Fourth of July Weekend - the 4th

We drove back home after the fireworks in Peru Saturday night. My family was coming over to cook out and swim that day. Wally and my dad headed out early that morning to get some golf in before pool time. I only took 2 pictures all day...boo! We had a great time and even got Chloe (my parent's golden retriever to go for her first swim :) I do wish I had my camera for that moment!).

I was off work on the 5th too, but I took no pictures and we didn't really do much. We headed over to Orland Mall where Luke got to run around in the play area, we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings and went to bed early!

Fourth of July Weekend - the 3rd

We had our subdivision 4th of July parade on Saturday. All the kids were on bikes or in wagons and we paraded around the perimeter of the subdivision led by 2 police cars and followed by a firetruck. We always knew there were a lot of kids in the subdivision but when you get them all in one place, it is crazy to see how many there really are.

On our way to the parade - check out our mildly decorated wagon :)

Nala joined us too - she was a little hot!

Luke thought it was pretty cool when she was in the wagon with him.

Most of the crowd

Checking out the firetruck behind him.Here we go!

Towards the end, poor Nala got very tired. She was so nervous with the firetruck sirens going off the whole time. She got worn out pretty quickly.

So Daddy had to hold her - ha!

Laid back on our way back home!

A little bubble time!

After the parade we relaxed for a bit and then headed to Peru for the fireworks. You can see them from Wally's parent's front porch! We had some dinner, did some visiting, and then a pretty good crowd made it's way over to the Zukowski's for the fireworks show.

Watching Grandpa Z. light fireworks.

Minutes before the fireworks started...I don't think he's going to make it....

He lasted only a few minutes...he didn't mind the fireworks at all, but he was pooped!

Fourth of July Weekend - the 2nd

I had a nice 4-day weekend from work so we kicked it off with a little pool day on Friday!

We tried putting this vest on Luke, but he wasn't digging it and it didn't keep him upright in the water anyways.

Taking a break...

Enjoying a Mr. Freeze!

Friday night we headed down to Beecher (a town about 15 minutes from us) to check out their festival and carnival. They have really great fireworks that Wally and I have been to before, but we never walked over to the food, rides, and games!

Luke was stealing all of the flags around the tree...oops!

I think he was mid-pizza bite!

Luke LOVED the slide. He kept saying "again", but it was $3 for us to ride so once was enough - sorry buddy!

Luke lost his shoe when we were sitting down so I had to grab it as we were going!
A little fuzzy, but he was pretty happy when we got to the bottom!

Next up was the carousel! He sat on the horse for about 5 seconds so before the ride even started we were sitting in the car instead.

We played one game - The Mouse Game. I have never seen this game before, but it is like roulette. You put a quarter on a number or row of numbers and they spin the wheel and let a mouse go and whatever number the mouse climbs into is the winner. It seems a little cruel, but we like roulette so we played a few times with the quarters in my purse. We weren't winners :(

We played outside some more when we got home.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had a great fun-filled, family day!!!

A Fun Summer Day

This is what a Saturday looked like a couple of weeks ago and that is what we are planning on today looking like too!!! Just a day of outdoor fun and pool time!

Getting ready to 'jump'!

The basketball hoop was key into getting Luke into the pool. However, he wasn't digging his float, BUT he did LOVE hanging out on the big float :)

Zumba

Last night Jes and I took our first Zumba class. A dance studio in Manteno (where Jes lives) was starting a 5-week class. I was all for signing up. I was looking to add some physical activity into my life and it put me back into a dance studio, which I loved.

The class was fun and a great workout, but I learned that I have no Latin-flavor in my body whatsoever!!! I danced for 18 years and did many different styles, but the hip-shaking and shimmying has never been my forte. The class is only once a week so I am looking forward to next Tuesday. Now, if I can motivate myself to do a little something between now and then, that would be great :)

Fun-Filled Weekend

We had a fun weekend! We arrived in La Salle early afternoon on Friday. Not long after we were home, Wally was off to the golf course. 27 holes and a few drinks later, he returned :) Luke and I did a little bit of running around until my parents and Carly got home from work. Then it was time for some pizza, playing outside, a walk to Twisty for ice cream, a stop at the park on the way home, and a bath before bedtime.

I used to play in this bug when I was little...

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for our family pictures. We met our photographer Emilie (http://www.emiliekarunphotography.com/) in downtown La Salle for some urban shots and then headed to a park for some more pics. Let's just say, family pictures with an 18-month old are quite challenging. I am sure Emilie got some great shots, but it was a bit exhausting. The goal was to not do a lot of posing and have more candid shots, but there has to be some direction and a very active 18-month old doesn't taken direction too well. Emilie is great though and I know we will be very happy!

After the pics, we stopped at the Bagel Shop for some breakfast and stopped at the Zuk's for a visit. Then we were off to the La Salle Pool. I knew Luke would love it there - they have a splash pad area and a fantastic kiddie pool. He was having the best time running around the splash pad and then he pooped...in his swim diaper...and I didn't bring an extra one (mommy fail!)...it was starting to soak through...it was break time at the pool...we had to leave...Luke was very sad...we changed him in the trunk of my car...it was seriously disgusting...I was gagging...swim diapers are hard enough to get off a wet baby...let alone when they are full of A LOT of poop...that was the end of our La Salle pool trip :( At least we know he loves it and can go back again and head to a splash pad by us!

Luke FINALLY went down for a nap after we got back from swimming. I did too :) My mom made dinner and there was more outdoor fun!

Sunday was Mr. Clark Happ's baptism at St. Joseph's Church in Peru. After the mass and baptism we headed to Chris' parents for some food and pool fun. As I have mentioned before, Luke has not been a big fan of our pool this year so I wasn't sure that we would actually swim over there, but it was HOT!!! So we gave it a try and he did awesome! He was a little fishy - maybe it was because there were other kids in the pool - who knows, but he was having fun!

The adorable Mr. Connor Paulsrud!

We finally made the trip back home at about 4:30 and tried to enjoy the little bit of weekend that was left.