Pool

I keep thinking 'I should really do a blog post'.... 

Here's a fun photo from last week- probably our last day at the pool (it was a safety check).

And that's about all I have energy for.

Second Grade!

It was the first day of school and Henry would not give me a normal smile. Actually- when it was time to leave the house, he tried to come out with his shirt tucked way into his shorts and his hair all spiked up. I know, I'm a fun-hater, but I made him straighten up a bit for the first day of school. I suspect that, and these goofy faces, was his way of trying to mask the little bit of nervousness he may have had. 

 No need to fear, though! He came running out at the end of the day (see that leap in his step?) with a big smile on his face. When I asked "how was it?" His answer was a huge "awesome!!" His reported favorite part of the day was Spanish (which is new across the district this year, 30 min/day, 5 days/week). He said the teacher just came in and started speaking only in Spanish to them, but with lots of gesturing and pointing, so they were able to kind of figure out what she was saying. He thought it was funny and cool. My friend at GB said it went the same way in her classroom- I guess it's an immersion concept!

There's nothing I like better as a mom than seeing a big smile on my kid's face at the end of a school day! Here's to second grade!

Jr. Birdsmen

Clara in the Middle

Encouraging words from Clara at bedtime tonight: "I'm going to be a big sister! And I'm going to be in the middle. I love being in the middle!"
Let's hope it stays that way! 

(Clara has a new interest in flossing.)

Baby Beluga

We don't look as tired in this photo as we actually are. We just wrapped up a spontaneous visit to the Shedd aquarium. Clara's been asking about going all summer long, so after breakfast we told them to brush teeth and get in the car...and then we told them where we were going.
Now we're battling traffic to get home and I'm hoping I can muster the energy to cook dinner.

Family Day Rocked

Just one more shot that a fellow Shure associate captured of the afternoon entertainment...

Family Day

It was family day at Shure. They haven't had a family day since Henry was about a year old. Officially, photos weren't allowed. I might have still taken a few. The weather was lovely and much fun was had. First we visited the giant food tent and had burgers and salads and chips and cookies and corn and drinks.

Then there was an inflatable obstacle course: 

 And an inflatable bounce castle:

 There were tattoos:

 And balloon animals:

 We toured the building, taking the obligatory photos in Dad's office:

 There was a photo booth:

 And more wandering around the building:

 And rides on the great glass elevator:

 And testing of microphones:

 And, of course, we all wore our Shure hearing protection while Cheap Trick rocked the parking lot:

As we often do, today we say "Thanks Mrs. Shure!"

The Little House

Guess what Henry and Clara did! They slept in the little house...all night long! Guess what I didn't do...any sleeping all night long. 

Recent Days

I guess it was already a couple weeks back that we took our second trip to the beach this year. The weather was great and the water temperature was perfect. We made sand castles and swam and had a great time. 

 Then the kids and I got back in the car to take a short visit to Iowa City while Ellen and her kids were in town. I love this picture of Gretchen (Ellen's daughter,) Adelaide (Amber's) Henry and Clara, then Graham (Ellen's son) and Ellen. So cute. The only one missing is Louisa, who was enjoying the swings.

 Amber, Ellen and I even got one night without the kids to have dinner and gelato and lots of chatty girl time. It was so great to spend that time with them!

 Saturday night Rob and Carrie were in town on their way to a family trip in Michigan. Clara had been talking and talking about going to Northbrook Days with Eleanor. We squeezed in just a few rides before the weather got too bad and they shut the whole place down. We made it home before getting rained on. I think Eleanor liked the Dragon Wagon as much as Clara did that first night.

 They also did the hot air balloon ride, and then the girls drove the motorcycles while Henry went to a bigger ride with his dad.

 Even after another full day of Northbrook Days on Sunday, I woke with some energy Monday morning and decided to take advantage of it. After Pete left for work, the kids and I drove downtown to the Nature museum. They turned a river into a lake, impersonated a polar bear, pet a snake and walked along the bird walk on the roof.

We had parked at the zoo, so took a brief walk through there too, after having an overly-expensive zoo lunch. We are trying to make the most of our days before Henry heads back to school in 2 weeks!!
Also, I think most people know by now, but Pete's dad is out of the hospital and back home. Thanks to all for the nice notes and encouraging words.

Northbrook Days

A little bit of brightness and joy in our day...