day 75-77 of summer

Day #75-77:  Wednesday, August 6 - Friday, August 8

We are in full-on get ready for school mode around here.  Which means let's fit everything that needs to get done in our last free days because it won't get done during the crazy, busy school year.  This includes:  reading the huge stack of kid's magazines that have collected all year long, get as much read aloud time in as possible {it sadly won't happen very much during the year}, me going through junk drawers and school supply drawers in our house and throwing stuff and more stuff away, labeling a thousand school supplies, and all the last minute appointments...

dentist appointments for all 3 {and ALL 3 were cavity free...yippee!}...

this one had his 7 year well child check up {yes, just 5 months behind on that one}...

and haircuts for this one...

and that one.

Whew I think that covers all the bases for now!

What else has been going on?

This boy received mail!  He's now ready for kindergarten with a letter from his teacher and this book, The Night Before Kindergarten, from his principal!  He's so excited to get started!

Aunt Tamarin came over and had dinner with us.  And did a little vegetable shopping in our backyard :).  Who can spot Ryan in the garden?

Then we had one last fun trip for the summer to a splash park.  Lots of fun with our friends!

And of course, "mom & dad" playtime with these too.  This is what they play e v e r y d a y.  Evan is the mom {we'll see how he likes this story later in life ;)} and Ellie is always the baby.  Apparently babies always wear swimsuits because Evan always has his baby put one on?!  Oh and I don't think I have told you about our latest addition to the backyard.  "Ellie's princess house."  We were donated it from Kelsey's backyard...thanks Kelsey!

Only a few days left...

day 70-74 of summer

Day #70-74:  Friday, August 1 - Tuesday, August 5

We are exactly ONE week out from school now...CRAZY!  This summer has flown by and I don't think I am really ready for the boys to go back to school yet...we just haven't had enough time!  Our last summer "getaway" was a little trip to G&G's house!  The kiddos did lots of swimming and we did a little back to school shopping.

A spy a little girl in yellow in the tree house.

Crazy, busy shopping at the Lake of the Ozarks.  We made it in and out alive and Evan is in LOVE with his shoes {that we won't let him wear until school starts}.

A little shopping break.

Swimming...

and swimming at a local water park...

down the slide into the pool...

and diving...

and diving by my two little boy fishes who couldn't stay out of the water.  Evan has mastered diving down and getting his belly on the bottom of the pool and Avery is working on a handstand under water!  They are really good little swimmers now!

Taking a break on the "big phones" when they aren't swimming.

And what did those boys do the morning before we left?  Swim!  If you can spot Ellie she is instead playing in the sandbox on the left...she doesn't really enjoy the cold water like those boys.

And back home, finally, to try to get in a routine before school starts.

day 69 of summer

Day #69:  Thursday, July 31

And it's back to reality time, which means three loads of laundry and unpacking.  

We also fit in a summer movie on the last day they were playing. We watched Pirates:  Band of Misfits.  The kiddos loved it.

Then Ryan had a cookout with some people from his group at work.  The kiddos loved being able to play with friends!

On the way back to our car we spotted two foxes!  This is just a block from our house and I have seen the foxes several times in the area...they must like living in the suburbs.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the one fox is standing on the road by the stop sign.

Now we are off for one more adventure before school starts...to G&G's house the kiddos and I go.

day 68 of summer

Day #68:  Wednesday, July 30

Our last day in Chicago.  We finally made a trip to Michigan Avenue {well we had already driven through it on our way back from the zoo}, but now we were walking and taking in the sights.  It was so busy and not really that fun for kiddos, but I knew on this trip that we HAD to see the one and only Garmin store and I really wanted to go to the American Girl store ;).  So down the Magnificent Mile we went.  

First stop, Millennium Park. 

And "the bean".

The kiddos are like...seriously more walking ;)...well you can see how much walking Ellie's doing at this point!

Finally, there it is the one and only Garmin store.

And there is what Ryan actually makes!  GPS for airplanes...if you couldn't tell what it was.

More walking and we arrived at the American Girl store!  Ellie thought it was pretty neat, but I was the one who really loved it ;).  This was her first experience with American girl dolls since we don't own one YET.  Don't worry my plan is talking her into wanting a doll soon...that's why I love having a little girl...to live childhood dreams through :).

The boys spent some time at the Lego store next to it...smart thinking on placement of stores.  Look it's the STARKS!

Then it was back home for us.

A great trip and lots of fun even with all the walking!  Love making memories!

day 67 of summer

Day #67:  Tuesday, July 29

We had a busy Tuesday in Chicago.  We fit in the Museum of Science & Industry, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Lincoln Park Zoo.  That was A LOT of walking for three little kiddos so by the time we got to the zoo they were pretty much done so we just did a fly through of the zoo right before it closed.  I would totally recommend going to both museums we visited on Tuesday if you have younger kids.  They were both great and had so many hands on things to do!  I can't really give a review of the zoo because my kiddos were DONE by that point and made the trip less then enjoyable through it ;).

On the shuttle bus to the Museum of Science & Industry.

Sometimes those two can be very sweet to each other...holding hands up the escalator.

The robot did a dance for us!

Trying to get the "butterflies" to land on your shoulders.

So much to see... actual airplanes just hanging from the ceiling.

It's very amazing!

The kiddos got to watch a toy top being made for them through a machine assembly line!  You will notice that Evan is missing from the next several pictures...that's because he was having a little bit of a fit because there were three colors to choose from:  green, purple, and orange...of course everyone wanted a different color so I made them choose a # and Avery won with his choice of green...if you know Evan this did not make him very happy.  Oh well, he eventually got over it ;).

Wind tunnel!

Go Ellie go!

The kiddos loved this part the most...a hands on children's area.

Then after our little 2 hour train fiasco ;) we finally made it to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.  Smaller then the other LARGE museums we had just visited, but that made it kind of nice.  Very fun if you have smaller kids.

Butterfly room.

Then a "short" {well the kiddos thought the walk to FOREVER} walk and we were at the zoo.  No one really wanted to walk around at this point.

The bear was sleeping right on the other side of the glass!

Ended the day with more swimming time, but it was COLD...that doesn't seem to phase the boys at all.  Overall, it was a good day, just a lot to see and do!