More Chicago

View from our friends apt.

David and I rode a tandem around the pier of Lake Michigan, down Michigan Ave., and around some of the other sites of Chicago.

Keith sleeping in Abigail's pink stroller. Our stroller took an unexpected field trip. Keith did a good job at napping stroller style several times.

I don't remember the name of this fountain but it is very big (one of the biggest in North America I hear) and neat.

Shedd Aquarium Sea Lion/Dolphin/Beluga Whale show. See how the Sea Lion is on the walk way? Well right after that it came left--right in front of us (we were on the front row). It was too close to take a picture! The kids LOVED it!

Enamored by the Dolphins.

Keith examining the Chicago Skyline.

Chicago--My kind of Town

I have a friend who has lived in Chicago for several years and has kept inviting me to come visit. Well it took some extra days off for David and her announcement that she is moving to get us out there. And we had a blast!

So here's our Chicago adventures:

Belle drinking her juice "from the snack that the flight attendant gives me"


Playing at the park with Abigail.

Cute boy.



Us getting SOAKED at the concert in the park. You can't see it very well, but they have this full concert hall that opens to the park and have free concerts several times a week. It made it even more fun by the fact that we got caught by a downpour!



The skyline in Chicago



Belle asleep at the White Sox game. Keith slept through the first three innings, Belle slept through the last. It was a fun time but there were only like 3 hits the whole game and it was over very quickly. We want to try another baseball game this summer--maybe the Bees in SL--and see if we can see more action.

More of the White Sox game. We also took the subway to Wrigley Field so we could see it, too.



Us and the Chicago theatre sign.

Playing in the "Faces" fountain of Millennium Park

Pa Pa saves the day

As I mentioned before, the equestrian park let us down with no pony rides, but with a trip to Marion for an evening, all is resolved. Pa Pa brought Daisy over from the neighbor's and the kids had their pony ride.






As you can see, Keith is about as tall as Daisy's back, and Belle is taller. She's a short little round thing that is so cute and the kids love!!

Thanks, Pa Pa and Nana!

4th of July

We ran the 5K 1st thing in the morning, and of course for the second year in a row I pushed the kids in the stroller, and for the second year in a row I didn't get any pictures. I actually won a little trophy for 2nd place in my age division. It's a pretty silly little thing and is cluttering up the counter--but go me!

Then the parade we ended up sitting by a family from our old ward who has a girl Belle's age and they have been having play dates the last few weeks and are having a fun time together. One or both usually end up crying when it's time to go home. Anyway here's the parade.





We had planned on pony rides--but the equestrian park let us down and didn't have any pony rides--so settled on cotton candy and the park. We napped through most the park carnival, but made it in time for some cotton candy.

We watched fireworks with our friends the Burbanks, with a great view, and Keith learned the word "loud". He was very fascinated by it all. Unfortunately, no pictures.

Moving, Summer Fun, and Everyday Life

We are starting to feel at home and settled in. And I must say that MOVING IS A LOT OF WORK! We are having fun putting our things in the house and making it ours, and every little repair or project that we complete is a little triumph of ours. You should have seen Belle's face light up when David fixed her closet door so that both bi-fold doors close! She was so happy! Almost as happy when I bought her new elastic bands for her hair--"Oh, thank you Mommy for buying me new ponies. Good Job sweetie sweetie".

At any rate, we have LOTS more projects to go and I am learning that these things take time and money so we will just keep at it a little at a time and make this house our home. Most importantly of all we are all here together, starting to make memories, and having a great time doing it. And to add to it we have discovered a neighborhood full of fun little kids and nice families that have all been friendly and welcoming. We have had kids in and out playing so much, Belle and Keith are loving it, and so are we! (David is not sure about the neighbor boy who is 3 or 4 coming and ringing the doorbell and asking for Belle, but he'll get used to it. *grin*).

So in the middle of all the boxes and the unpacking and projects we have found some time to have some summer fun. We had a great fourth of July and short little trip to Chicago, and we are looking forward to more summer fun to come with our Oliver reunion and cousins coming, Cooke City, and swimming lessons all in the next month.

I have lots of pics from the holiday and Chicago, so I'll make a post about those. Not so many pics of the house, though. Someday I'll take one of all of us on the front porch...someday soon *wink*.