Mom Note:

OK, so I haven't been the most devoted blogger of late and I fully blame it on my addiction to Facebook. So, I am going to randomly add some of my latest FB posts that I have shared a quick comment about our family and paste it on the blog to always remember even some of the smaller things that happens in our lives.

My goal is to go back to old posts and file them away on this blog, so one day when I make our Blog Book, I can record even more of the highs and lows of our little family.

32 Weeks and Counting!

Tonight we had another bi-monthly check up and everything is going great. Babies heart rate sounded strong, Mommy's BP is nice and low and the baby is measuring about a week ahead, but that can always change. We ask Dr. Akbar how big the baby might be and she said he/she should be about 4lbs! Mommy asked the dreaded question about how much weight she has gained so far....only 9lbs! Whoo-hooo!

At this moment both Amelia and I think the baby will be a boy. No names have been picked yet. Amelia still likes Blueberry for a girl with the nickname of Cherry!

Mommy would also like to note that the baby is currently flipped and is no longer breached! Which means less kicking on her bladder! She is very happy to say the least! Tomorrow we should here from the Dr office and confirm the C-section date.

Back to the Beach!

The kids had so much fun last night, that we decided to go back and hit the beach again. James made a new friend that will be going into 2nd grade at Prairie Grove in the Fall. He showed us the fish his Mommy caught with the net!
So, naturally that inspired us to try and catch one too! The fish were out enjoying the warm, shallow waters and nibbling on Daddy's knees! Catching fish is hard work!

JC lent James one of his fishing nets to give it a try!

Amelia and Daddy went out in the deeper waters to practice swimming. She was basically swimming on her own except for the death grip on her Daddy's thumb! Great swimming Amelia!!

Uh oh, a little water in the eyes!

He caught one! We will definitely come back and try to catch some more!

Fox Lake Firefighters Festival

Today, we took a ride from Uncle Chris' house (picked up a generator) and headed straight to the Fox Lake Firefighters Festival to meet up with the Butner Family. As you can see the weather was mighty HOT today. Daddy bought us cherry snow cones to help keep us cool. Joshers was working on a popsicle. Sooo yummy!

Here is picture that Heather shared with us of the teams competing in the water fights! Daddy, already has plans to sign up a team from work and/or with our Uncles to battle next year! Everyone looked like they were having fun holding on to the big hoses and blasting water at the barrels. We got a kick out of getting sprayed by the hoses every now and then to help cool off. We stayed for about an hour and then headed home to cool down and watch the Woman's World Cup. USA vs Japan. Unfortunately, we lost but it was an exciting match to see.

Facebook Post

"Amelia was sent to her room to do some serious cleaning up and apparently this is a rockin' good time for her! She is belting out a song that she is making up as she sings. Love her spirit, even when she can be a turkey at times!"

Sliver Lake South Beach

Finally, we headed over to the beach and put our new beach passes to good use! This evenings temps were perfect with the temps of the water! The kids and Mark played in the water for almost 2hrs!

Hmmm...they look they are up to something...

Get Daddy!!!

Graceful, like a swan...in water!

Ready, set, GO!!!

We are looking forward to spending many more summer days and evenings at the beaches! Also, we can't wait to bring along some friends too!

Swim Day Sillies

I wanted to try to capture some of the craziness that goes on at times during our weekly Swim Days at Grandma Judy and Papa's house. From food flying around, kiddos going in all different directions, uncontrollable giggles, Mommies getting exhausted from just feeding and wrangling of kiddos...we wouldn't change a thing! These are those special moments that come and go so quickly. Endless summer days in the eyes of babes...can it get any better??? (as a side note and special shout out to Aunt Jill for her two hands that are constantly needed at all times when available! THANKS JILL!!!)

Facebook Post- Power Outage

"Is so thankful for running water and power working again! Thanks to everyone that helped ease the inconvenience of the past 3 days, we really appreciated it!"


We had 70mph + winds early Monday morning which resulted in knocking out a near-record 817,000 customers. The first day we retreated from the heat by going to McDonald's for lunch and to play in the playland (Gasp!!!) Yes, totally disgusting and from watching a special about a mother on a crusade to get these playland areas cleaned up, I think we will stay clear of those germ infesting tubing and other nasties! But, on the flipside I chatted with some other moms that were escaping the heat and lack of power and found out about some more hidden gems of summer fun activities such as Free bowling for kids all summer long at 3D Bowl and on Tues and Weds all summer long, the Crystal Lake theater offers $1 kids movies at 10am! I am so excited to take the kiddos for some indoor, cooler fun! We ended up staying the night in the dark, powerless house. The kids and I slept in our cool basement, we read books by candlelight and talked. It was nice to hear the kids fall into their slumber, and hear them make their little sighs and noises kids make through out the night. It was cozy and rather cool down there. Our basement never gets above 70 degrees. Mark slept upstairs to keep an eye on the house. We were able to keep the freezer going with power "borrowed" from the house across the street. *wink, wink* We also got buckets of water from Jerry and Katie's house to keep the toilets full of water. Tuesday, we headed over to the Butner house for some fun and a yummy lunch. I also took a much needed shower there too! Thanks Heather! After, our playdate we headed home for some over night packing and went over to Grandma Judy's and Papa's house for the night. Jeannine and the baby ended up staying there the night before too. We had a lovely evening swim and dinner. Wednesday, we woke up at some breakfast and Nana came over to take us to Santa's Village to spend the day. Katie called to notify me that she saw our lights turn on...POWER IS BACK!!! So, back to our normal lives again! Phew! No power is a bummer, but now running water....that is the kicker, especially with kiddos!

Santa's Village

SANTA'S VILLAGE

The famous GINORMOUS candy cane! You know you are at the right spot when you see that from the road!
First thing to hit was the hand powered trains!
This year, Amelia made it all the way around the track with no assistance! Way to go Amelia!


This kiddie ferris wheel was a new addition since the Fall. Amelia wasn't sure about riding it, so James took a spin to show her it wasn't scary. He enjoyed being high up in the trees and looking out over the abandoned water park in the distance.

Nana took us today to enjoy a day at the park and have a yummy lunch as well. I think she had just as much fun as we did!

We had to see if the turtles grew since the last time we saw them and to our surprise there was a baby (smaller) turtle and an additional big turtle, so that makes 4! *correction* Tortoises not turtles!

Also, these beautiful parrots were hanging out with the turtles, just another addition to the park this summer.

We had to get in some pony rides!

Amelia's pony's name was Nectar.

Man, those goats are persistent creatures! If you aren't keeping a close eye on your pet food, look out!

Ahh, the original treehouse/ Santa's slide! It was built in 1959!

After one run with Nana for moral support, Amelia was confident on zipping down all by herself. We estimated that they went down that slide at least 40 times!

Just a pretty water feature near the Aviary that leads to a koi pond.

The Midge- O' Racers...vrrooooommmm!!!!!

This ride dates back to 1953, an original ride from the beloved Kiddieland!

James says hands down this was his favorite ride of the day. One of the little, but apparently very cool feature is you can turn your wheel to steer the car away from the center...we are only talking about a couple feet, but James and another little boy his age had so much fun making the car go in and out!

Another new attraction that made it's appearance this year was the balloon ride. Amelia says this was her favorite, but if you look closely she looks a little terrified! We had been on the ones that are exactly the same at Great America numerous times, but for some reason she was a little unsure of this one. Once she came off, she loved it! Go figure! I should also note that Nana was a little nervous of the height, but she was brave and rode with the kiddos anyways!

There were many different shows that were going on through out the day. We caught this one about some of the unique animals that they have at Santa's Village. The kids got a kick out of this ant eater eating baby food right out of the jar!

Roto Whip!!!! Another Kiddieland classic that lives on! Good thing too, the kiddos love this fast action ride!

What is that? A reindeer cooling off of course! James and Amelia as well as the grown ups got kick out of it too.

Santa's Village original sleigh ride is back! A sleigh ride in July??? Why Not!!! Anything can be possible at the North Pole!

Those are some strong and mighty horses, I mean "reindeer"!

Just when it was time to head out, a lady with a baby skunk appeared! It was actually pretty soft.
Papa helped top off this special day by giving each kiddo a little spending money! So, a very rare opportunity to hit the gift store was the last stop of the day. James choose two car sets and a large blue beetle and Amelia picked out a penguin purse and monkey bubbles. Thanks Papa!!!

It was such a fun time on such a perfect mild summer day (low 70s), the kiddos were certainly pooped, so was Nana and I! Thanks Nana for a great day at the park!

Christopher's 29 1/2 Birthday Party

Ginny thought it would help Christopher ease into his Thirty Somethings by throwing him a "kid" birthday party for his 29 and half year old birthday!


She rented the coolest slip and slide! We had a blast slippin', sliding and bouncing all the way down to the very end!

Splash!!

Amelia had fun too! Unfortunately, Mommy didn't get any pictures of Uncle Peter CHUCKING us like a bowling balls down the slip and slide lane! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!
Thanks Uncle Peter!!!

Grandma Judy doing her very best throws in the bean bag game! Note those pretty, freshly painted barn walls! Nice work Ginny and Christopher!

What a cutie pie our little cousin, Miss Millie is! Ginny was getting many smiles out of her today!

Mommy getting some Millie snuggles in!

Look OUT! It's the big kids turn!!!

Mommy and her brother, Uncle Peter. She sure loves her brother and so do we!

Now, the next few pictures were taken after Amelia and I left with Grandma Judy and Papa for a sleepover at their house. Ginny was introducing the daddy pretending to be a clown!

Daddy is that you???? Stogie the clown!

I heard Uncle Jim was the magician! Man, we missed quite a show apparently!

This was the only picture that Mommy got of Uncle Jim performing a rope trick. Sorry it is so blurry!

HAPPY 29 1/2 BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER!!!