A Visit from the Bachmans

While in the Chicagoland area, the Bachmans came to hang out with us for the afternoon. Lucas and Megan had a blast hanging out with Jack and Maeve and showing them a local park.

Just Keep Swimming

Lucas and Megan started their swim classes last week. Lucas took some when he was almost a year old, but ... this was pretty much a new experience for both of them. Lucas is in the "big kid" class with his buddy Alicia and another classmate Maya. Megan is in a parent-tot class with Mommy.

Lucas has been learning about "airplane arms" (spread wide) and "stoplight legs" (keep 'em still!)

Mommy has also come to the realization that if Megan wants down (the parent-tot class is in the "deep" end ... 5 ft), it helps to sing about the fish swimming in the water ...
All the little fish are swimming in the water,
swimming in the water,
swimming in the water.
All the little fish are swimming in the water,
bubble, Bubble, SPLASH!


Later this afternoon, the Kluesners came over for a while.

While the kids were cutting the grass and playing mini-cornhole, the parents were being nerds. They were actually trying to figure out why Megan's Birthday Party invitation showed up differently on different devices, but they're still nerds. :)










Alicia was tired enough that she decided she just couldn't make it home until she went to bed. Apparently I just missed her and Lucas actually sharing the bed.

A Party and Some Parks

Yesterday we got to celebrate Morgan's Birthday. The kids had a lot of fun in her new huge backyard and on her new swing set. They also loved the fishy cake that Erin made.

Today we hooked up the trailer to the bike and took a ride to some parks a little farther from the house than we usually get to. Lucas and Megan had fun on the ride and loved being able to check out all the different stuff at the other parks.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Oooo, Ahhh .... Fireworks!

Lake Zurich changed their fireworks night without us realizing it, so we joined the Kluesners at the Schaumburg fireworks instead. Tomi even joined us for a bit before the fireworks (her group was across the street from us).

Lucas didn't recall seeing fireworks (it had been 2 years) and Megan had never seen any. They were a little skeptical when the booming started, but they ended up really liking it. Megan talked about "boom" the entire way home and Lucas said his favorites were the whistling fireworks.

Fun in Cincinnati

Since we had already made our way to Dayton, we figured we might as well finish the trek on to Cincinnati and hang out there for the rest of the week. We had a great week filled with all kinds of family and fun.

We enjoyed a trip to the Newport Aquarium with all the grandparents, Uncle Mike, Aunt Dawn and Kayla. All Lucas wanted to do was see sharks, so he was finally happy when we got to the sharks at the end of the path through the water world. The jellyfish were a big hit as well as petting the starfish and horseshoe crabs. We also had some fun with frogs.


'We got to see some old favorites as well as some new animals at the Cincinnati Zoo. The kids got to feed some goats, pet a hissing cockroach and a wallaby, and see some manatee. The best part was that Lucas and Megan got to enjoy the animals with all of their cousins and lots of other family members. It was unfortunate that Uncle Mike got into a scuffle with an alligator, but Lucas, Kayla & Megan came to his rescue!


'We even crammed in a visit to Cincinnati Children's Museum followed by lunch on the river with Aunt Barb. I'm not sure what part was the biggest hit, but the construction equipment was definitely at the top of the list. Lucas and Megan were reluctant to leave after an hour and a half.


And let's not forget all the time we got to spend with family. One of the kids' favorite activities was playing on the dirt pile in Grandma and Grandpa Suttmann's back yard. Lucas and Megan had great fun catching lightening bugs, celebrating Daddy's birthday and spending lots of time with all their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Congratulations to Tom & Melanie

Tom (Jim's cousin) and Melanie had a beautiful wedding. Lucas and Megan got to meet lots of family that they had never had the opportunity to meet before. After taking some time to warm up at the reception, Lucas and Megan had a blast (and so did everyone else!).

Build-a-Bear

Today we went to Build-a-Bear to celebrate Samantha's 4th birthday. Lucas headed right for a cute puppy, and the monkey was the only animal Megan didn't throw back in the bins. Megan's biggest goal seemed to be trying on the shoes and clothes meant for the animals.