Fun at the Park and Weekend Wrap-Up

Wally headed off to his last baseball game of the season on Saturday morning and Luke and I walked down to a garage sale going on at the end of our block. There was a sit-n-stand stroller for sale so I wanted to check it out. If it was a good price, it was mine. Unfortunately, it was $85 and not in the best shape - no thanks!

So now it is 8:15 AM and it was already a beautiful day - off to the park we went. Luke wanted to ride his scooter there. I knew he wouldn't last the whole way, but I thought we could give it a try. He made it to the end of our block and then the next block is downhill so I had him stand on the scooter and he coasted down the block with my help. And then I pretty much dragged the scooter the rest of the way - ha!







We finally made it to the park, had some fun, and were back home before 9:30 AM.















He said he was pushing his baby sister!










Grandma & Grandpa Z. stopped by for a short visit Saturday afternoon and then we headed to church and ordered in pizza.

Sunday was Daddy and Lukey day! I headed to Orland to meet my mom, sister, and aunt to do some shopping for the Little Miss. And let me tell you - this little girl has quite the wardrobe started :)



Wally and Luke went golfing and per Wally, Luke did great. They went to Wally's "home" course and played 9 holes. Wally said Luke LOVED riding in the golf cart and then he was able to putt on every hole and hold the flag. I think his favorite part of the day though was hitting a ball in the water. He is still talking about it! Unfortunately, Wally didn't take one single picture, not even on his phone :( When I got home though, Luke was napping and he was looking just like his Daddy in his khaki cargo shorts and red striped polo shirt - so cute!!! He can't wait to golf with Papa and Grandpa too!

Friday Fun

After 2 Friday's in a row of going in to the office for work, I finally felt "caught up" enough to work from home. I sit at the kitchen table working on the laptop and Luke is playing away throughout the house (nice to have an open floor plan!). I check on him and he checks on me. He says, "Mommy still working?"

As I was opening the windows Friday morning, Luke squealed with delight and did a little dance, "It nice out - let's go swimming!". Unfortunately, our pool isn't open yet and it wasn't quite that warm out yet, but I decided to bring the laptop outside so he could run around for a bit and then we had a picnic lunch!

Mr. Cool


Mr. Cheese




Finally, the work day was over and we were off to enjoy the beautiful weather at Wally's game. This time we were a little more prepared. Glove - check! Ball - check!





The team always huddles up when they come off the field. Luke loves it when they say "1, 2, 3 - Bolts!" He can't wait to be part of the huddle!


Luke thought it was pretty funny to throw grass on the blanket - this kept him occupied for a good while!








Taking full advantage of Luke sitting on my lap (what little lap there is for him to sit on of course!).




Luke found some dirt and a stick and was enjoying himself! Oh, and that dog behind Luke, his name is Chubs (love it!) and he is (only) 2 1/2. Luke (and I) loved him. He was the sweetest dog and just roamed around so everyone could pet him. He especially liked climbing the bleachers. His owner told us that he even goes down the slide at parks! Luke got to give him lots of treats!


The game was over and Luke got to climb under the fence to hang with Daddy while they packed up.






And then....he got to be part of the huddle! He decided that they should say "Go Bolts!" so they did! (See part of his blue coat and hat there in the middle!)


Then it was time to give "knucks" to the boys! He was in heaven!


It definitely was a fun Friday!

Things that made me smile this week...

The little boy who INSISTED on wearing his rain boots when the sun was shining and there were no puddles to be found.




A little boy flying his helicopter


and then being an airplane himself!


One's determination.


These two!




Mommy's lawn boy.






Who needs stairs!




Deciding last minute after work to take Luke to Wally's baseball game. I didn't have anything but a blanket for us to sit on, but we had so much fun especially at the ice cream stop that followed the game!

This combination of pictures on my refrigerator :)


And this 32w3d belly with a little girl whose moves have been known to take my breath away these days!

Musikgarten Recital

For the past 8 weeks or so, Luke has been attending Musikgarten class on Tuesday nights. He has really loved it and so have I. I was a little leary about signing up at first since the class was across the street from where I work, but didn't start until 7:10 PM (it was a pajama class). I wasn't sure how I would feel about driving back and forth that much in one day or how Luke would do with a class that late. But now I am really glad we signed up and made the effort to attend every week. We both had fun (and even Daddy got to attend 3 of the classes because of rainouts)!

So this past Saturday was the end of year recital. I am pretty sure Luke had the biggest crowd there! There were 7 family members (Grandma, Great Grandma Z., Gigi Hylla, Grammy, Papa, Aunt Kathy, and Aunt Carly) in attendance who all traveled and hour and a half to watch Luke for 4 minutes :) We are very thankful that they came!

I wasn't sure how Luke would do his first time on stage, but he seemed to love it and I wish he could have gotten to perform even longer. I was so proud of him!!!

Here is the 4 minute video for those of you that care to watch :) If you listen closely, when we are singing in the circle, you can hear Luke yell out "Look at me Papa, Papa look at me!" It was so funny!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mother's Day 2011...

was a day I will ALWAYS remember! Not just because it was Mother's Day AND my birthday (the first time that has happened since I've been a mom, but not the last!), but because we just had a really, really great day and it reminded me to stop and smell the roses (or tulips) more often!



We took Luke on his very first train ride into the city! I think I was more excited than he was at first. We drive by the Metra station everyday, and we always talk about taking the train to "A-Cago" to see the big buildings (which he knows from his Chicago book - thanks Linds!) so we were finally doing it and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day as far as weather goes! Luke's been to the city many times before, but we've never been walking downtown surrounded by the big buildings!

Being it was a weekend, the train wasn't an express so there were a lot of stops in between ours and Millenium Station. I was a little concerned that Luke would love it for a bit and then after so many stops, he would want to get off, but as always, he completely surprised me and loved every second of it! He thought he was the conductor - he kept saying "tickets please! C'mon people! All aboard!".





We didn't really have a plan for the day once we got to the City other than to just hang out at Millenium Park. Our train comes into Millenium Station so all we have to do is walk across the street to the Park. We brought a blanket to lay on, a kite to fly (which we ended up not being able to fly since the Windy City wasn't so windy that day which was actually perfect!), and Luke's baseball glove and ball.

As soon as we walked out of the station, Luke said (in the deep voice he uses when he gets excited), "Dook Daddy! Big buildings!" It was great!



Then of course, we had to take a picture with this bull in front of the Cultural Center since Luke loves bull riding!



The flowers are just gorgeous at Millenium Park and while I could have forced Luke to sit there forever with me to get the "perfect" picture, I decided to get what I could with one or two shots and move on. This day was going to be remembered forever - pictures or not! There was no need to make a 2-year old who was dying to go see the fountain sit for pictures with flowers!

So these are what I got!



I guess we both weren't ready!


On to the fountains - Luke threw every penny I had in my wallet into this fountain! There was one little duck swimming in there which Luke thought was hilarious!







It was a warm day and how could I ever deny Luke the chance to splash around in the water.



Wally asked me what we were going to do, and I said, "We will take off his socks and shoes, roll up his jeans, and let him go!"









His jeans were getting really, really wet, but I figured we would deal with it, and then, in true Luke fashion, he fell, face first and was SOAKED! All I could do was laugh! Luke wasn't thrilled about it at first and kept saying "I want to take my shirt off", but then he went right back in and of course fell again!


My favorite picture of the day!


When he was all done playing in the water, Wally was like what are we supposed to do now? He couldn't stay in those wet clothes all day SO we walked a couple of blocks to Old Navy and got Luke a new outfit (underwear and all)! The cashier was laughing and knew exactly what happened (apparently parents come in with wet children quite often!). It was so funny because it was as if Wally and I switched roles for the day, usually I am the worrier and stressing and he is carefree and fun, but on this day, I didn't have a care in the world! We learned our lesson (and here is a PSA for all other parents out there): Always bring an extra set of clothes when going to Millenium Park!

We headed back to the park and of course had to take some pictures at "The Bean".

See us there in the middle!




Next, we decided to stroll over to Buckingham Fountain at Grant Park. We knew Luke would LOVE this fountain, but wouldn't you know, he fell asleep on the walk over. We tried to wake him up to see it, but he wasn't moving. So we found some grass and rested!









Luke was still pretty sleepy when it was time to head back to the train station to catch the train so he still didn't really get to see Buckingham Fountain - I guess this means we will just have to go back again!

We picked up some ice cream cones for the train ride home and once again, Luke did awesome! He is still talking about it everyday when we drive by the trains.

It was a day to never forget!

And of course Happy Mother's Day to the best mom and mother-in-law around :)

(Oh and my present - a Kindle - which I am absolutely LOVING!!!)