And, We're Off!!!

 We packed up the last minute items and took off for O’Hare!  Dad dropped us off at check-in and went to park the car in a long-term parking lot.  We got our bags checked and our boarding passes printed.  We all got through security and then we found our gate and lunch J

 Our flight was pretty non-eventful, and we even landed in Seattle a touch early!

We got all of our bags and hailed a cab to take us to our hotel, Executive Hotel Pacific.  Checking in took a bit of time, and the elevator was super slow since only one was working, but we finally got all settled in.  We didn’t rest too long and Josh took off to find his first vacation geocache while Mom, Dad and I went down to the wine tasting happy hour at the hotel.  

 We met up near the wharf at Ivar’s for dinner.  We only had a short wait, and then we had a great table right by a window looking out over the water.

 It was a really nice night, and we did some sightseeing/walking after dinner.  We caught a cab and went to the Space Needle.  Josh had another cache in mind and went to get that while we walked around the Space Needle, checked out the gift shop, people watched, and saw a little bit of the amazing blown-glass art at the museum next door.  

      We cabbed it back to the hotel and made our plan for the morning!

Pre-Vacation in Evanston

I didn't take any pictures with Mimi and Bampa or of any of the things we did!!!  I can still write about it, though :)  We got to their house on Sunday afternoon, and the weather was beautiful, so we headed over to Hackneys to eat on the patio.  This was the perfect dinner out to finish off an afternoon in the car.  Hackneys has a playhouse outside, and we got a table right by it!  The boys were super happy to go play while the grown-ups chatted.  We hit the ground right away with a day-long playdate with Brandi, Kaitlyn and Liam!!!  Jackson was SO excited for his Super Duper Sleepover coming up, and playing with KK and Liam was the perfect way to get even more excited :)  We played at Mimi and Bampa's house for the morning, then went over to Herm's for lunch, and then we laid the little guys down for a nap (Brandi babysits a little girl during the day) before taking K, L and J to the playground.  They played all around the playground, and we actually got a chance to start our catching up!  After Brandi loaded up the kids and went home, Mimi and I took the boys to visit Nan before meeting Daddy and Bampa for dinner.  

Tuesday morning, the boys and I headed out to see the Buerstattes' NEW HOUSE in ILLINOIS!!!  We could not be happier that they get to put down roots in their hometown and always be in town when we visit :)  The kids had a GREAT time checking out the toys, while I had loved taking the tour of their new beautiful home.  After heading home for naps and some relaxing, we met Bampa and Daddy at Lou's for dinner!  Bampa and Daddy got THREE days of golf in!!!  Mom and I went to see a movie that night :)

Mimi wasn't working on Wednesday, so we went to see Nan one more time, had some lunch and ran a ton of errands getting ready for the boys to go to the Buerstattes' and for us to leave on our trip.  The boys were troopers, and we got a TON accomplished!  Mimi and Bampa were nice enough to keep the boys while Josh and I drove out to meet Brandi and Scott for a double date!  We left Scott to give Josh a tour, including samples from his brewery, while I took Brandi for a pedicure as a belated birthday present.  We had SUCH a good time relaxing and chatting!  We went back to pick up the guys, and we headed out for delicious Mexican food and then some yummy Dairy Dream for dessert :)

Josh went off to do some geocaching yesterday morning (the second oldest in the country is in Elgin!), while the boys and I went to have breakfast with Bampa.  After breakfast the boys and I headed to Old Orchard to walk around and play outside at their really fun outdoor play area.  It was a beautiful day, and Bampa ended up joining us before we went to lunch.  I got the boys' things all packed during nap time, so after they were up, we drove out to the Buerstattes' and picked up pizza on the way :)  We all had dinner together and played before we laid the boys down (and nonchalantly said goodbye).  I was SO thankful Brandi was willing to have them spend the night on Thursday night too because it saved us a lot of tears with Graham!  

So, it was a whirlwind few days, but we got tons of time in with the Buerstattes and Mimi and Bampa :)

Summer Fun with The Conners!

Well, we got the Prius all packed up for our big summer roadtrip, and we left at 3:30am on Friday!  We chose this timing because Josh still got some sleep Thursday night, it was way early enough that the boys would go back to sleep in the car, and it would have us arriving in Indy on the earlier side, so we could enjoy even more time with the Conners!  The boys didn't sleep as long in the morning, or as much on any other part of the drive, but we had a nice, long stop at Chick-fil-a for lunch, so they ran some energy off :)  We got to Katie and Nick's house with some time to spare before going to get Paige off of the bus!  That was big excitement, and yes, as of AUGUST 8th, she has already been in school for about a week!  I can't get over how all of the school schedules seem to differ across the country...

Friday night dinner: PIZZA!!!

Always happy to be eating :)

Caleb rounding out the other head of the table.

On Saturday morning, we took off for the playground.  Katie and Nick took us to a super fun one, and the kids had a great time.  The weather was really nice too!  

There was even an old-school metal slide...

...that was really tall!

I LOVE this picture and can't wait to blow it up, frame it, and put it on the wall :)

Nick, Jackson and Paige looking tall

Lexi and Graham being cute

Monkeys!

Cute!

Can't wait to add one more to this fun bunch!!!  (On Katie's end, not mine!)  We headed off to Qdoba for lunch followed by naps and quiet time.  Josh and Nick took the bigger kids geocaching while Katie and I got to relax and catch up.

Another lovely evening for dinner on the deck!  Nick grilled yummy burgers, hotdogs and veggies!  

Enjoying vacation :)

Buds :)

Yesterday morning, we all got up and out to go find a couple geocaches before hitting up Dickey's for a delicious BBQ lunch!  We got on the road shortly after lunch and got to Mimi and Bampa's in plenty of time for dinner :)  Our time with the Conners always goes too fast, and I can't believe next time we see each other they will be a family of SIX!!!  

Last Week of Summer Fun in Virginia!

We had a nice, busy weekend as our trip to Indy, Evanston and Alaska creeps closer!  We started out Friday night at the Yanceys'.  Rachel has always loved to dress up, and Graham noticed this time and wanted in on the action!  

He picked out this turquoise dress and matching mouse ears :D

Everyone in on the action!

On Saturday, we started out at Micheal's birthday party down the street where Jackson got this AWESOME Batman face painting done!  Then we left that party early to arrive at Evan's 8th birthday party a little late.  But, that way we got to do both!  After a day full of parties, Josh and I were ready for a Date Night!

We went on a double date with Susie and Joe.  We drove into the city for dinner at Matchbox, dessert at Ted's Bulletin, and then walking around including the Botanic Garden.

Being grown-ups and enjoying D.C.!

Some of our favorite Double Daters :)

Things didn't slow down too much during the week!  Of course there was lots of packing, but we also did a little swaperoo with Miss Teresa, and she kept Graham while we took Izzy with us to a 3-D dinosaur program at the library.

Looking cool in their 3-D glasses!

A little storytime with Daddy :)

Jackson Loses His FIRST Tooth!!! (And, gets to go see a movie!)

Last weekend, Jackson announced he had a very wiggly tooth.  We thought he was just really HOPING for one, but after checking it out, we saw that it was pretty wiggly with another wiggler next door!  Yesterday morning I woke up to Jackson standing by my bed holding his tooth in his hand!  He was SOOO excited!!!

During Quiet Time, I crafted a hanging tooth pocket with a special tooth box to go inside.  We hung this on the bedpost at bedtime.  I managed to talk him out of under the pillow, since dealing with the switcheroo right under the pillow makes me really nervous!  LOL  The Tooth Fairy left two sparkly dollar bills in exchange for the tooth :)

Jackson's day just got better as he and I headed out on a date to see "Planes: Fire & Rescue" at the theater AND Isaiah and Miss Cheata met us there!!!  

Summer fun for these good buddies :)

GSLP Friends

Jackson had two wonderful years at Good Shepherd Lutheran Playschool!  His first year there was really great, but I didn't feel like he or I connected with as many other kids/moms as I had hoped.  We did have some out of school playdates with a couple of families, but most of the parents seemed to keep to themselves at pick-up and drop-off.  This past year, we ended up part of a really fun group of kids and parents!  I don't know if part of the change was we were at school every day instead of just three non-consecutive days.  Many of us were returning for our second year, so maybe as a group we just felt more comfortable?  Whatever the reason, we both so looked forward to school each day and to the numerous playdates this summer!  One mom brought up the idea of setting a day and time each week to meet at a playground near the preschool.  We settled on Monday mornings at 10am, and this was a GREAT idea!  Whoever could come came, and the kids loved seeing each other more.  The moms (and sometimes dads and grandparents) actually got to chat while our kids were occupied running around or eating.  There was A LOT of snacking going on :)  Yesterday was the last one of the summer for us since we leave for our trip next week.  All of our big kids start Kindergarten next month, but I'm hoping we can still keep in touch as a group!

Saturday Adventures

We set off on a day-adventure to accompany Josh to find his 500th cache!!!

It was a pretty nice day, and our first stop was an area in Leesburg with quite the interesting hike.  We started down a path following the power lines, and then we reached this dam we got to climb down and over to the next wooded area for more caching.  There was even one cache called Hagrid's Hut, and that appealed to both of these grown-up Harry Potter fans!  I think it would be really fun to find a whole series of Harry Potter themed caches.

Where are the JASes?  Look hard towards the middle left of the photo.  Josh and Jackson are standing against the wall for scale.

Standing in the dam.  Is that a thing?

Hiking back over the dam.

After a quick picnic lunch, we grabbed another cache in Ida Lee Park before heading towards the library to play at the playground.

The actual 500th cache was the result of earning points over several weeks.  It is called The Resuscitation Challenge, and the idea was to find caches that hadn't been found in a long time.  The longer the time period since the last find, the more points!  Josh collected all of the points, and now he was able to go and find the final!

Playing catch!

The rest of the afternoon's plan was to go peach picking.  Don't let these pictures fool you...it was not nearly as much fun as it looks like :(  We tried a new orchard, and there were not many peaches left at all, the bugs were terrible, and we were all a bit tired.  

We got a few peaches, and I was able to make several of the yummy recipes I had picked out.

Maybe we'll stick with the Farmers' Markets from now on...

However, our last stop of the day, worked out perfectly!  We tried out the new Dickey's in Centreville, and it was the perfect ending to a (mostly) really fun day as a family :)

Ice cream at the end, of course!

YUM!