Family Reunion Trip

We made our way down to Santa Claus, Indiana at the end of July for Mark's dad's family reunion. Lucky enough for us, it was very close to where my parents live and we were able to stay there and sneak in a visit. I almost peed my pants when Annie and Sam came out of a hide-n-seek spot wearing my mom's old wigs. Seriously- that is FUNNY!

On the Friday of our trip we made our way out to Morengo Caves, which is a 30 minute drive from my parents. It was awesome! It was 52 degrees in the caves and we had a 40 minute tour. Learning about stalagmites and stalactites. The highlight of the tour for me was when they turned off all the electric lights and we were really in total darkness. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Amazing!

On Saturday we met other parts of the family and headed off to Holiday World Amusement Park. This park is the cleanest and the friendliest amusement park I have even been too. It was pretty hot on this day, so we spent the afternoon in the water park aspect to cool off! We couldn't stay too late thought because all of the family was meeting for dinner.

So here is 50 of the I don't know how many relatives there really are on my father in law's side of the family. It was a great weekend trip. I really enjoyed getting to know Mark's extended side of the family and Annie and Sam really had fun getting to know their second and third cousins!

Summer's Half-way Over!

Not quite sure how the middle of July came so fast! But here we are. Six weeks from now I will be writing a sappy post about how my kids are back in school- Sam starting kindergarten and Annie second grade. So here is a very quick sum of the past 6 weeks. Mark ran the Soldier Field 10 miler memorial day weekend, the kids ran the 50 yard dash (although they tell everyone it was a marathon!). We had a great time!

Mark's Grandma celebrated her 90th birthday on June 29th. Here we all are at a delicious polish restaurant in Brookfield. We had a good time. Notice Sam's wet pee mark in his shorts. I can't wait to use this picture again when he is 18! HA!

The kids are going to camp three days a week (on the days I work) and loving it!

They come home exhausted and ravenous, but happy. Everyday they say camp is awesome ("not great mom, AWESOME!") We haven't done as many trips to the zoo as I would have thought by now, only one actually. But we have visited Nana (auntie Meg) and are taking care of Annie's school garden once a week. All winter long I have looked forward to the lazy days of summer and now I am here frantically stepping on the brake trying to slow down summer. Oh well.

Sam lost his first tooth 2 weeks ago. He lost the other bottom one this morning while Mark was brushing his teeth. I cannot believe how big he is growing. I swear he grew from a toddler to a 5 1/2 year old boy overnight. He even has a little girlfriend at camp named Ava. He seems to have a thing for blondes. hmph. ;)

My newest angel

This is my friend, Lisa. She is 6 months older than I am. She got married a year after Mark and I did. Her oldest boys are the same ages as Annie and Sam. We met for breakfasts early on Saturday mornings and would laugh and share our souls over coffee. We would meet with our kids in tow to Chuck E. Cheese throughout the year, collecting tickets and coins and smiling over how good the pizza actually is.

She is a kindred spirit. One of the few friends I have met as an adult that is as awesome as my girlfriends in high school. We shared stories about our kids. We shared tales about our husbands. We shared our thoughts on God and often gave each other prayer requests. I had always known that Lisa would be a lifelong friend.

Lisa passed away on Friday afternoon.

She had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer when she was nursing her youngest son. I had hoped and prayed she would still be with us for at least a couple more years. God had other plans.

Lisa was a fighter. Even in her last weeks she brought peace and serenity to those who came to see her. She never believed that cancer would win.

As you read this, please say a prayer for her family.

As for me, I am struggling to say good bye.

In denial that our Saturday breakfasts and Chuck E Cheese days are over.

But also feeling blessed that I have a personal angel watching over me.

Rest in peace, Lisa.

Give Jesus a big hug for me.

I will miss you dearly.

Weekend with Kathy and Gabe

A couple weekends ago in May, we got to have Kathy and Gabe sleepover since Kim and Kaylee had a lock-in at Kaylee's school. Kim and I met at California Pizza Kitchen in Oak Brook (yummy Baja Fish Taco by the way!). The cousins were very excited to see each other! We started out the weekend by giving Kathy her 7 year old birthday present- a snow cone maker. We of course needed to freeze the ice container right away so we could try out the gift before the night ended!

Our kids love when we have a fire in the back yard. I think because it brings all of the neighbors over to socialize at our house and the kids (like their parents) love to host a good party! So, it was a perfect night for the fire pit, 60 degrees and smore ingredients in the pantry. The neighbor kids came over to enjoy the fire and the smores too!

In the Flory house, we always read books before bedtime. Each kid was able to pick one and we read them all on our bed. We even ventured onto new territory by letting Sam have Gabe sleep in his room (Sam is very chatty and has a hard time being quiet if there is someone to talk to. Once on vacation he was still up at midnight because we let Annie sleep in the bed next to his).

Surprisingly, the boys fell asleep within 5 minutes (by 8:30pm) and the girls fell asleep in the same bed by 9:15. We had to take this picture of Annie and Kathy cuddled up together- they are only 8 days apart and truly kindred spirits!

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day 2010 was wonderful! Sam had bought me a stylish insulated bag for when we take trip to the park, Annie had spoiled me by giving me hand-made cards throughout the day and they both helped daddy design a coffee mug for me with pictures of them all over it from different years of their lives. I of course cried when I saw it. Mark also bought a power washer that day which I have claimed as my own. I am in love with power washing anything. I am thinking of ways to use it on the inside of my house--might need to install a couple more floor drains on the second floor! :)

Later on Mother's Day Annie and Sam had their first piano recital. The battery died on our camera, so these were the only pictures I had a chance to take. Also I was videotaping and I couldn't do both. Annie and Mark did wonderful jobs! Annie has only been taking piano since January and played a small piece from Vivaldi and Puff the Magic Dragon. Mark played a song from Puccini and from Phantom of the Opera. Mark was the only adult playing in the recital. I was mighty. Proud of both of them!

Day with Daddy

Friday was the kids last day of spring break and Mark had taken the day off. He sat them down on Thursday night and gave them 10 options of things to do. Hands down they picked going to the city to the Shedd Aquarium!

At the penguin exhibit Annie and Sam dressed up as penguins and slid down the slide.

Then they discovered a submarine, just right for their size!

I have this picture as my background on my work laptop- it's just so cute. The best story is that a homosexual man was the one painting faces at the Shedd. Mark paid $4 for each kid, but the guy threw in Mark's for free...was it because my husband is cute or was the face painter so excited for the large empty canvas on his forehead?

Enjoying Spring Break

We really lucked out last week with weather since the kids were on Spring break. Annie and Sam spend Sunday through Wednesday night at their Grandma and Grandpa Flory's house and had a blast! They went to the movies, the park and the Arboretum. They also went out to dinner and lunch while they were there...surely living the high life! Mark and I certainly enjoyed our little vacation at home too!

So Thursday I was home with both kids. They slept in until 8 and we had a wonderful relaxing morning. We went to the park since it was 75 degrees and the kids were so good. Sam loves to climb this spider web that goes at least 20 feet in the air. He climbs all the way to the top and it makes me nervous, but he is confident and always proud of himself for doing it.

Annie spend the majority of the time in the sand area making castles. Sam kept helping by bringing water over for the girls to make a moat around the castle.

Annie patiently waited her turn to clean off her feet at the water station.

Sam continued to get water for the moat and took turns with the littler kids. It's so nice that my kids are old enough this year to realize they have to wait their turn for things!