Cassidy's 3rd Birthday Celebration!

Since Cassidy's actual 3rd birthday will take place on our upcoming trip to Wisconsin, we decided to hold a little birthday party for her a couple weeks in advance. She chose to have a Thomas the Train theme - she is a huge Thomas fan these days! We are embracing her little inner tomboy. She requested a train cake from mommy. I told her I'd give it my best shot. The idea was to make a cake with tracks, and then at party time we could gently place her little wooden trains onto the cake as the final touch. But it turns out that sounded "too yucky", so the trains just sat nicely below. We had a really fun party with her toddler friends and their parents. We made a train craft and played with toys, opened gifts and ate cake! She is still very hesitant when it comes to birthday candles and singing (somehow the whole thing is scary), but she made it through OK and even helped blow out her candles this time. It was a really fun celebration!

Daisy Days 2010

A couple weeks back we took the kids to Daisy Days, a summertime festival in Clarendon Hills that Erik enjoyed every year growing up. Grammy and Grandpa Brown joined us, and Aunt Mel and Uncle Aaron stopped by too. It was a beautiful, warm summer day. The kids had SO much fun on the kiddie roller coasters and loved riding the ponies too! We also played games, ate funnel cakes and sipped on delicious raspberry lemonade. Great fun.

A Visit from the Vlachs!

We were SO excited to have our great friend Megan and her 2 kids (Madeline, 3 and Charlie, 15 months) come to visit us a couple weekends ago! They were back in town for a whirlwind trip to spend time with friends and family that they haven't seen as often since moving to Nashville. We squeezed a lot of fun into our 24-hour visit. We spent some time at our neighborhood playground and stopped by our friend Mandy's house for a playdate with her 2 boys (6 kids under 3 was pretty comical - but they kept each other busy!). I love this picture of the 2 girls - they look like a couple of teens sharing some good gossip or checking out a cute boy. Ha!
The boys had their share of fun too. They are so busy that I never actually got a photo of the two of them together! We played in the backyard, on the swing and in the sand table. The boys toddled around the house looking for trouble, trying to mess with the plans of their big sisters. At one point, we found the girls trying out Cassidy's new big girl bed - perfect for jumping! Meg and I also enjoyed a dinner out with a glass of wine or two, and we were sad to have to say goodbye the next morning. But luckily we have these blogs to check out each week as a way to keep up with each other! If you haven't yet checked out Meg's fantastic blog, click from my list onto "The Vlach-Tastic Four" and give it a read. She's a really gifted writer - so much so that at our dinner out, my other friend Meg (who joined us for dinner, it was so fun!) and I were brainstorming all the different ways that Meg could turn her natural writing skills into a cool new profession. The options are endless! Anyway, we're so thankful to the Vlachs for coming all this way to visit and we hope the rest of their trip is going wonderfully!

Gillson Beach

One of the things we were excited about when we moved to Wilmette was living so close to the beach! We ventured over last weekend for the first time this year, and the kids had so much fun. They toggled between splashing their toes in the lake water and playing further inland on the sand in the tot playground. We brought some snacks and laid out beach towels to relax and enjoy the morning. Even though the summers always seem to get fairly booked up with activities, we're hoping to get over to the beach and enjoy it as often as we can.

Field Trip to Wagner Farm

Cassidy's preschool took an end-of-the-year field trip to Wagner Farm, one of our favorite local places to visit. Cassidy was very lucky to have two special people join her as chaperons on the trip - Grammy and Grandpa Brown! I stayed back with Gavin and got some things accomplished at home during his morning nap. Meanwhile, Cassidy had so much fun showing Grammy and Grandpa her classroom and introducing them to her wonderful teachers. They all rode the big yellow school bus together and spent an hour or so getting within a nose's reach of the horses, piglets, cows, chickens, geese, and sheep. The kids also got to make homemade butter and shuck corn to feed the animals (Cassie's favorite part). Even though we visit the farm often, it was nice for Cassidy to go with her classmates and also to have the special guided tour from the great staff there. It was also very special for her to go with her Grammy and Grandpa!

Memorial Day 2010

My whole family got together in Rockford for Memorial Day weekend. It was a weekend to be outdoors! We took walks, spent time at the playground, and of course had lots of fun in the backyard pool. We'll all be together again for the 4th of July. Already looking forward to it!