Happy Birthday to Us!

Not bad for taking this ourselves...as you can see, we were a little excited to be driving to Chicago!!

On our way to the show...

...not to be outdone!

Apparently one trip to Chicago in the same month isn't enough, because just as soon as I got home from my work trip, we were off again!! Daddy and Uncle Tim surprised Aunt Shell and I with tickets to see Wicked in Chicago! I literally did not know where we were going until we were dropping Olivia off at Aunt Jenny's that morning. They had planned the whole thing and then played it off like we couldn't find a sitter. In fact, Shell and Tim had planned on going and were actually acting as if they had to go without us. So, Shell was in on the secret too. They met us over at Aunt Jenny's to drop off Olivia and we left from there. Olivia spent the day with Aunt Jenny and then headed over to Grandma's for the night. The four of us on the other hand were off to Chicago! It was such a great surprise and we had a blast. The ride up was pretty uneventful, but still fun nonetheless. We got up there and wanted to get to the theatre right away, so we made a pit stop for some lunch pretty close by. The weather was beautiful, so the walk to the theatre from the hotel wasn't bad at all. After lunch, we headed straight there and it was amazing. This was my first big musical like, so just imagine the excitement of Shell and I...we were giddy! The boys on the other hand weren't as into it, but they did fine. The show was wonderful and I would have turned around to see it over again right then! Shane said he would have liked it if it hadn't have been for all that singing and dancing! :-) In fact, at the intermission, he thought it was over and started packing things up and headed for the door. Little did he know it was only half over! He made it though and I was so excited he sat through it with us....it was fantastic!!!!

After the show, we went back to the hotel to relax for a while and then walked to Navy Pier. We just wanted to walk for a while and chose a place to eat while we were there. We sat outside and simply watched all the crazies walking by. It is amazing what you see up there, so Shell and I were in heaven. After spending a while there, we got a cab to Dave & Buster's. Now the boys were in heaven...they quickly split from the girls and went to the motorcylces and then the hrose racing tables. They were there for quite a while, which was fine cause Shell and I did our own thing, including having a few drinks at the bar! We were big on the Deal or No Deal game...basically it didn't take much brain power! After quite some time there, we decided to call it a night and took a cab back to the hotel. What a wonderful day!!! The boys surprised us last year with the Chief's game and reserving our own little area and now this...we cannot wait to see how they top it for next year! :-)

More Chicago Pix

Shell and I were so excited to be here, and had to get a few pictures before we went into the theatre cause they wouldn't allow cameras inside. And no, I didn't even try to sneak one!

It was awesome!!!!

A quick picture at the bar of Dave & Buster's.

Mommy and Daddy

Aunt Shell and Uncle Tim

Trying out the motorcycles of course...there was a picture of Aunt Shell and I trying them out as well, but I'll spare you those!

Basically, there was one King size bed in the room, so someone had to sleep on the floor. Well, Aunt Shell drew the short straw, so this was the arrangement for the evening. Mom had to be in the middle cause both Daddy and Uncle Tim felt a little strange sleeping next to each other. So, they were imitating what it would be like...yeah, looks like fun right!? I'll just say that I thought my husband snoring was bad enough! It was in stereo...I think the floor would have been better!!!!

Chicago - Work Trip

It was Olivia and Daddy time this week. Mommy took the train to Chicago Tuesday morning and did not get home until Thursday evening. Of course, I had to talk to them about 3 times a day, just to check in and make sure everything was okay! And of course, it was! It was Mommy's first train ride, which was actually pretty exciting, but I was really trying to determine if it would be feasible to take Olivia on it?? There if a food car which tables/booths which would be ideal. We could technically sit there the entire way and get her food, etc. She would definitely keeo busy and I think she would really enjoy it. We might just have to do that sometime!!

Our Best Buddies

Aunt Shell and the kids came over to help out today, as Mommy needed to do a little work from home today. So, in order to keep the kids occupied, Aunt Shell was trying to keep everyone engaged in reading.

She had the best intentions of getting naps in too...

...only one of them cooperated! :-)

The rest of the day was spent outside in the sandbox...

...and with the bubbles! I don't know if Olivia is trying to eat them in this picture or what!?

Of course, Kaleigh took control of the bubble, and simply had the other two chase them around the yard. They didn't seem to mind though!

Winston was even getting in on some of the action and loved chasing the kids around!

Play Day

Well worth the money spent on this thing...all the kids love it!

Get it Olivia!

Stopped to hit some croquet...

Sweet Michaela (Kathy's daughter) loves to come to my house, and today we decided she should come to play for a little while. We absolutely should have her over more often as I know she loves to play with Olivia, but I also know she probably needs a break from her as well. With Olivia over at her house all week long, she probably likes having all her toys to herself and not having to share with Olivia. However, she had a ball today and the girls played with the bubbles for quite a while. They both couldn't get close enough to the machine and it was so funny to watch them both try to inch closer than the other one! :-)

We all fall down....

Yee Haw!!!

Such a big girl on the swings..."all by myself Mom!"

Lunch for all the kids...even Dawson and Delaney came over to play.

Ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey. Ashes, ashes.....

...we all fall down!

After our fun day of swimming, we went back to Aunt Shell's and waited for the boys to get home. The kids were playing just as hard as usual and then got to dancing up a storm!

Finally....A Day Off!

They all loved the equipment, although none of them were brave enough to do the slide!

And, Kaleigh was the only one that went under the mushroom!

Time out for snacks!

I am supposed to have every other Friday off, but lately that has simply meant working from home as I have mentioned. However, today, I actually took the day off and took Olivia swimming! We went with Aunt Shell, Aunt Tara and all the kidlets! Tara works at the YMCA, so has access to the pool there. It was so much fun and the kids loved every second of it! Altough of all the kids, Parker was the one that was more hesitant to jump in...he is usually the first one to run and dive in. It didn't take him long though and he was right there in there! After a few hours of swimming, of course there were snacks!! We had a lot of fun and I was glad the work waited...at least for a day! It was definitely there when I returned!

More Swimming Pix

Olivia took right off and was not scared at all of the water! Usually she is the shy one!

She was so brave on all the equipment and had a great time!

This was one of the favorites...they all loved this!

Kaleigh was really the only one that like going under the mushroom!

Parker was trying to spray everyone with the hose...he was so funny...and so ornery!

What a girly girl!

Olivia has been fascinated with her barrettes lately, and likes to line them all up. Usually, she will open them all up and lay them in a perfect traight line on the table, but today she wanted them all in her hair! Such a beautiful girl!!

Such a talented girl!

Our first stick figure of Mommy!

Olivia has really started to enjoy coloring...or her version of coloring anyway! She loves her easel and will draw on any piece of paper laying around. Today was no exception, although this time, you could actually make out what she was drawing for the very first! Now, you have to use your imagination just a little, but she was drawing Mommy! Her very first stick figure of a person...can you see the head, hair, arms and legs!? I realize it's a stretch, but I was able to see it right away and was so proud...she was very proud of herself too!!! :-) Not to mention, the work it took to get it done...she apparently wasn't able to reach the top of the head without a little help!! Don't ask me why she doesn't have any clothes on...other than I was trying to keep them from getting marker all over them! Good job Olivia!

More Father's Day Fun!

Yum, Yum, Yum!

Dancing with Grandpa!

Rob and Jacquie had a cookout tonight to celebrate Father's Day, which was a lot of fun. They had tons of yard games for all ages. Olivia loved the big frisbee and Mommy and Daddy were the bean bag toss champions...that was until we had to leave cause it was past Olivia's bed time! They also had a band play for a little while, which Olivia absolutely couldn't get enough of...and Grandpa happened to be her dance partner for tonight. He was loving it and so was she!!

Happy Father's Day!

I realize I could have taken a shot without Olivia's mouth full, however she wasn't too cooperating today.

Hi Daddy!

Of course when one did it, they all had to do it!

We had quite a busy day today with all the Dad's to visit. Unfortunately, Grandpa Davis was working so we technically didn't get to see him on Father's Day, but did see him for our Wednesday dinner. We did however get to Nana and Paw Paw's to visit for a little while, and then went with Daddy to lunch. It wasn't anything exciting as we just went to McDonald's so Olivia could play for a while. But, it was fun nonetheless, and Daddy seemed to enjoy just being with Miss Olivia!

Where's Daddy?

Watch me Mommy!

She must have thought the one cloud in the sky was really gonna bring it!

Mommy and her Olivia

Both of them seemed quite thrilled to be getting their picture taken as usual.

Nice mouthful mister!

Unfortunately, Daddy had to work all day today, which was no fun considering it was Saturday. However, Mommy and Olivia tried to make the most of it and invited ourselves to lunch with the Erxleben clan. They were going to take the kids to a movie and were planning on doing lunch first, so we thought it would be fun to join them. If you know me at all, I'm never opposed to inviting myself along with anyone! :-) So, off we went to lunch at BWW. We had a good time and then spent the rest of the afternoon outside waiting for Daddy to come home!