Halloween

We had a beautiful Halloween this year...as the Halloween holiday goes. Let's just say we had incredible weather and Rhea didn't freeze to death in her pink fairy costume. I was a pirate, and we even got ol' dad in the groove, going out in style as a priest. We left the bible at home, thinking that would be a little much since our neighbors already think we're weird. Sorry, no pictures of us since we got preoccupied with the little ones...

Christmas

It was a Merry Christmas indeed!!!  The house was decorated and the excitment of our two darling children made this once again, the best Christmas ever.  We enjoyed all of our usual traditions of finishing all the decorations by Thanksgiving day so we could enjoy the lights, trees and Christmas houses for the entire holiday season.  Stephen and Rhea made their usual Christmas gift bags for the family and eagerly awaited their big Christmas morning.  I think it's obvious that they had a GREAT Christmas and concluded with their usual "crash" by 5pm....

Stephen's Birthday

My baby is 7 years old today! How did that happen!?! Stephen had a GREAT day today at his Lego birthday party. Lego hasn't gotten around to making party decorations, so I improvised this one. He was happy, so that's all that matters!!

Stephen's Karate Promotion

Stephen's orange belt has been a long time coming, so we are very proud of him and celebrated with a large scoop of ice cream!!

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Fall Fun

The apples are finally ripe and the kids are ready to go. We went back to our favorite orchard near NIU. The first stop is to always partake of a few apple doughnuts followed by an iced apple cider to wash everything down. For a family that eats as healthy as we do, we consider this living on the edge. Really....

It was then off to the orchard and to play. The kids did a great job this year of actually taking time to pose for pictures. Here are the videos with pictures soon to follow.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Our next stop was to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Yep, you read that sign right. There wasn't really a sign that said not to climb the trees, but there should have been for children like Rhea that have been climbing anything since she was six months old. We enjoyed beautiful weather at the zoo and witnessed how cranky a tiger can be at feeding time. It could have been a little warmer since our next destination was just across Lake Shore Drive to the beach, but we all survived.

Sport's Zone

Our next stop on the big family visit was to Sport's Zone.  We had a great lunch at Cantigny and were ready again for some fun.  The first stop was go-cart racing.  I was driving Rhea, so you'll be happy that I didn't take any pictures while driving.  Uncle Dennis lapped me twice, but he didn't have a four year old with him either.  At least that was my excuse.  It was then onto the batting cages for the boys.  Everyone managed to get their fingers smacked by a ball, but all survived and had a great time!  Next up was a round of miniature golf.  Ryan, Stephen, and Rhea pretty much had their own rules.  At times, they were all putting the same hole at the same time while running circles around each other.  Rhea would frequently give up and just throw her ball in and call it a success!  I think this is the first time she actually "played" all 18 holes and even did a few over again while she was waiting for everyone to keep up.  I don't think we actually kept score, but my guess would be that either Alex or Aunt Carla won.  We were very hungry by the time the game was over, so it was off for pizza at Maciano's!!