Catching up on June

I figured I should do a little catch up before we go on our big adventure. 

Last weekend was fun, with Amber's family in town for a wedding. They didn't stay with us, but we did get to see them a few times. We had hot dogs in the back yard and played some games on Friday night. Then on Saturday I had the pleasure of hanging out with little Louisa while everyone else attended a wedding reception. She wasn't very happy about going to bed for me, but Amber gave me the green light to put her in the car if needed, and that did the trick immediately. 

This past week has been busy. It feels like someone in the family has had a medical/pre-natal/dental appointment every day this summer. Monday was Pete's turn for a fun procedure at the hospital to try to figure out some of his gut issues. He rallied that night, though, and we met up with his parents and Liz and Vivian for a night at Ravinia. I didn't take too many photos, but this one captures the coolness of the evening. We were there for Esperanza Spalding. It was a great show, but both kids cashed out. 

 Tuesday night was Henry's last baseball game of the season. He got some good hits and did some fine fielding. I was most proud of him when he got out at second base and handled it well. Pete and I could see him taking some deep breaths- but there were no tears!

Vivian came to watch the game for a bit too. She was pretty okay with Pete...until she wasn't. 

 

Clara did lots of loving on her cousin. Hugging babies and toddlers is her specialty.

 Mostly Vivian was just go-go-go!

Last night was great fun as Kevin and Beth were in town from Belize. We only get to see them about once a year now. Unfortunately, with our packing and craziness we were just able to spend an afternoon with them, but we tried to make the most of it. It was hot, so while we waited for Pete to come home the kids played in the pool and then we dragged the little one over so adults could cool their feet while chatting. The kids wanted in on that action too...and Henry shared his Garfield books. 

Once Pete got home we all went out for sushi. It was delicious. 

Even though we had plenty to eat at dinner, I felt like the night called for ice cream....so we ended the evening with a stop at Baskin Robbins and a little playing at the Village Green. That should tide us over until we get to see them again next year! 

And now, stay tuned for short mobile posts from the road!

Friends

Other happenings (happy-nings) over the last week revolved around great friends. On Thursday, after Obama's speech, we spent the night at Amber and Jeff's new house. It was our first time seeing it or being there and we had a great time! The house is lovely and comfortable. The kids enjoyed checking out Adelaide's toys.
And she was a great hostess!
After the kids went to bed we spent a little time watching basketball and Amber fixed up a little knitting project I had bunged up. I love how Jeff's pretending not to notice as I take this picture.
We spent the next couple of nights with our favorite niece. She and Clara have matching pj's again...totally by chance.
Mom stayed with all the kids one night so we could take Rob out for a belated birthday celebration. There was much back and forth about which movie to see or whether to go bowling instead....we ended up just going out for Mexican, but that was muy bueno.


We all especially enjoyed it when the guys came out to sing to Rob and put the giant sombrero on his head. Rob LOVES this kind of stuff...can you tell?
After leaving Iowa City and having a couple of quiet nights at home we had some overnight visitors. This is our (brand new) friend Jason playing ball with his daughter Sidonie and Henry.
Here are Sido and Clara playing in the sand.
And here's Mariah, the mama of Sidonie and wife of Jason. Mariah and I were good friends in jr. high and high school and just recently reconnected through the magic of facebook. She insists that we saw each other in Iowa City once circa 1998, but she said Pete and I looked like we may have been involved in a serious discussion. If it really was 1998 it is highly possible that that was the case. Aside from that instance I'm pretty sure we hadn't seen each other since 1993, and maybe only corresponded once or twice during those first few years of college.
I've been so happy to be back in touch with Mariah and it was awesome to spend some time together with our families. Jason was a very cool guy and Sidonie is very bright and fun. My mom asked if it was awkward at first, having not seen each other for so long. But it wasn't at all! We didn't have a pause in the conversation all night long. The kids were excellent about going to bed easily for us and the weather was lovely, so we stayed on the porch late into the evening drinking a little wine and eventually testing out the cinnamon rolls that I made for the next morning.
We can't wait to go out to visit them in Idaho!!
(Clara says thanks for "Tayto". She loves him!)

Night Out

A few months back Jeff told us he was planning a trip to Chicago for Amber's birthday, and invited us to spend an evening with them. We decided to reserve a room for the night as well. Last night was the night! The kids stayed with Pete's parents overnight and we took the train downtown. After checking in to the Hotel Allegro (and getting that free upgrade we inquired about!) we met Amber and Jeff and had a quick snack at Petterino's. Fortunately no taxis drove through the windows while we were there. Then we went back to the hotel and tried out their hot chocolate. It was not nearly as good as the hot chocolate at the Monaco, where I stayed with Amber and Ellen in Denver. Still, it was nice to have a hot beverage.
In the elevator Amber tried Pete's hat on. She had trouble believing his head was actually so substantial.
Later we met up with another couple, friends of Amber and Jeff who live in Chicago. We had dinner at Adobo Grill. The margaritas and guacamole were very good. The entrees were fine. Then we went next door to Second City where we laughed until our stomachs hurt.
After that we went across the street to a bar Jamie knew of. It was a cool place, but we didn't really need the beer at that point.
Snacks were desired before heading back to the hotel. I like this picture of Pete looking nervously at the Peeps display.
Amber settled in on some pretzels while Jeff mulled over a $5 t-shirt.
I was appalled by this:
Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the hotel we didn't have much energy for more hanging out. It would have been fun to stay in the bar a bit and watch some Olympics. As it was we went to our separate rooms and, by all accounts, fell asleep pretty quickly. We met up again this morning and while Amber and I waited in the lobby the boys went to fetch the car. After getting us and driving past the parking garage again Jeff said "wait! Where are the donuts?" Apparently the boys had stopped for a pre-breakfast snack. The donuts, however, had been forgotten atop the ticket-paying machine in the parking garage. After a spin around the block Pete ran in to liberate them.
We went to the closest Nookies location and filled up on delicious breakfasts.
And then Amber and Jeff dropped us off at the train station so we could come back home to see our kids! Hooray for a great night away with great friends!