Chicago trip.

As soon as I knew Kevin was going to be working nights for a straight month and a half during this outage at the power plant (the plant shuts down and they even pull in extra workers to do intense maintenance), I decided it would be good for both of us (Kevin and me) if the kids and I left for a week to visit friends, so Kevin could get the rest he needed and the "vacation" would give the kids and I something special to help us pass through these long days. I haven't seen my best friend Angie in a full year, so it was a great opportunity for a lil' road trip and quality time!

It was an 8-hr drive that took us about 10 hours with all the potty stops (for me! haha) But the kids did GREAT for the whole drive, I was amazed! They just sat good for the first hour and a half. Then at a bathroom stop we started a BINGO game that lasted the next 45 minutes or so. Then at the next bathroom stop I got out a short movie for the kids to watch until our lunch picnic at a rest area. After lunch it was naps. Then snack and juice when they woke up and a basket full of library books that lasted us almost all the rest of the way into Chicago area. It was amazingly smooth!!

Angie's two kids are 3 and 1 years old, Caleb and Elliott, plus she's expecting their third child right now too, due early April. Ben was working most of the time, of course, so the kids and we just hung out! We spent part of the week running errands for me, taking advantage of city! And then on Wednesday we took the kids to the Aboretum (or "tree park" as I called it for Eli) for a fun outing. It turns out the whole place is huge! We were going to just start out in the Children's Garden and then go from there, but apparently the children's area alone is big enough for an entire morning! I'm not sure we even got through it all, but we were out of time for the day before naps. What a fun day! These are the highlights, but of course I always still have way too many favorites! I actually have hardly any of my two kids cuz they were always off running around, I'm lucky I didn't lose them! And Elliott was the sweetie that was easiest to photograph since he's the youngest! =)

my silly boy

such a pretty place

my fave of the day, I think

love this one of Caleb

my little girl is growing up way too fast!
Eli's getting a rock for Calebbeautiful colors!

isn't this house adorable!Isn't this slide area awesome?! seriously cuteso these kids really CAN play nice together sometimes!our last thing we had time for was a venture through these bridges. fun! except for the time-to-go part =)Caleb

I forgot how challenging it would be to have three toddlers and a baby together for a week! But it sure was worth it! Thanks for hosting us, Angie and Ben!! Your friendship is a true blessing!

Upgraded

new swings so now we have TWO! Next spring there'll be a third, baby swing where the rings are. And we'll move the rings to the other side of the swing set.

Before.

After. I used some cheap vinyl table cloths to make a tent for the kids underneath the swing set. It probably won't hold up for long against tears, but it'll be fun while it lasts!wow, the kids look great in this pic!

a little something for everyone =)

Labor Day Weekend

Wow, we returned from our weekend back home on Monday and here it's Thursday already! It was such a busy weekend I've still been recovering! But here we go, it's time to share! This is what the weekend looked like:

Friday afternoon--drove home during kids' naptime, Kevin took an hour or two of vacation to leave early
Saturday morning--play date with a friend at the park
Saturday afternoon--visited with Kevin's family and stopped by Grandma's house to chat
Saturday night--Kevin's 10-year high school reunion
Sunday morning--church
Sunday evening--out to dinner and hung out at parent's new house (30min drive each way)
Sunday night--after coming and getting kids in bed we headed out for a late movie. Kevin watched a guy movie with a friend and I brought my mom along to watch a girl movie (Julia/Julie movie) with me!
Monday morning--a friend and her husband stopped by the house to see us while we were in town
Monday late morning--drove to spend a little time with Kevin's family and have lunch
Monday afternoon--drove back home at kids' naptime

Play date fun: Aiden is about 4 months older than Eli, and Anna is a month younger than Hannah so it's fun to get them all together when we're home!

4 horsies + 4 kids = great photo op, except you can imagine how hard it would be to keep all the kids on long enough for a picture! haha!Aiden with another boy that was at the park

the boys were really hard to catch but here's a sweet smile from Aiden

man, I just love Anna's eyes!

of course I had to get a picture of beautiful momma Abbey!

when I outgrew my first bike (way back when!) we gave it to someone in the church who had grandkids. Well, now his grandkids are grown past this stage, so he passed the bike back to my parents to use for whenever our kids are around. How fun is that to see my old banana-seat bike again!It was a fun weekend. My parents live in town so we really love bringing the kids' trikes and bikes for them to ride on the nice sidewalks. That's probably what we did for a good majority of the time at their house!

Our awesome new swing set!!

Check out this new swing set we got for FREE today!! I know friends who happen to know people who know people and end up getting lots of things for free, but we've never been lucky like that. But this time, we are! One of Kevin's coworkers is a single guy who moved into a house that had a swing set at it, and since he doesn't have kids he offered it to us. All summer I've been trying to figure out a way we could get a swing set for the kids so we accepted even though we kind of assumed it might be one of those old rusty metal ones. Turns out to be this nice big wooden one! We might need to buy new attachments (swings n stuff) but that's okay! Look how much fun the kids are already having!

beautiful evening despite the clouds