Take me out to the ballgame

In early September, we headed down to Wrigley field to watch the Cubs play. Luke got to bring his buddy Toby. I think they were in heaven.

First, a stop at McD's for a happy meal.

The train ride, Skokie Swift to the Red line.

As you can see by all the empty seats, it wasn't a busy day at the ball park.


Really, it's all about peanuts, hotdogs & COTTON CANDY. At least for these little guys :)

Lincoln Park Zoo

Just about every summer we make a trip downtown to Lincoln Park Zoo. It's really lovely. It is about the only zoo I can enjoy. I find zoos quite depressing for all the animals. Especially the big cats & other animals that are confined to small spaces with lots of concrete. This zoo is really beautiful. Tons of big shade trees, flowers & not much concrete for the animals to reside on. The movie "Return to Me" was set in the area, it's a favorite of mine.

Our attempt at a family shot (taken by a stranger). Yes, the boys are chowing on soft pretzels.

They had a nice air conditioned kids play area. A climbing area fashioned after a rain forest (or something) Luke had a great time there. Quinn was dying to go up, maybe next year little buddy.

Very fun family outing!

Another trip to the beach...

Last Monday we went to Round Lake Beach for a couple of hours and had a lovely time. Gotta soak up the sun while we can. Quinn was really enjoying the sand. He is such a cutie!

Yes, he was a complete mess by the time we left the beach. This is a great sensory activity (for all my preschool friends :)

A nice shot of all my cute boys! So blessed.

Sporting some new specs....

Since it has been awhile since Luke got his first glasses & his prescription changed a bit we decided it was time for some new ones. I, of course, am way more excited about his new specs than he is. The first day he would have nothing to do with them, you know, change is hard. The second day he was happy as a clam in them. I think he figured out he could see better & they are very light weight. These things are amazing. They are completely flexible, sidebars, nose bridge, pads all plastic. The side bars have no screws to tighten, they actually pop off. Another cool thing about them is that we can change the colors if we get tired of the look (well, me mostly, Luke could care less). They also grow with him. The line is called T2, made by a company in California.

Yes, I took most of these photos while he was watching PBS.

Now he's all aready to go back to school.

Trip to the beach

When my family was here we drove up to Kenosha to the waterfront. There's a nice beach area next to a park on lake michigan. It was well worth the drive. It's always amazing to me to look at Lake Michigan. It really looks like the ocean. Below, me & my sister Sherry. Bet you wouldn't guess we were sisters-ha!!

Luke had the best time playing along the shoreline.


Quinn had a great time with the rubber mallet (we used it to hammer the umbrellas into the sand, we don't typically take tools to the beach with us :)

Brent, Mason & Quinn playing in the sand

All in all it was a lovely day. Especially since Brent took all the children home & let us stop at the outlet mall & go shopping. What a great dad he is!