Navy Pier

A couple of weeks ago our family of four headed to Navy Pier.  I think it is safe to say that we all had a great time!  The Children's Museum there is so fun and even Paige could enjoy herself.

Ready for some fun!





Circus Room!




















 



Firemen's Room!








Construction Room - we built a house!



Paige helped too!









Water Room!






 

 

Painting his name!




Digging for fossils in the Dinosaur Room - Luke's favorite!



After a couple of hours in the museum, we grabbed a table and ate our picnic lunch.  Luke and I were a little freaked out by the pigeons that would come right over to us.  Paige kept dropping food, and I admit I was freaking out and ate with my feet up!  After lunch, we took a walk over to the rides.




Luke has never gone on a ferris wheel and always says he doesn't like them and doesn't want to go on them.  Well, he must have had a change of heart because he really wanted to go on the ferris wheel there so he could see all of the big buildings.  Now, I am not a fan of ferris wheels.  I can do huge, upside down roller coasters, but I have never been a fan of ferris wheels.  But...Luke was insistent that we ALL go on the ride together so I sucked it up and we held on to the kids tight!  And honestly, it wasn't that bad.  We all enjoyed it!















We hit up the carousel together - Paige's first time! 





And Luke rode the lighthouse.  He is getting to be so big and brave!  You could hear his giggles as the ride went up and down.  It was awesome!












After all the fun on the rides, we headed back in to the Children's Museum to explore some more.  (I love that you can go in and out as you please!)  I thought for sure Paige would crash in her stroller for the second half, but this girl doesn't like to miss much and she was out and enjoying herself once again!

The Outdoors Room!










The Town Room!





The Invention Room - Luke was very intrigued by this computer game.  You had to figure out a way to get the monkey to his backpack in the treehouse.



Before we left, we stopped for some ice cream.  Unfortunately, Paige didn't make it.  She finally gave in to her sleepy eyes!  Good thing she doesn't know what she missed because she loves ice cream (and cupcakes and cake and cookies - ha!). 

We thought we would take a stroll along the lake, but it started raining pretty hard.  It was a gloomy overcast day and the rain finally came so we headed home.

It was a super fun family day that ended with the opening ceremony of the Olympics! 

The Weekend

(a lot of phone pictures lately!)

We kicked off our weekend with a Friday morning dentist appointment for Luke.  He went a year ago with me and they just took some pictures of his teeth and looked at them.  Friday marked his first official dentist appointment - a cleaning and fluoride treatment.  Luke made me go back with him, but from that point on, he was great!  He did everything he was asked.  I had to tell him to close his mouth and swallow at one point because he was just leaving it open waiting for the hygenist to keep working.  He did so awesome and was rewarded with a prize and bag full of goodies - toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste.  He wanted to use the floss right away - ha!



Beautiful teeth (and eyes)!


After the dentist, we headed to the bookstore.  It was a chilly, gloomy morning so there is no better place than the bookstore on days like that!  This was Paige's first trip there out of her stroller.  She loved it, but I didn't love cleaning up after her in each section!









Both kids got a new book and shared a sugar cookie - they were happy campers!

After going out for dinner, we played some baseball and golf in the front yard and were joined by some other neighborhood kids - so fun!

Holding hands on the way to t-ball Saturday morning - love these two together :)



Luke's turn to hit and run the bases!






Luke put on a show for us.  I believe this song was called "Monsters Do".  I have no idea what any of the lyrics are!







It was so nice outside on Saturday so we enjoyed dinner on the deck and running around in our pajamas!









Sunday morning we were up bright and early to head to Milwaukee for Miss Kendall Paulsrud's baptism.  Dan blew up this awesome bounce house for the kids - it was a hit!  Paige enjoyed climbing on the picnic table and riding in the back of a toy pick up truck (while in her pretty dress!).  It was great to see everyone though and of course meet Kendall.

We got home about 4:15 and just did some relaxing.  We learned this weekend Paige can blow a whistle!  This is her go-to toy now!








And this is the way Paige wears sunglasses!



The night ended with Daddy being a jungle gym - that is pretty much how every night ends - ha!

My Superhero!

This post is all about Luke!  Paige has been getting her monthly updates on here, but we haven't talked much about her big brother.

Luke is such a little boy right now.  I swear he gets taller everyday!



I know I am bias, but he is seriously so handsome!  He has the biggest, prettiest, sparkliest (not a word, but should be) eyes.  And he knows how to work them!



He is really into superheroes right now.  He wears his cape at least once everyday and almost always has a superhero in hand.  He loves watching the Super Hero Squad on the Hub and reading all about all of the heroes.  Because of his love of superheroes, we made sure to get pictures of him in his cape to remember this moment!  I have a feeling Luke will be a superhero for Halloween.



Luke is full of questions, which I imagine just goes with the age.  I couldn't even count the number of times we here "Why?" in a day.



Bedtime has been a process lately.  It seems that no matter what time bedtime starts, he will lay in his bed for up to an hour and a half at times before he actually falls asleep.  Thank goodness that he stays in his bed and just talks and/or plays, but he is constantly yelling for us to check on him and sometimes I just can't believe that he isn't sleeping yet.  On the flip side, he has been sleeping in a bit some days, which is a change for him. 


Naps are hit and miss.  I am sure this is partly our fault since we haven't been very consistent this summer with making sure he gets one, but I am sure he is also just starting to grow out of them (but then wouldn't you think he would go to sleep earlier....).  He will go up to his room and hang out in his bed reading books and playing for about an hour and then if he doesn't fall asleep, we will let him come back downstairs.



He can still be the sweetest little boy and cuddle up with you to watch a show or movie.  And we have learned that when Luke is watching a movie (especially in the theater) or at a kids show (ie. puppet show), he gives off the impression that he is bored.  He doesn't laugh along or participate like the other kids, but when it is over, he can't stop gabbing about it and can tell you everything that happened.  He just likes to focus I guess - not a bad thing!



Luke is such a daddy's boy!  Daddy is the funniest guy ever!  They can often be found heading to the golf course together in the evenings or taking a dip in the pool.



Speaking of the pool, I am just so proud of Luke this summer.  He has come a LONG way from last year.  He wants to learn to swim too.  Usually after some fun in the pool with a lot of jumping in and playing shark, he wll take off his swimmies and work with us on floating.  It is great to finally feel like we got some good use out of our pool and that he loves it!



We have defnitely had some behavior issues with Luke lately (acting out/talking back).  I think I am going to try to get some behavior jars or chart going.  He needs something and we need to stop rewarding him with new superheroes or special treats when he doesn't really deserve them.  He will be able to work towards something and hopefully that will help all of us!  We always seem to really fall out of routine at the end of summer so hopefully with school starting back up that will help too.



Speaking of school, Luke will be starting 3-year old preschool in September.  He will go on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9-12.  I am really looking forward to it and so is Luke (hopefully he continues to be as excited). 



One of Luke's favorite things to do right now is pick out the letters from his name in anything he sees.  He gets so excited when he sees those letters in other words and on signs.  He recognizes quite a few other letters too.  It is one of those things that I think he knows more than we know he knows - you know?!?!  Some days you can ask him what letters are or to point to certain letters and numbers and he will be on a roll, but then he just moves on to other things. 



Along with preschool, Luke will be starting soccer in the Fall too.  He always talks about soccer and I think he will really enjoy it since t-ball has been kind of boring for him. 



To sum him up, Luke is smart, handsome, a great big brother, funny, kind, caring, stubborn, and the best little boy I know!  We love him to the moon and back again a million times :)