Vacation

Sweet Home Chicago

We arrived here in Chicago a little over a week ago for our little vacation before Brandon starts school back up on July 6th.

Brandon finished his boards on June 17th and we left the next day.

(By the way, he said his test went really well but we won't find out his score for another few weeks.)

Yay for grandma's house. There's lots of fun things to do here and we have been having tons of fun.

Here Brayden is with my dad and her cousin Brooke.

My oldest brother was visiting as well with his family. They drove down from Kentucky to close on a house and then had to drive back. He graduated from his Orthodontic residency today and they're moving out here by the end of next week.

(Brayden, Lauren holding Kaleb, and Chelsea)

We ate lunch at "Two Toots" which is a fun little restaurant right next to the train in downtown Glen Ellen. Kids love this restaurant because there is a little toy train that brings you your food. Brayden is riding the mechanical horsie that was in the restaurant. Here are the girls outside the restaurant. Here is big cousin Brooke holding Kaleb. Brayden and Brooke loved playing with their older "cool" cousin, Carter. They chased him around so much that he had to hide from them.

Lake Holiday

This is Kaleb's first time to Lake Holiday.

Last time we were there was two years ago when it was Brayden's first time.

Brayden was able to enjoy it much more this time of course.

Brandon took her out in the water but it was bit cold so she preferred to stay in the sand.

She played in the sand almost the whole day, picking it up and throwing it in the water.

And Brandon watched her from the water.

She hadn't had a nap the whole day and by the time Brandon got her on a raft again she nearly fell asleep on it.

She was a little apprehensive about a boat ride and almost opted out, but once all her cousins started piling in she decided to brave it out. As long as Brandon held her really tight she was okay. She ended up really enjoying it.

Another Baseball Game

After our day at the lake we headed out to the Kane County Cougars baseball game that evening.

Two baseball games for us in one week!

One of the oral surgeons that my dad refers to hosted a dinner for all the dentists, their families, and staff before the game.

Because of a HUGE storm we had the night before in which that game was canceled, the night we went was turned into a double header.

We had to leave before the second game even started.

It was a long day and had to get the kids to bed.

Cousins

On Father's Day we had dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's house.

Brayden, Booke, and Natalie had a lot of fun playing together.

We went out back and attempted to take a family picture. Luckily it didn't take much work and we got something that turned out pretty decent.

This is me with my sisters, Dayna and Debbie. We all had boys within this last year, Kaleb being the youngest (but just as big).

(Drew 14 mo., Blake 10 mo., Kaleb 3 mo.)

My mom bought the boys these matching hats and wanted a picture with them wearing theirs.

Kaleb wouldn't cooperate. He did not like having it on his head...but he was getting hungry too.

(Randy, Ryan, Brandon)

He managed to make it through one more picture though with all the dads.

They all look like they could be brothers.

A Trip to the Dentist

(of course)

Brandon and I got our teeth cleaned as well as got our NTI's adjusted.

Brayden was such a good girl and allowed "Darla" (her new found friend) to clean her teeth. Brayden has been in the chair before just to "test" it out, but this was her very first teeth cleaning. I don't think she would have done this good if I were to clean her teeth.

She opened really wide.

And let Darla "count" her teeth.

She wasn't even afraid to close her mouth on Mr. Slurpy.

And then she tasted the cool grape "toothpaste" and let Darla "tickle" her teeth.

She still talks about Darla. Now when I need to brush her teeth I remind her how good she was for Darla and then she gladly complys.

An Evening Swim

We had such a nice evening at the community pool.

It was so nice because the crowds had already left and because it was the evening it was the perfect temperature.

The water was warm so Kaleb didn't mind it one bit.

I wish I could capture his blue eyes a little bit better. With all this blue around him they were really standing out.

I love my little chub.

Back to the Lake

We had only planned our visit here in Chicago to be one week long...but as our week was coming to a close we realized it was much too short so we lengthened our trip another week.

The first thing we did....

back to the lake.

The water had really warmed up so Brayden enjoyed playing in it this time around.

There were little fishes swimming all around the shore. Not sure what they were but Brooke and Brayden really were trying hard to catch them.

Well, Brandon made it easy for them after he caught a couple and put them in a bucket.

The girls then took turns scooping them up with this kitchen ladle.

Kaleb happily chilled in his pack n play.

I have a picture of Brayden at this age doing the same thing...chillin at the lake for the first time and smiling at the camera. I want to do a side by side to see how much they look alike but I'll have to do that once I get back home.

My uncle had just picked some wild rasberries at his nearby farm and brought them over for us to eat.

Brayden enjoyed them...

A LOT!

On this day...

she managed to get that nap in.

I think we're wearing her out...but we're having a lot of fun.

We're going back out to the lake tomorrow.

Happy Birthday today to my mother who seriously is Super Grandma! This picture tells it all I think. (I don't know how much she'll appreciate me posting it.) She is one of the most creative, thoughtful, selfless, giving, serving, hardworking, and fun mothers/grandmothers out there. Everything she does is for her family and she barely gets a break, but her family is her joy.

Thank you, mom.

Hope you had a happy birthday.