Day at the Pool

For Ben’s birthday (in May), the Klearmans’ gave him a gift certificate for our families to spend the day at the pool together sometime this summer, which I thought was such a fun idea. We met up last Saturday and had a great time!

Eli loved the areas that had water spraying -

Covering up the holes is too tempting -

Saralyn and Will -

Charlie spent some time in the water, and some time in the stroller – the stroller straps are just as exciting as swimming to a little guy :)

Caroline

Drew -

Will and Eli looking at the assortment of toys (not necessarily the best pool toys, but they worked okay)

We walked over to the diving boards for a little bit so Ben and Drew could show off their skills… Ben did a flip off of the lower diving board and all of the kids were impressed!

Mike held Eli while Ben was flipping -

Drew impressed us when he went off of the high diving board with no fear at all -

And here’s Eli, kicking back after a few hours at the pool.

There’s nothing better than spending four hours away from the hustle and bustle of life, outside on a warm day, soaking in some sunshine. We purposely didn’t plan anything for the entire day so we wouldn’t feel rushed or be worrying about getting ready for something else while we were there, and it was the perfect break from our often chaotic lives.

Dad’s Makeover – Part 1

Last week my dad had his measurements taken for his new suit (it will then be finished in about a month) and had the other half of his makeover—the haircut, facial, mani/pedi, and massage. He stopped by afterward and looked SO relaxed! I think the makeover people did a great job. I’ll definitely post pictures of him in his new suit when it’s in his possession. The one bummer is that he still hasn’t connected with the LinkedIn people yet – but hopefully they’ll be in touch soon.

Eli has become very possessive over our small digital camera, so once he saw me taking pictures of Bumpa, he wanted to get in on it too.

Morning in the City, Quiet Afternoon at Home

Yesterday morning we went with a few other moms and kids into Chicago for the Family Fun Festival at Millenium Park. Every morning in the summer months, there is a Wiggleworms music instructor from the Old Town School of Folk Music who does free sing-alongs for kids. It all took place under a huge white tent with lots of little kids and their parents or nannies. Eli had a blast! The guy singing even pointed at Eli at one point and said he was going to sing the song about a Little Red Wagon, just like what is on Eli’s shirt.

Unfortunately, the pictures I attempted during the Wiggleworms part didn’t turn out very well, but this is after the singing, when there were other kids’ activities set up throughout the tent. There were craft projects, an area with a bunch of hula hoops and jump ropes, books, blocks, etc.

This was Charlie’s first time sitting in the joovy stroller seat – usually he’s just in the car seat, but it was fun to see him sitting up, looking around at everything.

After the activities in the tent, we walked over to the fountains and the kids played in the water. It was very crowded! Millenium Park’s fountains are so unique in that they have random people’s faces projected onto them and it changes every couple of minutes. Eli kept pointing at this guy’s face and looking at me like, What is that??

 

Eli loved running through the water

and sitting in it too -

When we got home, the kids were pretty wiped out.

It was really cute watching Charlie turn to Eli and give him a big smile

Charlie spends most of his awake time rolling across the floor and chewing on his fingers.

I love the triple rolls shown on his arm in this picture. He laughs every time I call him my chubby chubby boy. Charlie is pretty top-heavy, so every time I try to get him to sit on his own, he tips right over or topples forward. A random lady told me today, “I had a baby even fatter than yours!” talking about her son who is now a teenager. I didn’t know how to respond… :)

The highlight of the afternoon – both kids took naps!! Eli spent the first 45 minutes in his crib playing, but after a while it was actually quiet and I was SO excited!! I’m glad our busy morning helped wear him out enough to actually rest. He was in the BEST mood in the evening and went to bed a little later, but it was really nice to have a happy toddler that late in the day!

Here are some things I’ve heard from Eli this week:

“Mommy use it?”

“Hi Mama!”

“No Charlie No!”

“I got Froggy, Mama!”

“What’s this?”

“Hold the duck, Mama”

“I want to pat it!” (referring to any bird, bunny, cat, etc. that is running through our yard)

“MINE!” (at least 100 times a day, usually for no reason but he feels entitled to say it)

“NO CHARLIE!” (he kept yelling this yesterday as I was carrying Charlie in one arm and a plastic bag w/ some random things inside in the other and Charlie’s feet kept kicking the bag – Eli did not like this)

“Be HAAPPPPPPPY Charlie!” (when Charlie is crying in the car)

“STOP IT Charlie!” (poor Charlie has a bossy big brother)

“I want that one!”

“I build it”

“I do it.”

“I’m Eli” (I often say things like, Are you ready, Freddy?” and he’ll reply, I’m Eli!)

Loving the Back Yard

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in this house for almost a year! We closed on it in the middle of August, and between unpacking, being pregnant, having a baby and a toddler, I feel like the actual moving in has been very gradual. I often think about how different life is in the house versus how it was in our condo and am so grateful for the change. I still appreciate having a washer and dryer, a garage, a basement, and a fenced-in yard. We drove by the condo yesterday and the street was packed with cars – I felt so happy not to have to park the car far away, lug my kids and our stuff down the block and up the two flights of stairs!

Last year we didn’t have a ton of time to really enjoy the back yard before winter arrived, but this year is a different story! We play outside just about every day when the temperature is above 50 degrees. We still like to go out when it’s raining since Eli’s sand table has an umbrella over it.

One of Eli’s favorite things to do is play with the hose – he fills up buckets and dumps the water on the car or on plants (or himself).

We attempted to plant a tiny garden along the side of our house that gets a lot of sun. We planted two rows of peas, lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, and herbs (they’re obviously not all in this picture). We’ve enjoyed peas and lettuce so far and are excited about the progress of the zucchini plants. The tomato plants have tiny green tomatoes starting to grow, and we love having the herbs on hand for cooking (basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, thyme, and oregano).

Charlie is in a grabbing stage, where he likes to get his hands on anything within reach (including the pea plants!).

I thought it was fun that Ben and Charlie had a similar color scheme going the day that I took these pictures. It was totally unplanned since Ben leaves really early in the morning for work (and I’m usually not awake yet). Big thanks to Charlie for sleeping 11 to 12 hours every night!