Independence Day Celebrations

On the 4th of July this year, the Bullough Family invited us and the Henries over for a picnic and then we all went over to the New Berlin Independence Day Parade. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad they included us!

Unfortunately, Natalie did not like the 100 or so Harley Motorcycles that preceded the parade... She never has liked loud noises, and while she probably could have handed a few of them, she was crying and shaking long before the actual parade started. Poor kid! After that, she was hyper-sensitive to everything, and, as a result, spent most of the parade whining and asking to go home. She did finally perk up a little by the end, thankfully! I think next year we'll be "late" on purpose....

Later, we got a call from the Banks Family asking if we wanted to come cook out and go over to the fireworks near their house. (We went to the fireworks with them last year and the kids have talked about it ever since!) The Grips were over, too, although they had to go home and put their crew to bed before the fireworks.

This "Smilebox" only covers the first bit --- my camera stayed home for the second round of festivities....
(This one is another scrapbook, click "play", it will open in another window, use the little round button(s) to pause and/or "turn" the pages)

Pittsburgh Adventures: West View Firestation

My brother Joe's wife, Mary, is from the Pittsburgh area. Her family still lives there, and her dad, Ed Glatz, is a volunteer firefighter. He arranged a tour of the firestation for the (older) kids while we were out there....

(Once again I was home with baby --- many thanks to my Dad for escorting the kids --- and for taking these great photos!)

Note: this "Smilebox" is a postcard-style creation; click play, it will open in a new window, then you can click on individual photos for a close-up)

Pittsburgh Adventures: Going to the Zoo/Aquarium

One of the super-fun activities we like to do in Pittsburgh is going to the Zoo. This time, Grandma & Grandpa and Uncle Joe & Aunt Mary (my brother and his wife) took my three older kids, and Riley, my sister Lisa's oldest. I stayed home with baby Esther, since she and I were both still sick. (Lisa was home with her littler boys, too.) The kids had a blast, of course --- and I confess I'm a little jealous!

(This particular "Smilebox" is a digital scrapbook, click on "play", it will open in another browser window, use the little round button(s) at the bottom of it to "turn" the pages)

Bye, Daddy --- We're going to Grandma's!

We've wanted for a while to go out and visit my parents and sister who live in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, not only does Matt have little vacation time to spend right now, his job keeps sending him to Seattle --- And no way was I going to drive 10+ hours with 4 kids all by myself!
Well, in the meantime, my brother, Joe, and his wife have been wanting to see everybody, too. So, it finally occurred to us that these were highly compatible goals: Joe flew into Chicago, the kids and I drove down to meet him, and we continued on to Pittsburgh together! (There's only so much room in the van, so Joe's wife, Mary, flew out directly to PA.)

We got there just in time for "Mothers' Day", which was way cool. We spent a fair amount of time just hangin' with the grandparents (and often my sister Lisa and her boys), but also had a few fun excursions. (I'm making separate "Smileboxes" for a couple of the fun outings --- the Zoo and the Fire Station)

Anyway, it was all very fun (except baby Esther and I having a cold) and I very much hope to do this (at least once a year) in the future!!!

Thanks Again, Joe!!! (aka "Uncle Funny!")

Mike's 1st "Boy" Birthday (Party, that is)

Well, in our excitement about going to Grandma's, we almost didn't end up throwing a party for Mike. We figured we'd celebrate with the family while we were out in PA.... However, upon contemplating the fact that his sisters had/would have "friend parties", too, we kind of threw one together last minute for him... We decided we'd call it a "train day" and just invite a few kids.

This is the invite I helped Mike make and email (and we printed out a couple for those whose emails we were uncertain of):



I came up with some (good?) ideas about how to make a train cake --- but it was Matt who made it work. Mike was surprised and pleased when he saw it in the morning!
Two of Mike's friends from church, Nathan and Will, along with their little brothers (Eli and Isaac), came and played trains and had lunch. Later, Aunt Jana, and cousin Evie came over, too. The kids enjoyed the cake, played with presents, and generally had a pretty good time.