A fun filled day

This morning I got up at 4:30 and did the Glenview Park District Sprint Triathlon with Kat. Kat got 2nd in our age group and 9th out of 162 women. I placed 48 out of 162. I was just happy to finish! It was such a fun and well organized race.

After the race I had to go back home, pick up the boys and come back for the awards and raffle. Good thing I came back because Kat got this plaque and I won a golf foursome from the raffle! No, I don't golf, but Erik will use it! It just felt good to win something.



We headed out to Aunt Louise and Uncle Dave's house for a "summer birthdays" party. The boys enjoyed some time in the pool.


Caleb's birthday was squeezed into this party too!

He wasn't really so sure about all those candles. I think he blew once and decided that was enough.




Thanking Grandpa and G.G. for the blanket and train.

Grandpa loves trains, so he was so excited to help Caleb try out the new toy. Caleb also got an easel and a 'huge wheelee ball'. Thank you everyone!

Welcome Home Daddy!

Caleb was so excited that daddy was coming home today. He talked about it ALL day. When he saw Erik coming off the escalator he had the biggest smile and ran right into his arms.

More fun with the Austin's

We ended yesterday with the bounce castle. The first thing Caleb asked for this morning was the bounce castle. By 8:00 we had eaten breakfast and set up the bounce castle!

Jackson and Madison having a deep conversation.


We went over to Jason's parents house for some pool time. The boys spent most of their time "paiting" the sidewalks.

Go North Park!

More painting. Reiley and Luke are big boys...do you see how small Caleb looks next to them?

Reiley found a worm.

After lunch we got in the car and headed back home. Daddy comes home tomorrow. Thanks for a great time Jason, Karina, Reiley, Luke, Kate and Madison!

Keeping ourselves busy while daddy is gone...

We started today with a "Gwen Day." We met at Gwen's house and took a walk to a really fun park.

After lunch we got in the car and drove to Sterling, IL to spend the day (and night) at the Austin's house. Six kids 4 and under...it was a busy 24 hours.

Reiley took Jackson on a tractor ride. It is fun to see little bits of Jackson's personality come out. We are realizing that he really isn't afraid of much. (Notice his huge smile and how he is holding on to Reiley) Caleb, on the other hand would only sit on the tractor if it wasn't moving.

Next we pulled out the water table and soon all the clothes were off. Caleb is telling me that he is cold in this picture. I just think he looks so funny.

All the kiddos.

The boys and their blankets.

The boys

"The square"

"The skateboard"

Look at how happy he is. Also, notice that he is already in his pj's...the perfect activity to get him ready for bed.

OK, so I know these are not the most attractive pictures of Jackson (he has plenty of cute pictures on this blog) and maybe someday he will be mad at me...but look at all those teeth coming in at the same time! Erik is away in Mexico this week, I feel like I need to document Jackson's mouth every single day because he will look so different when Erik comes home! As you can see he is still as happy as can be. I remember when Caleb would get teeth, he would wake up 2 and 3 times a night! Not Jackson, he has become such a good sleeper, even while four teeth poke their way through.

Millenium Park

We spent the morning at the fountain downtown. We went last year when Jackson was just a baby, so this was really his first time playing in the water.

Who is that blonde boy?!

Do you see Erik and Caleb getting splashed?

I guess someone reached "peak fun!"

Not this guy, always a smile on his face.

New Tooth

Here is Jackson in the shower with Erik. If you zoom in you can see his new tooth. He now has the four top teeth peeking through. I will try to get a picture.

My trophy.

Tonight Erik and I both had meetings at church so we had to get a babysitter. Caleb was not happy that a babysitter was coming over. He cried really hard for a few minutes before I could calm him down. When she arrived he stood on the first landing while I opened the door. As soon as he saw her he said "I don't want you to hold me." Is that why he was so upset? All those tears because he thought she would hold him? She came in the apartment and Caleb wanted to show her all the toys he had been playing with. As I was giving her some directions he came over and handed me these LEGOs and told me to bring them to my meeting so I could think of him. Excuse me? How cute is that? (I'm having a hard time putting them back in the LEGO box, but thought a picture would help!) When I got home the babysitter said that Caleb did great. Jackson, however cried for a few minutes when I left. While he was crying Caleb said "why is he crying?" Kids are just so funny to me. One second Caleb could be balling because I was leaving and the next second he doesn't understand why his brother is crying.

Excavators and slides

Caleb and I spotted this construction site on our way home from church this morning and since Jackson was asleep in the back we pulled over to watch the machines. Caleb just watched and asked questions the whole time. All the workers were waving at him...we sat there watching them for a good 45 minutes and Caleb was sad to leave.

Jackson figured out how to climb up the ladder of the slide and go down. He is also working on some front teeth.

My little artists'

This was actually Jackson's first time painting. He was really enjoying himself until it was time to get cleaned up. As you can see we got really messy this morning! I'm pretty sure Jackson had a few of Caleb's hand prints on him