Under a Shady Tree with Laurie Berkner!

We took the boys to see Laurie Berkner at Ravinia this weekend.  One of our very first children's CDs was Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner and I think we were given it either before Jackson was born or shortly after his birth.  We've been listening to her for the past five years and LOVE her music.  We had a super fun morning, dancing and singing to her music and sneaking a peek of her from the back of the pavilion.  We had a picnic lunch on the lawn with friends during the concert too.

All of the kids Dancing! Daddy and his silly boys Laurie Berkner! Mommy and her silly boys My crazy boys and me!

9 years!

Jeff and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary on the 26th.  We actually got to go out on a date this year too!  We had a delicious, uninterrupted dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (one of our favorites) and saw Moonrise Kingdom.  It was a little too artsy for me, but it was still fun to be together with no interruptions.  Thanks to my dear friend Kate for watching the boys for us! :)

One cute story that I have to share...We watched our wedding video this week and the boys saw it for the first time.  After watching it, Cooper says to me, "You were the sweetest Mommy in town on your wedding."  Love that boy!

Sleepover!

We had our first official sleep over this summer and it was a success!  The boys were suppose to go to the Deerfield Family Campout a few weekends ago, but the weather was questionable so my wonderful husband came up with a Plan B that the boys thought was even better than camping outside.

We invited the boys' good friends, twin boys that are 6 months older than G & C to spend the night.  Jeff set up the tent in the basement and borrowed a projector from school and set it up to project Peter Pan on the wall.  We ordered pizza, watched the movie on the wall, and ate s'more bars (which were delicious, thank you Lindsay!).  After some redirection to get quiet and go to sleep, the boys fell asleep and slept all night in the tent until almost 7:00 a.m.!  The whole thing went way better than I expected and all of the boys had a great time.   There were no tears, but lots and lots of giggles!  Jeff is the best dad in the world to first of all come up with the plan, but secondly to be willing to do it.  Our boys are so blessed to have such a wonderful daddy!

The boys watching Peter Pan in the tent The movie! Reading bedtime stories All the boys ready for church the next morning (somehow we made it to 9:00 church on time and everyone looked presentable!) Reading more books while I was getting ready for church.

Swimming Lessons

The boys took swimming lessons earlier this summer.  We've seen Jackson really progress over the past year, but this was Grant and Cooper's first time with lessons.  We have been AMAZED at how they have done!  It must be in their blood! :)  They love, love, love going to the pool and want to go in the big pool, no more baby pool.  I took the three of them just yesterday and they literally never stopped moving.  They jump in, swim to the side, climb out, and repeat!  Cooper and Grant are fully submerging their heads and doing front floats unassisted.  Jackson is able to front and back float and is doing well with freestyle too.  Its been fun to watch them progress and to see them having so much fun in the water!
Taking a DEEP breath Jackson doing freestyle Back Float All Smiles! We Love Swimming!!

Summer Visitors

We've had some visitors this summer, which we always love!

My sweet friend Jill and her family stopped by on their way to Virginia Beach.  It was a quick visit but we always love having them!
Four of the six kids: Lauren, Cooper, Avery, Grant Grandma Lori and Papa Vince stayed at our house before and after their trip to Alaska. The boys were very curious about Alaska, asking lots of questions about where it was, how big it was, and what Gaga and Papa were going to do there. Grandma brought back a cool book for the boys that explains all the different animals and landscape they saw in Alaska. The boys also got cool shirts and a bear's tooth!

Fourth of July

Happy birthday America! It was a scorcher here on the 4th. We braved the parade and actually lasted through the entire thing. When we got home, I checked the temp, it was 103 degrees! We had Popsicles before and after the parade to try to keep cool. We enjoyed a BBQ later that night with great friends and fireworks to end the night. Can you see Cooper's red cheeks?!!