Visit from the Caseys

25-27:  Liz, Hannah, & Cam came to visit and meet baby Carver at the end of July.  We always try to do a get-together during the summer while Liz is off.  This was a short trip but we packed in LOTS of fun!

 

Thursday night--they arrived and we decided to take the kids to "Christmas in July" movie in the park (Elf) hosted by the Village of Shorewood.  During the summer the village hosts weekly fun nights at the Towne Center--this is the first one we attended and I was very impressed...  Before the movie started there were several events that the kids could do... make an elf hat, visit Santa, a bouncy, sno-cones (all for FREE!)  We packed dinner and enjoyed hanging out until the movie started at dusk.  We made it about half way through the movie (we left around 9:45). 

On Friday it was a beautiful (chilly) day.  We decided to take our bikes and head to the forest preserve for some trails...

Friday night we let the kids make mini pizzas for a movie night.  We also made "snack" necklaces to eat during the movie.  Marc took Sadie & Hannah shopping to pick out some yummy treats for the necklaces. 

 

Whenever we get together, not sure who has more fun--the kids or the adults.  We are so glad this awesome family is a part of our lives!  

Blueberry Picking

July 24:  We haven't made it to Tammen for blueberry picking since Sadie was two... I've been wanting to go each year and we finally did!  Carver was 3 weeks old and spent his first time with a babysitter (my friend Sarah) and also had his first bottle!  He did great... I wasn't sure how much he would eat and he sucked down 5 ounces! 

 

We went with our friends Lucas, Etahn, baby Elizabeth, and Michelle.  It was actually a pretty cool day for July (which was nice because we weren't sweating.

My big plan was to pick around 10 lbs. of blueberries (about 2 buckets).  It didn't go quite as planned... We went toward the end of their "first pick" so the bushes weren't super full and a lot of what was left were high or toward the middle of the bushes.  This made it harder for the kids to pick.

The kids had fun and ate lots of blueberries while we were picking.  They lasted about an hour before they needed to go potty and were saying they were tired.  Needless to say, we did not have 2 full buckets!  We decided to call it a day and cash in our berries.

We ended up with 2.5 lbs... nowhere close to 10 but delicious none the less! I think Michelle weighed in around 3lbs.  I would have loved to frozen enough blueberries to last most of this year but they are gone.  We enjoyed them!

We had packed a lunch for the kids so we headed to a nearby park and enjoyed some play time before going home. 

Michelle and I decided next year we might need to go blueberry picking without kids!

Grandma & Grandpa's... Take 2

June 18--21:  Earlier in the year, Marc was presented with an awesome opportunity to travel to Philadelphia for the YMCA national convention (all expenses paid!)  He has been on the Y's financial board for the last couple years and recently joined the board of directors this year.  Although he was grateful and excited for this amazing opportunity, he was hesitant to accept because the trip was just 2 1/2 weeks after Carver's due date.  I encouraged him to go and assured him I could recruit some help for the time he would be gone. 

 

Sadie was already scheduled to be at Ms. Jennifer's for the week for VBS.  Marc was scheduled to leave early Thursday morning so I decided to leave Thursday afternoon and pick Sadie up in Streator then continue on to my parents house.  I love taking advantage of the freedom we have during the summer time.  We planned to stay Thursday--Monday and enjoy some Hancock County Fair fun during our stay.

 

We packed in a lot of fun during our brief visit... We went swimming at Ms. Jennifer's on Thursday afternoon before tackling the drive to my parents.  Carver was a champ--he made it through the 3 hour (just over) drive without us needing to stop.  On Friday we enjoyed playing at Grandma's (I even got to sleep in!) 

We also took a trip to the Bowen Pool.  I spent most of  my summer days swimming here when I was little and working here when I was in high school.  Even though it looks quite different, I loved taking my kiddos here to swim.  Carver stayed with Aunt Trista.

Friday night we enjoyed a visit from Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Behymer.  I was very excited for Carver to meet 2 of his great-grandparents. 

Macey loved reading with Grandpa!

On Saturday we spent the day at the fair.  We went right after lunch to participate in "kid's day."  The kids searched for money in a hay stack, tried to catch a greased pig, and tried the pedal tractor pull.  They got free ride tickets so we had fun riding rides all afternoon. 

Each kid who tried to catch the pig got their own trophy!

Sno Cones from Grandma!

Kinnick won one of the grand prizes--a new BIG BOY bike!

After kids day we went back to grandpa & grandma's house for a break.  That evening we headed back to the fair for more treats, more rides, games, and to watch the demo derby.

Sadie--Eating a Corndog and Watching the Demo

The boys won these swords at one of the games.

Fair Fun was had by ALL!

On Sunday we enjoyed church, lunch with my family, and a visit from Grandpa & Grandma Gorsch and Aunt NeeNee for dinner.  We packed in so much fun before heading home on Monday morning!



Aunt NeeNee was such a great Aunt... she swam with the kids even in the rain!

On our way home Monday we stopped at McDonald's for lunch.  This was my first attempt at taking all three kids into a restaurant by myself.  By the time we stopped Carver was screaming to eat so we headed back to the play area first.  We managed to snag a table and I fed him while the kids played.  When he was done eating we ventured to the front to order food.  A very sweet lady helped me carry my tray and told me "These are the best days.  They go so fast--enjoy them!"  Our stop was over an hour and it was crazy but I did my best to enjoy this moment in time!