September fun!

Here's what we've been up to this month! Lots of early fall fun!

Pirate's Cove - Elk Grove Village
We joined the Schouten family to celebrate our buddy Jort's 4th birthday at Pirate's Cove about 30 minutes away.  It was a great way to spend the day!  The weather was beautiful and the kids had plenty of time to do all the games and attractions.  Jort loves robots so we all enjoyed some robot cake before heading home.

 Bike ride to Hartigan's
Cassie became an "event planner" this summer and decided to organize a bike ride with her classmates that live in our neighborhood over to the local ice cream shop.  We supervised the bike brigade and had a fun day riding around town and getting ice cream...

 Skokie Sports Park
Erik took the crew over to Skokie Sports Park for some mini golf.  It was a hot day but they all had a great time!

An evening at Gillson Beach

We joined our neighbors for a nice evening at the beach.  The adults had comfy chairs and a glass of wine and the kids enjoyed playing and digging!  A perfect late summer evening.

Backyard camp-out

We held the 2nd annual backyard campout with our neighbors!  The kids all look forward to this and it's so fun to see them enjoying the outdoors and making fun summertime memories.  The dads are champs for staying out all night with the kids.  It was not as hot this year since we waited until September, so that was extra nice.  The next morning, I made a big batch of pancakes and fed the crew.

Tyler time

Tyler is nearly 4 years old, and gets to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Mom when his older siblings go off to school each day.  He is a silly sweetheart and we have lots of fun together!

First Day of School 2016-2017

Here we are, at the first day of school once again!  Here's what we have for 2016-2017:
Cassidy - grade 4 (Mrs. Loebbaka)
Gavin - grade 2 (Miss Bode)
Tyler - 3s preschool (Mrs. Ellis)
All three kids are excited for a fun year ahead!

An early morning wake-up call after lazy summer mornings.  But here they are, bright and shiny at 7:30am!

We dropped Cassidy off at her classroom first...

Bye, Cassidy!  Have a great first day!

We found Eleanor walking in, too!

Time to take Gavin up to the second floor to Miss Bode's room...

Found the locker!

Miss Bode has a postcard waiting on each of their desks, welcoming them to grade 2.

Day 1 class photo
(Gavin - top row on the right!)

Tyler's turn for preschool!  Lots of fun toys are out for playtime.

A silly photo with Mom

These are some preschool friends we met on Day 1!

Pick-up time - all smiles.

We joined some grade 2 boys for ice cream at Homer's.

Always need a silly photo!

Summertime Adventures!

Once we returned from our Florida trip, we spent the rest of July and August soaking up summertime in Chicago!

Painting rocks

Visiting family and playing with cousins

The kids made a hideout behind the dining room curtains - we got a kick out of Cassidy's rules!  She's in a pistachio phase.

A day at the Botanic Garden

The lush greens are so beautiful! 

Enough sibling photos, mom!

We stayed for a picnic lunch.

We took in a Cubs game, under some shade this time...

Cassidy created her annual fairy garden

This year she made 2!

Grammy and Grandpa Brown organized a family outing to the outdoor railway museum for "A Day Out with Thomas"

All the cousins!  A lot of train lovers in this group! 

Tyler loved this little ride-on train 

We had a fun night out with friends for the Coldplay concert at Soldier Field 

Love this fun crew!

There's Chris Martin!

The skies opened up and it absolutely poured on us!  Made for a memorable night...

An outing with the Neals to Navy Pier

They all rode the ferris wheel!

We took the train up to Highwood with friends for a summertime dinner festival 

We threw Tyler a big boy underwear party!  No more diapers!

Cassidy went to a week-long sleep away camp with 3 friends!  This picture was taken at drop off...

...and this photo was taken a week later at pick-up!  Happy girls.

We had a lot of great beach days at Gillson

We loved the slip-n-slide (even if it did completely kill the grass underneath, oops!)

I had a blast at my 20 year high school reunion. (Erik had fun at his too - but not sure we have any photos!)

Mowing the lawn in mis-matched jammies...

Singing and dancing in a summertime downpour

Ice cream... 

More ice cream!  We are good customers over at Hartigan's!

Tyler having a blast at our local park - love this smile.

I was very fortunate to take a quick trip down to Bay St. Louis, MS, near New Orleans, to visit my friend Meg while she spent the summer there with her family (they currently reside abroad, so it was really special to get to visit in person!)  I am very blessed to have a friend like Meg (for all these years!) and loved every minute of this visit!

Check out this fun ride that fits the whole Vlach crew!

We had fun lunches and dinners in the Bay

A fantastic summer night out on the town with a beautiful friend!