Father's Day Weekend

June 12-15:  Aunt NeeNee came for a visit... as always, we packed in the fun!  She arrived on Thursday evening, in time for us to enjoy "movie in the park", we made snack necklaces, had pizza, and enjoyed watching Despicable Me II.  It was chilly but we snuggled up under blankets and kept warm.  

 

On Friday night Aunt NeeNee watched the kids while Marc and I went on a double date with our friends Brian & Meg.  We went to see Malificent at the dinner theater.  It was fun to go out with another couple. 

 

Aunt NeeNee also had fun taking each kid on a date--Sadie got to have a breakfast date to Burger King and go shopping at Target Dollar Spot, Macey got to have a lunch date at Applebees and go shopping at Claires, and Kinnick got to have a Chuck E Cheese date--all the kids loved their one-on-one time!

 

And Saturday we took a trip to the zoo (in honor of Father's Day).  We enjoyed some perfect weather as we spent the afternoon animal-watching.  We let the kids do the "touch-a-sting ray" exhibit for the first time.  On the way home we stopped at a BBQ place that Marc had been wanting to try.  We had to wait for about 45 minutes, but the food was awesome!  I'm sure we will go back. 

 

                                

Berry Picking

June 10:  We went berry picking at Olive Berry Acres last year and I couldn't wait to take the kids again.  Strawberry picking was so easy with little ones (compared to blueberry picking!)  The kids were awesome this year--they worked so hard to fill up their boxes with berries--especially Sadie.  The day we planned to go ended up being cloudy and rainy but we decided to chance it.  It was chilly but we ended up staying dry while we picked.  It started to sprinkle just as we were finishing up.  Carver stayed in his stroller the whole time and was a great little helper!

 



Summer Kick-Off

June 5-7:  We started summer off with a bang... some fun activities on our first days off school...

 

Thursday:  We went to Ms. Pearl's.  Sadie doesn't get to go during the school year so this was her first time in a quite awhile.  Another bonus of going during the summer is that I don't have to rush to be home by 3.  I get to stay for the afternoon and help as needed.  We made it home around 4:30 and I didn't have any dinner prep so we headed to check out a new park we found out about in Shorewood.  The city recently did some updates and added a splash pad.  It was such a cute little park--a small splash pad, some climbing rocks designed for young kids, benches & big swings overlooking the river, a sand volleyball court (aka--giant sand box!), and a walking bridge over the river.  We spent a couple hours here before heading home for dinner.  That night we roasted hotdogs over the fire pit and created our 2nd annual summer bucket list.  We each member of the family pick three things to contribute.

I love Sadie's face in this picture!

Our neighbor, Ben joined our wienie roast.

 Friday:  We joined some moms & kids from our MOPS group at Blackberry Farm.  It is a "living history museum"--demonstrations of life from the 1800's/pioneer life.  It also includes a lot of fun attractions (pony rides, carousel, paddle boats, playground, peddle tractors, train & wagon rides, and more).  We went on a free day (the first of the season) and it was PACKED!  The weather was great but it was so busy.  Everything had long lines but that didn't stop us from having fun.  We ate a picnic lunch, rode the carousel and train with some friends from MOPS, rode paddle boats with a different group of friends, and spent the afternoon hours checking out the one-room school house, the blacksmith, and the weaver.  The kids also enjoyed the zip line before we left.  We decided that we definitely wanted to come back because we only got to do/see about half of what the park offered!

Saturday:  Marc had plans to help a friend re-roof his house on Saturday.  We knew he would be gone all day, so I made plans to take the kids swimming.  The weather wasn't super warm but they were so excited for our first swim of the summer that it didn't matter.  We started our morning with homemade chocolate chip pancakes.  We headed to Streator to swim at Ms. Jennifer's pool and couldn't leave without stopping at "Time Out" for ice cream.  On our way home, we stopped by Sarah & Eli to check out the progress on the roof.  Sarah & I took the kids to the park for a bit and we stayed for pizza and got home.  We were all exhausted when we got home that night!
 

Last Day of 1st Grade

June 4:  Sadie's last day of 1st grade... I can't believe how much she's grown!  We had a good year and as always--we are READY for summer.  I LOVE summer break. I of course did when I was teaching; and now as a mom with school-age kids, I love it just as much.  The whole summer stretched in front of you... full of possibilities, fun activities, lazy pajama mornings, sleeping in, no schedule, sun soaked days, the POOL, LOTS of park time, splash pad, bike riding, family outings, VACATION... well, you get the point.  Summer lovin'

We made this clip board for Mrs. Kiebles

 

Cakes in a Jar for all of Sadie's Teachers and Principals

Museum of Science & Industry

June 1:  We took advantage of a free day at the Museum of Science and Industry.  The kids had so much fun--Carver included.  We did lots of exploring, talking, and touching.  The kids really liked the "Old Main Street" displays and visiting the black and white moving picture show and the early 1900's ice cream parlor for a treat.  Carver LOVED "Idea Factory" play area--he crawled, played, got wet, and giggled lots.  It was a fun afternoon for our family.  I'm so thankful we have great museums within driving distance that offer free days for us to visit. 

 



The kids thought it was SO cool to be on a "Real" airplane!

Baby Chicks!