Transformers 3

When Erik and I went into downtown Chicago recently, we took a walk over to the Michigan Avenue filming location for the movie "Transformers 3." Here a few of the pictures we were able to take of the set. We had to move along before we saw any real action, but it was fun to take a peek at the scene. Alas, no Shia LeBeouf/Patrick Dempsey/Josh Duhamel sightings for us!

Cars staged on the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River

Funny signs. Erik and I were laughing at all the misspelled "Business Access" signs. Oops!

Fake fire department vehicle on Michigan Avenue

All the combat gear awaiting the actors along the Chicago River

"Damaged" boat docked along the Chicago River

A Night on the Water

Last weekend, Erik and I sent the kids off to Grammy & Grandpa Brown's (where they had a GREAT time, more on that in a minute!) and we enjoyed a night on Lake Michigan. West Monroe Partners held a dinner and evening boat cruise for a small group of employees and their spouses. It was such a beautiful summer night! Warm, but breezy on the water, and we had a great view of the city skyline for much of the evening. And great people to spend time with too, so we really enjoyed it! We stayed overnight downtown, slept in (nothing beats that these days!), and then came back to our house to tackle some home improvement projects that have been too time-consuming to start and complete with little ones around. It was great because we were able to squeeze in relaxation with some productivity. And we were so happy to see the kids again when Sunday evening rolled around!

Cassidy and Gavin had a wonderful time with Grammy and Grandpa. They went to a water park and a playground, and also played in a giant pop-up tunnel and tent in the backyard. Cassidy loves to play the old Hammond organ with Grandpa in the family room. Gavin had fun drawing chalk pictures on the driveway. Cooper was also visiting for the weekend, so they got doggie time too!

Fourth of July, 2010

We had a fun 4th of July in Rockford with the Reder clan. We spent most of the time either in the pool or shooting off fireworks with Grandpa! We also celebrated our cousin Ellie's 8th birthday, complete with a pinata and a homemade flag cake made out of cupcakes. Yum!

In the pool, Cassie worked on her swimming strokes with her daddy and went in from the edge of the slide for the first time. She had fun swimming freely with the help of her water wings. Gavin liked lounging in the round yellow floatie and was happy to have an adult gently pull him around the pool as he chewed on pool toys. We had bright sunshine and hot temperatures, which made the water feel even better!

Cassidy still has a love-hate relationship with fireworks. It's more hate than love, unfortunately. She doesn't like any of the loud noises, or the countdowns with all the anticipation, but she loves the pretty results. These photos show what she looked like most of the evening.













Gavin only stayed awake long enough to see sparklers, but he loved every minute! He was so upset that I wouldn't let him hold a sparkler by himself that he threw one of his tantrums and had to head to bed. Poor little guy! Maybe in a few years...

Our Week at the Dome

We've just returned from a wonderful family trip! We spent a week with the Brown side of our family at a rental home in Manitowoc, WI. It was the four of us, Grammy and Grandpa Brown, Aunt Mel, Uncle Aaron and our favorite dog-cousin Cooper.

We stayed together in a dome-shaped house that sat on a cliff overlooking the lakeshore. A small path led down to the beach, and we were so lucky to have sunny, warm weather almost every day of our trip. We also had amazing views of a clear, bright moon shining down upon the water each night. A beautiful sight!

We spent the week mixing relaxation with recreation. Erik and I got out to play both golf and tennis - so much fun! Although our scores were not impressive (that's putting it mildly, really), we just enjoyed getting out to play. We also visited a maritime museum in downtown Manitowoc, and the kids had a fun trip to the local zoo with Grammy and Grandpa. The rest of the time was spent relaxing with family - either at the beach, on the sunny deck, or inside watching movies, cooking, or playing catchphrase. Everything a vacation should be!

Cassidy turned 3 while on our trip! We had fun celebrating with wonderful gifts from family and a birthday cake as an afternoon treat. Cassidy also loved going to sleep each night in her cool Dora bed tent from Grammy and Grandpa!

Both Grammy and Aunt Mel are expert photographers, so we were very lucky to get a CD in the mail after the trip with all of their photos! Here are a couple of our favorites of the kids.