On the Move

California bound! Since Mike's work gives him flexibility on where he can live, we decided to move back to CA. For years, Mike and his siblings have been scattered all over the US, but in the past few months, due to work relos and/or grad school 2 more of his siblings have moved back. With us moving here, 4 of the 5 siblings are in one place. We had a great cross-country drive through the southwest to get here (pictures coming of that soon). We miss our Chicago friends dearly, but it's been refreshing to have good time with family. Elijah loves playing with his little cousins too. Time for new adventures!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Best Neighbors Ever

When we moved to Chicago, we had no idea that the best part of it would be the friends we made in our building. During the summertime, we all gather in the courtyard after everyone gets home from work. We get some fresh air and adult time; the kids go hog wild running in a (thankfully) fenced in space. It's also been great during the cold winters. Many a Friday night, instead of sitting around at home, we've gotten together at one of our apartments, ordered pizza and let the kids go crazy. We are so thankful for our good friends!!

Aaron, Ellis, Charlie and Elijah chill out in the courtyard.

After the kids dined on mac and cheese, we ordered Indian and let the kiddos play.

Alexandra's Blessing

Our dear friends, Joyce and Charles, blessed their new baby girl at church. We attended the blessing and spent the rest of the day hanging out. Alexandra is beautiful and we are so happy for her arrival!

Jess, Joyce and baby Alexandra.

Elijah is VERY excited to have a chance to hold the baby!

Holding baby Alexandra very gently.

Halloween 2009

Elijah had a great time being an astronaut this year. As you can see, his costume was a good one for trick-or-treating (hard to lose track of his bright orange suit)! He really got it this time around. And he has become a lover of candy corn, just like his mama.

Meeting up with little friend Vivi while trick-or-treating in Glencoe. Not so sure if these kiddos are very excited about this yet.

Now that's more like it!

Elijah poses on the hay.

Family picture.

Elijah and train engineer Simon ready to go!

As mentioned, Elijah really "got it" this year, including being frightened by scary costumes. For some reason, he was terrified by the people dressed up and handing out candy on this porch (especially the robot). Despite our best encouragement, he stood his ground and WOULD NOT go up to get candy from them!

Grandma Gloria Comes to Visit

We were so happy to have Mike's mom come out for a visit. We enjoyed Chicago as much as we could, despite several days of unseasonably cold and rainy weather. Elijah loves having time with his grandma!

Enjoying our only nice weather day at the Shedd Aquarium.

Incredible to be so close to a beluga whale!

Elijah the penguin goes down the ice slide.

Penguin holding a penguin.

Grandma and Elijah on the sea turtle.

Gayle's Mexico Wedding

Off to Durango, Mexico to see my dear friend Gayle have her beautiful wedding. It really was an amazing trip. Before this I had only been to border and tourist towns in Mexico (Tijuana, Rosarito, Cozumel, etc.), but Durango was very different. A real colonial town. Beautiful architecture! And I think the only Americans there were somehow involved with Gayle and Pat's wedding. Seriously, nobody spoke English. It was awesome.

Daddy and Elijah hold Negro, the chihuahua puppy, in Javier and Violeta's backyard (Pat's aunt and uncle).

We were glad that Negro survived our visit!

Elijah and Gayle walking to the market. What can I say, he loves the girl.

All the guys before going to the market.

Gayle and Pat taking a dance lesson in the courtyard of Pat's grandmother's house.

Oh, wondrous Wallander! Definitely one of the best bakery/cafes I have ever been to. Every single morsel was delicious. I never knew Mexico had so many varieties of pastry. And the cheese! And the homemade bread! Oh, we just ate and ate for 5 days straight.

Gorgeous morning view from Javier and Violeta's house. Architecture very Moorish.

My dear friend Gayle is not a girly girl, but even she had a pedicure before her wedding day!

All the girls after Gayle's mani/pedi.

View of the Cathedral Basilica Menor, where Gayle and Pat were married, from our hotel room. The cathedral bells woke us up every morning bright and early at 7:00. Being as close as we were, there was definitely no sleeping in!

Cutie pie Elijah peeks into our room from the terrace.

Who needs strollers? Exploring Durango by piggyback.

Fabulous parade in Durango.

Butterfly ladies.

Erico and I weren't sure if we were actually going to get all those buttons done!

Jess and beautiful Gayle. Ready to head to the church!! Oh, I'm so happy for my friend!

Gayle and Pat at the start of the reception. Very handsome couple, indeed.

This was nutty. At one point during the reception, all of Pat's cousins grabbed him and hurled him up onto their shoulders. They paraded him around the hall while the band played a funeral march. We thought that was funny enough, and then we noticed that while they walked, they were removing his clothing. They took him into the bathroom, dressed him in a toga and painted his face. Then he had to come out and dance with everyone. Here's Gayle's proud Dad dancing with his new son-in-law. We were all just glad that the cousins at least decided to leave his underwear on. (Apparently they wanted that off too --- lucky for Pat one of his uncles objected so he was at least able to keep his skivvies!!)

Horse show at the tornaboda (day after the wedding party).

Elijah and Daddy watch the horse show.

Old friends are the best!

Elijah with Eric, Angel and Chewy. He played with the two little boys all weekend. Don't know how that worked exactly since he didn't speak any Spanish and they didn't speak any English, but somehow everyone got along very well. Elijah did rename Angel and Chewy though. He referred to them as "Jackson" and "Spencer." Don't have any idea how he came up with that. Funny thing is, they would actually respond when he would call them by his made-up names. I love how kids find friends everywhere they go.

Elijah and Suja. Another friend Elijah made while we were there. Cute little couple.

Daddy on the horse! We tried to get Elijah up there too, but he wouldn't have it.

Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. We booked our return flight with a 7-hour layover in Mexico City. We had a great time seeing a few sights. Much better than sitting at the airport.

Mexico City Cathedral, the largest in all of Latin America.

Aztec temple ruins in the center of the city.

Moneda street.

Inside the National Palace. This place had some CRAZY security. First you had to show your passport, then you went through a metal detector, then they took your picture, then you had to wipe your hands down with sanitizer. Geez. But the view from inside was lovely and definitely worth the trouble.

National Palace.

National Palace.

Congratulations, Gayle and Pat! We were so glad that we were all able to be there to celebrate your marriage! Thanks for letting us be a part of it. We love you guys and wish you every happiness!

A Big Long Trip Back to PA

Before the weather turned, we needed to head back to PA. We had a touching, private ceremony scattering Pop-Pop's ashes. I'm so glad that we were able to be there.

We had a great time visiting both sets of PA grandparents; first Dad and Janice in Pittsburgh, then off to Bucks County (north of Philly) for a few days. All in all, it was 30+ hours of driving in a week. Elijah and I listened to Peter and the Wolf about 15 times!

Getting chummy with Pap Pap.

Visiting the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. This is the actual trolley from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. You can push a button and make it move down the track along a windowsill. I can't seem to find Mr. Roger's on PBS anymore, but the show was a staple of my childhood and I was thrilled that Elijah liked the trolley.

Remember Queen Sarah Saturday & King Friday?

Painting with Pap Pap

Elijah and Pap Pap drive the Mini Cooper. This was a hit!

Two kids work the robot.

Elijah and Grandma Janice

Jim Henson exhibit at the Michener Art Museum. I was so excited to see one of the real Bert and Ernie puppets and whipped out my camera right away...and then noticed all the signs saying PLEASE DO NOT TAKE PICTURES!

Elijah and Grand Debbi in the museum's gift shop.

Josh and aunt Becky.

Peddler's Village Scarecrow Festival!

Really cool dragon scarecrow.

Checking out the Peddler's Village chickens.

As a kid, I loved throwing money into this giant water wheel.

Playing with Madelyn at her 2nd birthday party.

With dear old friends Alise (McCluskey) Christie and Scott Geiger. We were glad to be there to celebrate Madelyn's birthday!

Never complete without a ride on the big tractor with Pappy Pete.

Wow, Elijah drives the lawnmower all by himself!

Fun in the barn!

Elijah at the Wawa. This one's for you, Vera!

Are you ready for the big, long drive back to Chicago? NO, says Elijah!!

Nature Walk at the Swedish American Museum

We have really enjoyed visiting the Swedish American Museum. It's fairly close to where we live. The entire 3rd floor of the museum is for kids. Children can dress up in period clothing from the turn of the century, play in a recreated Swedish farmhouse, row a Viking ship and board an ocean liner bound for America. And if that isn't enough fun, you can stop off at the Swedish Bakery (a few blocks north) afterwards. Yum!

The museum offers a lot of free events throughout the year. We went on a nature walk which was led by someone dressed up as the Swedish character Mulle. The walk was designed for kids ages 2-4, so it was perfect for Elijah and his friend Simon.

Decorating a paper bag for the nature walk.

We're off!

Elijah and Simon wanted to hold hands for much of the walk.

Mulle teaches the kids about determining tree age by the number of rings.

Simon touches the tree bark

Emily and Simon

Box Fun

Charlie was over the other day and we occupied the boys by setting up a wardrobe box. We gave them a stack of (thankfully washable) markers and they went to town!

McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse

We've been meaning to visit this Chicago landmark ever since our arrival two years ago and finally made it a point to get there! You are able to climb up the southwest tower of the Michigan Avenue Bridge. It's 5 stories by the time you get to the top. Along the way are a lot of interesting tidbits and photos about the Chicago River. Besides Elijah being extremely freaked out by the enormous bridge gears, we both enjoyed it!

(As much of a smile the boy could muster - he was almost crying those gears frightened him so much!)

More Zoo Fun

Chicago has two great zoos and we've been able to enjoy both of them. What activity makes little kids happier than a day looking at giraffes, monkeys and hippos!

Sitting on the hippo sculptures at the Lincoln Park Zoo!

Loving the giraffes at the Brookfield Zoo.

Charlie and Elijah in the big kangaroo pouch.

K is for...Zerbert?

Mommy: Elijah, what is that mommy giving to her baby?
Elijah: A zerbert!

What's Wrong with all Those People?

Elijah gets very disturbed when we come to this page in his Curious George book. "Mommy, what's wrong with all those people? Where are the heads!"

St. Louis Jaunt for a Baptism and Blessing

We've known Jeff and Raenell for over 9 years now. They were our first "married" friends - taking us under their wing when we were newly married. What would we have done without them! They are like family to us. We've loved being just a 5 hour drive away from them these past 2 years. What a treat to have a weekend where we could be there for their oldest's baptism (we still vividly remember the day Spencer was born) and their youngest's blessing. We are so fortunate to have these good friends!

Allison's Wedding

I was lucky to be able to travel to Richmond, VA for my beautiful friend Allison's wedding. She and Tim were married in the backyard of their charming new home and it was an absolutely touching ceremony. I love weddings. It's always such a special experience to share in the the celebration. There's always hope in the air. Congratulations, Allison and Tim!

It's Not Sunday!

We have a pretty hard and fast rule in our home that we don't watch TV on Sundays. Elijah gets the idea, but that doesn't mean he doesn't try to find creative ways around it. A few weeks ago he asked to watch a show and this is how the rest of the conversation went:

Elijah: Mommy, I want to watch a show.
Mommy: Sorry sweetie, it's Sunday.
Elijah: No Mommy, it's Tuesday!
Mommy: No, Elijah, it really is Sunday.
Elijah: (slight pause) No Mommy, it's Thursday!

Got to give the kid credit - at least he's learning his days of the week.