More July Fun

Summertime is rolling on!  Tyler's making some big transitions right now.  This past week, he gave up his beloved pacifier (aka nini).  He only had nini at bedtime, but it was still a very tough goodbye.  He would have kept nini around forever if we let him, but it's time to move forward!  The pacifier fairy came that night and took all the pacis to give to newborn babies that needed them, and in their place, she left Tyler a special Thomas the Train toy.  We had a few rough nights of falling asleep without nini, but now he is doing OK.  The first morning after letting go of nini, Tyler also lost his first tooth!  It was wiggly and ready, and with a little help from Mom, it popped right out.  Growing into such a big boy right before our very eyes!

We also took a family trip to Great America for the first time.  Erik and I had gone plenty of times growing up, but we'd never taken our crew.  It was a hit!  Everyone really enjoyed the rides (and all the refreshments - it was a super hot day).  Erik and Gavin teamed up to tackle the big coasters - The Demon and The Eagle!

Gavin's baseball season came to an end, and we enjoyed having the team and their families over for a season wrap-up party.  We ate hot dogs and showed "The Sandlot" in the backyard, and the kids had a great time playing together.  Party favors were Big League Chew and Cracker Jack.  Some things never change! Those 2 snack have been part of baseball for years and the kids still love them!

We took a trip into the city, with 2 different destinations - Erik and Cassidy headed to the theatre to take in Hamilton (her 10th birthday gift!), and the boys and I spent an afternoon at the Chicago Sports Museum at Water Tower Place.  We started with lunch at Harry Caray's, and then had so much fun seeing all the memorabilia and trying out the interactive sports games.  We all love getting downtown to enjoy Chicago from time to time.