Cassidy Starts Preschool!

Today was Cassidy's first day of 3-year old preschool! It went very well. No tears. She had a little sour look on her face when I had to leave the room at drop-off this morning, but I watched from the door and within moments her smile was back. She was quickly distracted with some colorful stacking pegs that were set up on the craft table. Two and a half hours later, I was back at school for pick-up, and was greeted with big smiles - she'd had a great day! She has 7 other kids in her class and a great new teacher named Miss Hannah. Miss Hannah plans to send out a daily email with notes from that school day. We already received her email for today, and she explained that today, the kids learned about the routines in the classroom and about each of the centers in the room. They read an Eric Carle book during circle time and had fun outside on the school playground. Once we were back home, Cassidy told me that her favorite part was "meeting my new friends and eating goldfish crackers."

Chicago Air Show 2010

Erik and I had a great time at the air show this year! We used to go each year when we lived so close, but we have missed it the past few summers. It is always such an amazing sight to see those jets and bombers speed right overhead. We watched the skies from a friend's rooftop deck while the kids spent the day with Grammy and Grandpa Brown. We spent the afternoon with many friends that we hadn't seen in a while - some in over a year! - so it was a really fun day for us. After the air show, we walked over to our favorite pizza place from our old neighborhood and had a few slices for dinner. We drove around for a bit and had a fun trip down memory lane. The kids enjoyed their time at Grammy and Grandpa's house, as always. They took this funny picture that we're calling the Blues Brothers photo!

Day Out with Thomas 2010

Many months ago, I was preparing for a road trip and thought a new movie would help the kids get through the drive. I picked up a Thomas the Train movie from a discount bin at Target and thought we'd give it a try. From that day forward, Thomas and all his train pals have become Cassidy's absolute favorite characters. We combined some of Erik's old Brio trains and tracks with a few of the newer wooden Thomas train characters that the kids have come to know and love. The train collection is, by far, the favorite toy in our house at the moment. And now that Gavin is nearly 18 months old, he has developed his own little love of trains. "Train" was even one of his early words!

So, we were very happy to find that the Illinois Railway Museum was hosting a "Day Out with Thomas" event this summer! We drove about an hour to the tiny town of Union, IL, and there we got to take a train ride on Thomas! We also saw lots of antique rail cars and old Chicago El trains all being housed at the museum. Sir Topham Hatt, the head of the railway in all the Thomas stories, was there, too - although he became pretty scary once it was our turn to walk up and shake his hand and pose for a photo. They had an enormous outdoor tent set up as a gift shop, and we were pretty lucky to get out of there with just 1 train per child. Anything Thomas you could ever imagine, you can buy there. (Bandanas! Tub toys! A giant train tent!) The kids had SUCH a fun day. A great summer outing and a fun memory for both the kids!

Thomas has just been spotted - see him in the distance!

Getting to see him up close before our ride

Family photo!

Visiting the Stolls!

The kids and I hopped in the car a few weeks back and went to visit our friends, the Stoll family, in Ohio. My great friend Tara is a stay-at-home-mom too, and our kids are the same ages. We had so much fun spending a good portion of the week together! During the day, Tara and I took the kids out for all sorts of activities - the Toledo Zoo (the carousel, train ride, swimming seals and new baby polar bear were all highlights), the Sylvania Playland (a huge indoor playground complete with jumping castles) and all sorts of fun meals out. We also spent some time playing in the backyard and inside with toys. Cassidy and Ella, both 3, got to have their first slumber party in Ella's room (such a hit, although we heard them jumping on beds well after bedtime of course!). The boys, both 1, played alongside each other and babbled away. In the evenings, Tara, Steve and I watched fun TV shows (they got me clued in on the Bachelorette and SYTYCD) and enjoyed some wine as we chatted away. It's so nice to catch up in person with old friends! I owe them a huge thank you for being such wonderful hosts to me and the kids!

Summer Playtime

We have had a very hot summer here in Wilmette (sometimes too hot, even for me! But with our brutal winters, I can't complain about heat!). We have made the most of the wonderful weather by having lots of outside playtime. We've spent a number of days at the local beach and pools. Here are some photos of our outdoor fun!
On the really humid days, we hit the local kids' museums and indoor playlands. The kids L-O-V-E those enormous jumping castle places! One of our museums has a whole section of dress-up clothes, and being the great big sister that she is, Cassidy picked out an adorable dress for Gavin to wear. Sorry, buddy!