Happy 4th Birthday Kendall!

I can't believe Kendall is 4. Time really does fly by. This year, Kendall decided that she wanted to celebrate her birthday at the Splash Park in Geneva. I was so thankful when there was a 0% chance of rain!
Rachael helped with the party. It was so nice to have her around. She went to pick up the cake with me, and kept an eye on the kids! I really appreciate all of her help.
Kendall wanted to have pizza and cake for the party. Caleb is such a little trooper with his allergies. He happily ate a happy meal instead of pizza. He also kept showing Grandma the cake. He raved on how pretty it was and how good it was going to taste, and told Grandma that she had to try a piece. So sweet, even though he couldn't eat it himself.
The kids had a blast playing on the playground and in the sprinkler park. There was lots of laughter and fun. Kendall really enjoyed opening up her presents, and loved every single one of them!
She chose a Little Mermaid Cake this year. She originally wanted the Target Barbie Cake that Kendall has to visit each time we go into Target. I was glad that we were able to find a great alternative. We got this one at Walmart, and it was really good. I was happily surprised!

It was a great day!

Put-In-Bay, Ohio

We had a fabulous vacation. We went camping at Put-In-Bay, OH. We went camping with our good friends Jackie, Ken, and Matt. It was a great time! These pictures are totally out of order, so please bare with me!
On our way home from vacation we stopped at African Safari Wildlife Park. It was a complete impulse stop, because the name sounded intriguing. This place ended up being a drive threw zoo. I am not positive why it was called an African Safari. There were very few African animals, and you really didn't get any contact with them. There were great American animals including bison, long horn cows, elk, and deer. It was a little too close for comfort for me, but a great experience for the kids. Unfortunately, a HUGE Elk stole our cup of food. It made me so nervous when the other animals would come up and beg for food...especially those that were large with horns, since I had nothing to offer them. But, we made it through. There was also a camel ride and pony ride included in the price. The kids did enjoy the rides.
We rented a six person golf cart and carted around Put-In- Bay for one day. It was really fun. We all took turns driving the cart and I think we drove on just about every street. We made a few stops and walked around when we saw something interesting. The kids loved this shop. It had some fun hats for sale. They each found one to try on.
To get to the island we had to take a ferry. This was a first for all of us. The ferry took our entire car across.
The kids were mesmerized by the ferry ride and Lake Erie. They immediately wanted to go on the ferry again. I promised we would ride the ferry home. That was an easy promise to keep. On the way home, I let each of the kids go out of the car and stand on the ferry. Kendall thought it was very exciting. On the other hand, getting out made Caleb extremely nervous. He chose to get right back into the car.
The kids loved spending the night in tents and hanging out at the camp site. They had fun eating at our picnic table and cooking s'mores over the camp fire. I was VERY thankful that Matt brought glow sticks for the kids. What an easy, yet fabulous idea. It gave the kids a nightlight for the tent. It also made it very easy to find them once it got dark!
I think another favorite moment that the kids had was swimming in Lake Erie. The water was surprisingly warm. Terry thought it was due to the nuclear power plant that was across the lake. I was also surprised how big the waves were in the lake. Some were 3 feet or larger. Kendall saw a huge water snake while she was swimming. It was about 4 feet long.

We left a day early, because the zipper on our tent broke and there was a chance of thunderstorms. The kids were pretty disappointed that we left early, but I really didn't want to deal with mud and 2 young kids.

All in all, it was a great trip! The kids want to go on vacation again. Caleb suggested California this morning. I told him that we would see!

Happy Belated Father's Day

Today we met my family at Brookfield Zoo for a VERY belated Father's Day present for my dad. We actually managed to get everyone minus Lindsey together, which is a pretty amazing feat! It was wonderful to see everyone, and the children had such a great time. Isaac and Caroline are so cute toddling around.
Kendall loved that Caroline was a girl cousin. She gave Caroline lots of kisses and helped her out throughout the day. I think she really felt like a big girl. Both girls loved petting the goats at the children's zoo.
Kendall also enjoyed the extra attention that she got from her uncles. She was always holding someone's hand, or vying for their attention!
My mom kept a good sense of humor about the pouring rain that happened for the first hour or so. We had cancelled the last trip due to rain. So, she decided that she was not going to cancel again. Almost everyone bought these lovely yellow ponchos. We were quite the fashionistas!
I love that my kids are always fascinated by the dolphins. I would guess this is their favorite exhibit. I think one of the reasons why they like they dolphin is because they are so close! They are also interesting to watch. I loved when all four cousins were watching the dolphins together.

All in all, another great day this summer! I can't believe that summer is quickly coming to an end.

I Have to See T-Rex!

Caleb woke up Saturday morning and immediately told me he had plans. He had to see T-Rex at the museum TODAY! I love that it is summer AND we live close enough to the Field Museum that I was able to make it happen. So, we invited my Dad who loves history to come along and off we went to Chicago. Caleb was so excited when we got to the steps leading up to the museum.
Our first stop was of course the dinosaur area. Caleb pretty much raced through the first few million years of the Earth to get to when the dinosaurs came along. He was fascinated! Caleb told me that his favorite was the Duck Billed Dinosaur, but I think he liked that one best because it had a spot where you could make their noise.
He sat and was memorized by triceratops as well. One of my favorite moments is when he laid down on the bench and noticed pterodactyl flying over head. He thought that was great! The Field has an amazing collection of fossils.
According to Caleb, his favorite part of the day was seeing "Waking T-Rex" at the 3-D theater. I have to say I was impressed with the movie. It was pretty neat and the film truly popped off the screen. It was very informative on how the paleontologist found Sue and some basics on how they get the fossils back to the museum and on display.
We also so the whale and horse traveling exhibits. By the time we got finished with these two exhibits, Caleb was done. It was a wonderful day!

Let's Slide!

They changed the rules at our public pool. Caleb is now allowed to go down the slide if he wears a life jacket. Well, to say he is thrilled does not even remotely describe his feelings. He has spent the last 3 times at the pool going up and down the slide over and over and over again! Super fun for a 5 year old! Kendall isn't tall enough yet. She is much happier in the baby pool where there is no risk of getting her hair wet by accident!

Brookfield Zoo

We decided to go out to the zoo one last time before our membership expires. I invited Michelle and her kids along. I was able to get us all in for free, which was awesome! The kids had such a fun time! We did so much walking and saw most of the animals. A great highlight was Stingray Bay. Caleb, Christopher, and I got to touch stingrays. Kendall totally freaked out and wanted nothing to do with them. It was pretty funny actually. The twins were amazing. They hung out in their stroller most of the day. My kids would have never done that! The kids were awesome. We really had no problems with them at all.
On our way out we bought some animal cookies. They were delicious! If you haven't tried Wildlife Animal Cookies you really should. They are sold at many zoos, aquariums, and even some museums. Caleb was sad that he couldn't eat them, but was happy when I whipped out a rice crispy treat. Both Caleb and Kendall fell asleep on the car ride home. Michelle's kids all stayed awake. I am very fortunate to have two nappers!

2 Toots Cafe

A few days ago my mom and I took the kids on a fun train ride to Glen Ellyn. Caleb and Kendall have only been on a train once before and they were very excited. They were also in a great mood. I couldn't believe the cute pictures I got of them!
Kendall had to have a window seat. On the way there we sat on the bottom level on the train. On the way home the kids had to give the top level a try.
Caleb and Kendall loved watching out the window during the trip. They thought it was great when freight trains went by. They also enjoyed the conductor and the tickets. I would assume it reminded them of The Polar Express, even though it was a very hot summer day!
2 Toots Cafe was very cute. There was an electric train that ran through the entire restaurant. Every table sat next to the train, and the food was delivered via train. VERY cute! Now, the food was barely okay. There were not a lot of options on the menu, and taste wise, it was okay, not great. But, the kids loved it! They thought the train delivering the food was a fantastic idea. Kendall even noticed that there were people in the train. Caleb thought it was better than McDonalds. That is amazing! I am not sure if we will go again, but it was a fun summer outing.