2011 Summer Review

It has been a year and a half since I last posted.....I really want to go back and catch up.....but I won't.  I am just going to post a few things from the summer and we will go from there.  I miss blogging and would really like to start it up again ;-)

The first week in May, Steven and I were blessed to be able to go back to Punta Canta again.  He worked very hard last year and was rewarded for his hard work.  My FIL has cancer and was just preparing for his first chemo treatment so a good friend of ours offered to watch Emmaline for us while we were gone. Here we are with Steven's boss and his wife as we are waiting to get on the airplane to come home.  It was an incredible trip. 

 Due to the 15 snow days that Emmaline had, she did not get out of school until June 3rd.  We decided that she would just come to work with me for the summer.  I have to say, I loved having her here with me. She played, watched movies and did some "summer schoolwork".  She figured out You Tube and became an addict to Strawberry Shortcake and The Berenstain Bears. ;-)

We decided to just spend the summer at home and not go on a big family vacation.  So we splurged and got season passes to our local amusement park which also has a water park.  It was some of the best money we have spent!  We all loved it and a lot of our friends (and some family) also had passes, so we were able to enjoy going with friends.  They have a great lazy river and I am still hearing it call my name.......Ahhhhhhh......

My parents moved to a suburb of Chicago and were finally able to get into their new home the end of June.  We decided we needed to go see them for a long weekend and check out their new house.  Emmaline was so excited to see where her Mimi and Papa lived.

It was rainy and hot the first couple of days, but we managed to find plenty to keep us occupied and Emmaline happy. They have a wonderful place for kids called The Treehouse.  I really wish we had one here at home.  It is a great place for kids to play, they have lots of comfy furniture for the adults to sit on and plenty of tables and chairs so you can sit and eat some of their delicious sandwiches, salads or wraps.  It isn't expensive - $10.00 per child and there is no time limit. The food prices are incredibly reasonable too. 

We also managed to hit the local festival in my parents small community.  

She was smiling here.....but once she realized how high up she got - and that it would stop, she was not smiling by the time she got off.

 



Yet this one did not phase her and she would have gone on it again......and again.....and again!





See.........I was on this trip ;-)



We did spend one full day in Chicago and took Emmaline to the Science and Industry Museum.  I'm still not sure who had more fun.....Emmaline or her Daddy.  



When I first saw the building I thought "Wow, that's fairly small.  This shouldn't take too long."  WRONG!!!







Papa helped Emmaline understand how her toy was being made.  This section of the museum was right up his alley!

 

See........told you he was having a good time ;-)



 We ended the day by walking around Navy Pier and getting Emmaline some Garrett's Popcorn.  She LOVES their "cheesy" popcorn. 

We had some awesome food while we were there, great company and lots of good times!