The Beach

These photos are from our summer vacation in August. We took a trip to Holland, MI to visit the beach. Our family loves, loves, loves sunshine and water. It is amazing that we can live in the middle of the country and still have access to some beautiful beaches. It was so beautiful and our kids had the best time..... I can't resist posting a ton of pictures. Indulge me.

There is nothing better in this world than sunset on a beach. Spectacular.

Cute photo... just try to ignore Gavin adjusting himself in the background.

The beach is not the ideal vacation for a crawling baby who eats everything she touches (including sand), but she was a trooper.

We were worried Gavin would be nervous/uncomfortable with the sand, waves and deep water, but he was the first one in!

Staycation Day

A couple of weeks ago one of Matt's coworkers won a free catered lunch from Noodles and Company. Well, if you offer free food, we will come! Matt took a day off and we all headed into the city. We went up to Matt's office to visit the folks at InsidEdge and collect our free lunch. Gavin had a great time trying all the new foods available to him (have I mentioned he's eating Gluten again?). His favorite was the tofu (the child GAGS on any and all vegetables, but loves tofu... go figure!) and he went back again and again for it. It was also the weekend of the Air and Water show so we got to see the Blue Angels practicing outside Matt's window. So fun!

After lunch we took a walk down to Millenium Park. It was about 99 degrees with 99 percent humidity, so it was hot and smelly. We took pictures with the Bean.... what's better on a hot day than posing next to a gigantic reflective surface? We are cruel, cruel parents!

After we started to melt over at the Bean we decided we'd better head over to the fountains to cool off.

The boys had fun splashing, but Ella was terrified of the faces!

We ended the day at the Chicago Children's Museum.

Matt occasionally gets free passes from work and ya'll know we love us some free stuff!

This girl is an angel! It was hot, she skipped all her naps and was ignored most of the day. Never. Complained.

To be honest, we didn't do much this summer.

I just didn't have the energy to drag all four kids around by myself.

This was a great day. I think we were all happy to be out and about.

Who buy'd me that?

Ella loves to know where things came from and who bought them. When she plays with her toys she always asks "Mom, who buy'd me that?" and she always remembers which gifts came from who..... even years down the road.

The other day we were driving through a parking lot that had one of those large donation bins for used clothes or shoes. Sitting outside the bin was a cute plastic doll bed that I thought Ella would love. You can't donate toys in these bins, so I assumed the doll bed was headed for the trash. I made Matt stop so I could pick it up. The kids all thought this was very strange...... I don't usually pull things out of the trash. Gavin thought I was stealing it. I tried to explain the difference to him, but he wasn't sure. Now, whenever Ella plays with this doll bed instead of asking who bought it for her she says "Mom, did you steal this for me?" Oh boy. She never forgets. And no matter how many times I tell her "I DIDN'T STEAL IT!" she still thinks I did. This trash picking could haunt me for years to come. My kids will always remember the doll bed I "stole" for Ella.

Where in the world?

Last night after family night Matt started asking the kids questions. "What do you want to be when you grow up?", "What's your favorite color?", "What's your favorite food?".

He asked each of them (except Ash of course), "If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?".....

Gavin: "Egypt!"

Abe: "Hawaii!"

Ella: "Costco!"

What can I say? The girl loves samples!

Ashlyn, 7 months

Another side effect of our one bathroom for 6 people....

Ashlyn takes her baths in our kitchen sink, in her bumbo because she doesn't sit up well yet.

But, it's cute so I don't really mind. I don't think she does either.

The Summer List

We love Summer!!

In an effort to live it up and enjoy every moment we created our

"Summer List".

A list of all the things we want to fit in before the chill comes back into the air.

It's a tall order, but I think we'll get it done. Wish us luck!

Miss Ella

I feel like Ella hasn't had any blog shout-outs lately, so here is an update on our big girl.

Ella is 3 years old now and her terrible 2's have bled into the troublesome 3's. She is cute for sure, but she is also a true artist when it comes to pushing people's buttons. Especially mine. It is her way of getting attention in this busy house, so I can't really blame her. She is a people person and wants to be in on all the action. Can't stand to be left out of anything.

She has the sweetest little smile.

This is how I see her most of the time..... running past me in a blur.

When I am clocking my hours on the treadmill I am jealous of her ability to run without ever seeming to lose steam.

She's still in love with "Num-nums", her blankie. We have no idea why she calls it that, but she decided that was what it was called when she was about 1 yr old and the name has stuck.

She really knows how to drive me nuts sometimes, but she brings such light and energy to our home. I love her so much!

Walk Now for Autism Speaks

We had a great day celebrating our intelligent, charming, kind, genuine, smart, friendly, handsome, unique and all around wonderful little boy......... who also happens to have Autism.

Fun with Gramma

Loved to death

The other day I was cleaning house in a frenzy and didn't want to stop to entertain the baby. I asked Ella to find some toys for Ashlyn to play with for a minute.....

Ella was pretty proud of herself, Ashlyn stopped crying and it gave me a good laugh, so no harm done I guess!

How old am I?

Gavin started summer school this week. The first day he came home I was quizzing him about school. Did he recognize any old friends? What did they learn? Who was his teacher? We also had this little exchange....

Me: "So is your new teacher young or old?"

Gavin: "She's really young."

Me: "My age or younger?"

Gavin: "About your age."

Me: "So, you think I'm really young? Thank you."

Gavin: "Nevermind, I guess she's old. You are old. Anyway.... she is nice."

Nauvoo

Another fun outing with Gramma West....

We took a trip to Nauvoo.

Gavin still LOVES history, so we thought it would be fun to visit the historical sites.

We learned how they made candles, bread, rope and wool threads.

We visited the beautiful gardens.

The kids played dress-up and pioneer games.

We rode in an ox pulled wagon.

We had a great time and learned a lot!