Claire

This kid:

Laughs all the time

Loves to roll

Has huge, sparkly blue eyes

Has been sleeping like a champ since she was five weeks old

Loves to give Mom and Dad kisses

Can't get enough of her siblings

Still has no teeth

Loves to jump

Makes me fall even more in love with her every single day

Water Babies

Dad's Wedding: Part Third (Photo Overload)

 For our final stop in Galena we drove about twenty minutes further into nowhere and ended up at one of the most beautiful bed and breakfasts I have ever seen - with one of the most delicious dinners I have ever eaten.   

Our home for the evening

We started off by taking a really odd photo

Then my little brother Johnny decided to be coy

My twin brother, Dan, braved the river first

I decided to go second.  Shocking everyone with my jump from standing position

There may or may not have been an incident at some point on the hike

Rob and I in front of our cottage

Our bedroom

The largest (and most awkwardly placed) chairs I've ever seen

See what I mean? Talk about an intimate conversation

Monster Sized Tub

Inside Dan and Marissa's Cottage

More relaxing in the cottages

My dad and his new bride 

My husband and his old bride

Derek and Sarah excited for dinner

Sitting down for a seven course family dinner

The third course: Maple Glazed Salmon on French toast with Pineapple.  It was to DIE for!  

Dan tickled the ivories for some post-dinner entertainment 

Then we all bonded in the parlor 

It was one of those weekends that I'll remember for a long, long time.  Family, food and fun.  Thanks, Dad, for letting us be a part of such a wonderful weekend.

Wedding: Part Deux

As I mentioned before, the weekend was host to some sort of Boy-Scout-Jamboree (is that the correct word?  I'm not up to date on my scout lingo).  So early Saturday morning scouts from all over just started coming out of the woodwork.  The city was CRAWLING with tan shirts and backwards ascots with gold ties (again...at a loss for the correct term) until about 1pm, when they put on a parade.  Five thousand scouts walked main street, then vanished.

Saturday night my Dad and Bonnie were married in the historic hotel we were staying at.  They did a lovely job with decorations and details.

Bonnie walking down the aisle

My dad and his best man, Rick

My dad's solo.  Okay, I have no idea what he's doing.  But he wasn't singing.....yet.

Happy Bonnie

 After the wedding, we had a ridiculous amount of delicious food.  Then in (insert maiden name here) family tradition, we hit the dance floor and bedazzled all the guests with our awesome moves.  We are like the dancing equivalent of the Von Trapp family singers.  World renowned, I tell you.

We boogied

We polkaed (it was almost scary how quickly my dad and his brother jumped into this - I mean, who led?)

Then I pretended to Polka (it's a family thing)

It appears as though we may have even raised the roof a little.  

A couple of fun mid-reception surprises were 1.  When the band stopped rocking, and played "Take me out to the ball game" as Portillo's hot dogs were rolled in.  (Portillo's is the restaurant of choice amongst our family - so this was a real home-town treat)

2.  When my dad went up to the stage, plugged in his guitar, and sang "Beginnings" by Chicago while rocking with the band.  So impressive, Dad!

My dad, the rock star

It was a great wedding.  We were so glad to be a part of it.  But it didn't end there - tune in tomorrow for Wedding: Part Third.  Hmm.  When I typed that, it was an accident - but I think we'll leave it like that.  Wedding: Part Third, it is.

Dad's Wedding - Part 1

(I started this post about three weeks ago - but never finished it. I knew it was going to be a couple of long posts, so I kept putting it off. Now I can use my post-a-day to finish writing about my Dad's wedding.  No, that's not cheating.  I don't care what you say...this is my blog - I make the rules!)

Last month Rob and I ran off for a weekend in Galena, IL for my dad's wedding.  It was a quick trip to a tiny little town in the middle of the 1800s  nowhere.  It ended up being a historic little town in western IL filled with old buildings, famous landmarks, shopping, and on this particular weekend - five thousand boy scouts (I kid you not).

It is the kind of town where people dressed like this, walking the streets, is totally normal:

Some more of the old buildings:

Galena's Oldest Building

Fire House and Rob who didn't think he was in the shot.  Surprise!   (The staircase in the background actually is the Stairway to Heaven. It just keeps going, and going.  Imagine our surprise after climbing three billion plus stairs only to be sent back to earth.)

The High School

We spent the first two nights in a historic hotel where all the rooms are named after someone famous who stayed in that room.  Our room was the Susan B. Anthony room.  I wish I had snapped some pics of the inside of our first hotel - but, alas, I forgot.  I'll continue tomorrow with more of the wedding weekend.  

Summer Breeze

We finally hit the upper 70's today.  I can't believe it has taken me until June to be able to say that.  Perhaps it's my Midwest upbringing, but I'm a firm believer that May should be warm, June, July and August hot, and then there should be an immediate cool down come October 1st. (September is just a wash, I suppose!)

Here's how we celebrated the warm weather:

Grilled chicken, salad, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes

All in the comfort of our patio furniture (yes, we're a group of messy eaters)

Then we hammock-ed a bit (brushing hair was optional)

 Even though it's one of the first warm days we've had, somehow Madelyn already has a glorious tan.  What's that about? I won't even come close to this tan until it's time for the pants to be broken out again.  And in this scenario we are keeping tan and sunburned on the same level. 

Happy summer, friends! 

A few weeks ago my life began.  It was a moment that I had been dreaming of for years and years.  My kids had their first T-ball game.  I know all of you parents out there dream of what your kids will be when they grow up, etc. Not me.  My kids have pretty much accomplished all I've ever hoped they would.  Well done Maddie and Jude - thank you for setting such a great example for your younger siblings.

T-ball (well, baseball in general) is quite possibly the reason I even wanted to have kids to begin with.  Falling head over heels in love with them was totally an added bonus, but seriously....T-ball.  My heart raced as I got to watch ten kids run after one ball.  I squealed with delight after every unaimed overthrow.  How many times can one kid swing without ever making contact with the ball?  Not nearly enough.

This is heaven people.  To top it all off, my husband is the coach of the Hotdogs.

Join me as I reminisce about last week's game:

Jude swings the bat - totally backwards

Maddie runs the bases so quickly that her hat falls off

Jude takes a moment to clean out his nose

Eight kids chase hopelessly after the ball.  (The girl with her legs out wins)

Saturday mornings have never been so glorious!