Happy Birthday, Cassie!

Cassie just celebrated her 11th birthday!  We were happy to have Grammy and Grandpa Brown and the Tieman family over to celebrate.  Tyler and I ran down to Sweet Mandy B's to pick up a yummy cake.  Then the kids spent the afternoon in the backyard on the slip-n-slide and watching over the monarch butterflies Grammy had brought with her!  Grammy raises monarchs and releases them, in an effort to help save this threatened species.  Cassie loves to help whenever she can!  Erik came home early from work with a special bundle of flowers for our dear birthday girl.  We had dinner, enjoyed cake, and opened birthday gifts.  We wish you the happiest year ahead, sweet Cassidy!  We love you!

More June Fun

We're continuing to enjoy the start of summer!  Erik and I went to a fun concert - Big Head Todd, a favorite from our college years! - down at Gallagher Way, which is the smaller concert stage on the Wrigley Field grounds, just outside the ballpark.  What a blast!

We are knee-deep in Gavin's summer travel baseball, having 4-5 events each week (usually a couple of games and a couple of practices).  But we are enjoying watching Gavin play and are having fun meeting so many new families.  Baseball games are lengthy, so you spend a lot of time chatting with this same group of people day after day - it becomes a little family!

These 4 boys are particularly close buds.  Great kiddos that we love!

Cheering on the team

We spent an afternoon at the Botanic Garden - always beautiful here!  The kids' area had a boat-making station set up for the day, so the kids kept busy crafting boats from corks and rubberbands and encouraging them to stay afloat through the little stream.  We walked around the gardens, the kids rolled themselves down the big hills, and we walked through the butterfly habitat.  I think my bright pink shirt must have caught their eye, as one butterfly landed on my arm and stayed put for quite a while!

Summertime Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Reder

We were happy to welcome my parents up from Florida for a summertime visit!  We had a few things to celebrate and look forward to while they were here - Cassidy's 11th birthday, Father's Day, and Gavin's travel baseball season kicking off.  We kept quite busy and enjoyed their company, as we always do.

Baseball at the park with Grandpa

Party at the neighbor's to kick off summer!

Gavin begins his travel season

Let's go #3!

Gavin's back in his house league uniform.  He had the honor of being chosen for the league's All-Star game. 

The best part of watching your brother play at Roemer Park!

Congrats, All-Star crew!

Gavin's coach gave him the game ball for his great effort today.  Such a kind gesture and a special momento.

Cassidy turns 11 in just a couple weeks!  We are celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa while they're in town.  She chose the birthday restaurant - Ron of Japan!  Can't beat having them cook at your table!

Back at home for cake.  We love you, birthday girl!

Celebrating Father's Day with these great dads!

Father's Day ice cream

We worked on this puzzle throughout Grandma and Grandpa's stay.  We put the final piece in just as they headed off for the airport.

June 2018: Bringing on Summer!

At the beginning of June, Cassidy and I joined a group of friends for the Taylor Swift concert at Soldier Field in Chicago.  This was Cassie's first concert and she loved it!  Taylor Swift puts on a great show and the girls had a blast singing along.

As the kids wrap up the school year, each class has a picnic and playtime over at Gillson Park.  Parents and younger siblings are welcome, so I always stop by.  They take time for a class photo each year.  These kids are getting bigger!  Tyler's class had an end-of-year celebration at school as he completes Junior Kindergarten.  It's always very sweet to see these little ones together and to snap some pictures with their beloved teachers.  Time to say good-bye to the school year and hello to summer!

Now that summertime has arrived, we are enjoying beach days!

Gavin's spring baseball team wrapped up another fun season.  What a great group of boys and wonderful volunteer coaches!

Gavin has developed a real love for baseball over the past few years and expressed interest in trying out for our local summer travel team.  We are proud of him for persevering though a challenging tryout and earning a spot on the team.  He's excited to represent our town and play the game he loves.  We are proud of his work ethic and look forward to watching him play!  We hope he continues to simply find joy in the sport and learns some of those great life lessons along the way that sports can provide.  Way to go, Gavin!