The love of a family is life's greatest blessing.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Chicago!

This past August, we ventured on a one-night road trip with some good friends to Chicago.  We wanted to catch a game at Wrigley and just get away for a while :)

As road trips go, the car ride was lots of fun, and the weather didn't disappoint once we arrived (well, until the game!).


Millennium Park

Photo of our reflection :)


The historic Wrigley Field... we definitely felt like we stepped back in time!  We got to see the Cubs face the now World Series champs, the SF Giants.


Add caption
Mary & Dustan Drummer, Jeremy & Sarah Beirmaier, and us (plus baby, clearly starting to show!)
Cool hats, huh?!?  Although dorky, they are a fun memory of the night!
So that beautiful weather we started with... didn't stick around.  It was torrential, incredible, harder-than-we've-ever-seen rain.  It was also a landmark game in that the opposing team, the Giants, protested the grounds crew's rain prep skills.  The grounds crew couldn't get the tarps out fast enough or evenly, so when the rain stopped, there was gallons and gallons of water on the field... after hours of working on the field, they never did resume play.  The Cubs were declared the winners after 5 1/2 innings.  The next day, the Giants argued the call and won... meaning they had to finish out the game.  It was the first time in history a team has protested a grounds crew and won :)



We made the best of the situation... stayed for a couple hours and then headed out to a local establishment.

It was a fun night away, and who knows when we'll get another one of these without the kids!??!



State Fair 2014

The great MN get-together was a great time with the kids, although it sure was a different fair experience going with two little kids versus just going ourselves.  But they did have a great time, and Cooper loved going to the 'biggest fair EVER!'








Yummy berries and cream!


All tuckered out

He couldn't quite make it home... the Fair tired him out...





Waterpark!

We had the privilege of going again to the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells over Ed MN break.  Our kids had the Time. Of. Their. Lives.

Cooper got brave this year, going down some 'big kid' slides all by himself.  He was very proud, and probably took a total of forty trips down the slides after that first anxious time.  His other highlight was riding the waves in the wave pool, especially tipping over the tube with dad :)  He was a little tricky to get photos of, since he was running around like a wild man the whole time.  His energy boggles my mind.

Izzy was a riot.  She was very skiddish and nervous to begin with, which is totally her personality, but fairly quickly warmed up.  She loved sitting on the 'beach' and letting the waves get her.  She also liked riding the medium-sized waves and had a smile plastered on her face the whole time.  She, too, found some slides (albeit pint-sized) to master.  Always out little daredevil, she quickly learned how slippery the tops of those slides can be...

Both kids were champs with going with the flow for late meal and bed times. And there was very little whining, which made us very happy parents.  Half the fun of the weekend were the long walks to and from the pools... running, 'hippity-hopping,' racing, piggy-backing, super-ball-powering, and giggling down the hallways were a blast.  Hanging out with grandma, grandpa, Jackie, and Brian was really fun.  They helped us wrangle the kids and keep them entertained during the down times.  Good memories were made by all. 

Brian and I found some common bonding ripping on the Kalal siblings and their loud eating habits... I'm glad it's not just me!!!  Brian, we 'outlaws' gotta stick together :)


Still dry... it took a while to warm up to the sights and sounds :)
Cooper telling me all about the slides




The first one we've seen!


All by himself!

Izzy, Jackie, and Grandma


Big stuff!

A little break at the arcade - Smashing sharks




Fishing with her fingers... she figured out a shortcut with grandma's help ;)

"I have more your ice-ceeem gampa!"

I love grandma

A snack break

Buddies

Daddy's boy

Goodballs in the big tub

Watching cartoons together on our last morning there

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

August Family Time

I love my family.  Maybe it's this pregnancy, or maybe it's me realizing I'm getting older, or maybe it's me looking back on my own childhood and realizing how much my own family has changed... whatever it is, I just can't help but get a little teary-eyed looking at some of these random photos from our August adventures.  We really tried to soak up the little time left of our summer :)

Movie Night... FROZEN!  (Our favorite!!!)
Snuggles and soft kisses for cousin Drake
A trip to Grand Rapids to visit Laura, Dan, and Amanda
Let's hit the pool!
More snuggles... this time with Laura ("Wo-wa")

Scrubbing the pearly whites with daddy.  The sunglasses help...
Swinging with grandpa
A summer campfire
Doing crafts... gluing shapes is a current favorite

Monkey bread - er, sugar-eating

Our favorite place... the MN Zoo.  Brushing the goats is fun!

Riding the new carousel
Happy Birthday Daddy!

Catching dragonflies (we had a HUGE swarm come through one day!!)

Another parade, and oh, so much candy!

Stories with dad
Our little stinkers reading together

Snuggles with dad <3