It's Summer!

How time flies! It's already been a month since I last posted. I haven't had anything monumental to say I suppose! We've been keeping busy being outside in the nice weather, with the exception of the winds and storms. We've since been to Pat's brother Jimmy's and Rachel's engagement party which was a lot of fun and we learned that Hannah will be a flower girl with Rachel's niece Isabel who is 7. Hannah and Isabel really hit it off at the party and played together the whole time. Jim and Rachel are getting married in October of this year, so it's coming up quickly!

We've been playing outside with the sand and water (sans water) table and learning how to keep the sand IN the sand space instead of on the deck, so that's fun...Hannah got a new scooter the other day, one with 3 wheels so it's easy to balance. We need to get her a helmet yet tho' before we set her free. Josh and Ryan chat at you as if you know what they're trying to say, but it's really cute. We've also been hanging out at our neighbor Brenda's house during the week some days as Hannah and Jenna like to play together and the boys with little Joey. They all played in the sprinkler a couple of weeks ago and Josh had no desire to get out!! Too funny.

Hannah turns 3!

Our little Hannah is 3 years old now. It's hard to believe how fast her little life is going!! We celebrated with a Michigan party in St. Joe on May 3rd for the Lampert side of the family. Hannah chose Strawberry Shortcake as her theme as she and the boys are sooo into Strawberry right now. Too funny! It was fun to have it at mom and dad's cottage for the first time and it seemed to work out great as we just had cake and ice cream. It was fun to see everyone as it had been a while.

The next day we took her and the boys to Brookfield Zoo for the morning. She loves the zoo and it was the first time we'd been this season. It was somewhat cool, but comfortable so it seemed like the animals were out more than usual. It was fun for all!

The following weekend we had a party for Hannah here at our house with Jim, Mary, Jimmy, and Rachel. We grilled and I made a chocolate cake for the birthday girl. It was the first time we saw Jim and Rachel since they got engaged too! Congrats! Han got stocked up on princess gear, Strawberry Shortcake stuff, and a sand and water table (which needless to say she and the boys all LOVE).

Library Firsts

Today was a little stormy and rainy, so we went to our local library for the first time. They have a Friday drop-in storytime that I've wanted to try for a while so we went to that first. Hannah did great after she warmed up a bit to the group of moms and kids, Ryan sat in the stroller happy as can be, and Josh wanted to sit with me about 2 minutes into the half hour. We hung in there for almost the whole time where they sang, read, and danced. We just had to leave with about 5 minutes to go as Joshy was unleashing "the siren."

After storytime, we went to the children's section of the library and we got Hannah's first library card and she checked out 5 books to get her started. We've already read them all numerous times, so we'll probably back for more very soon.

Our park district is connected to our library, so we walked around there to check it out too and signed up for online access to register for classes. What a productive day!

Odyssey Cruise

This past Saturday Pat and I got to go on the Odyssey dinner cruise that docks at Navy Pier for Pat's Pepperidge Farm manager and spouses outing. Jim and Mary graciously watched Hannah, Josh, and Ryan for us at our house. The evening was foggy at first so we thought we wouldn't have much of a view from the ship, but it cleared up nicely so we could see the skyline. The view from the top of the ship was soo cool. The food was delicious, so much that I couldn't even eat it all (it happens). The caramel pecan cheesecake was sooooo creamy and decadent! The cruise was 7:30pm-10:30pm, hope Pepperidge does it again!

Hilton Head

We're back from Hilton Head...we made it through and had fun. We had great weather, played at the beach, visited with family, and ate at our favorite restaurants like Wild Wing, Sea Shack, and Cheeburger Cheeburger. Had the best keylime pie with blueberry sauce-yummmm!

Ryan earned the name "Sandman" and you'll see why in one of the pics I post. He couldn't get enough of the sand! Josh started walking at the beach, and Hannah discovered the joy of being buried in the sand and building sandcastles too.


Pat and I got to go out to eat by ourselves one night to Sea Shack courtesy of mom and dad-THANK YOU! We had awesome seafood and sweet tea!

We survived the drive and we'll do it again! Until next year...

Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend with family. Saturday we had Jim, Mary, and Jimmy over for dinner. Rachel couldn't come because she was sick-we missed her. Namma and Dapa brought Easter baskets for all the kids and so did Jimmy. They are some lucky kiddies! We all had a nice time visiting.


On Sunday morning we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids downstairs in the basement since it was cold out and then we gave them some little gifts. Hannah and I went to church at Ginger Creek and she was very good. For the rest of the day we just did our usual naps and play. It was a very nice weekend.

Signing Joshy

I just thought this pic was cute featuring Josh using sign language for "more." He uses it ALL the time now. All the kids use it for more milk, and Josh actually signs "eat" now too. He knows his priorities!