the best too.
And if you've made it here, you are a real fan of ours. Thanks for putting up with this little travelogue.
