Thanks Rick and Lynn for the great afternoon of friends and yummy food!

Summer Adventures

This summer was filled with many adventures. We went to probably every park in IL (or at least within 45 minutes of our house), revisited favorite places and found a couple new favorites for next summer. Most days we were out and about finding fun things to do. Probably the most fun and personally triumphant trip was our trip to Loyola Beach. I braved the beach (a sad day...the boys said, "Look mommy...the ocean...It was Lake Michigan...we really need to make a trip home so they can see what the ocean looks like. LOL) by myself and I am here writing, so we all survived. The water was really warm and shallow. They all had such a great time. I really had envisioned a much more chaotic trip and it turned out wonderfully.

Little squeeky voice..."I'm okay"

It never fails, every disaster in life happens when you are either making a meal or in the laundry room. It is something in the "Being a Child" handbook that states, "make sure you do things you know you aren't supposed to do while mom is busy."
On this particular day, I was preparing lunch. Callan had gotten home from school (he was in summer school for a month this summer) and he retreated to his room like he normally does to unwind after he gets home. Soon after, I heard a huge THUD!!! I went into the room...happy of course... and said, "What is going on in here! Um...why is the dresser knocked over? Haven't I told you guys not to climb on the dressers...etc...." Then, little wriggling fingers and a little voice from under the dresser squeaks, "I'm okay." Oh yes, minor detail that mom forgot to ask, "Is everyone okay." That was definitely a moment I had to laugh at myself and remind myself that boys will be boys and no matter how much you tell them not to do something, sometimes the lesson learned is much more effective than me harping on a subject...Callan has not climbed on top of the dresser since.