MSI

We woke up one Sunday and actually had nothing to do, so we decided to take a trip into the city and go to the Museum of Science and Industry (one of our favorite Chicago museums). I quickly called up some friends to see if they wanted to join us and it just all worked out (which rarely happens when planning something so last minute). It was a really enjoyable day. Although both girls still nap, they are getting old enough to be able to skip it and hold up just fine for the day (the next day they are tired, but that day they are fine). So we were able to stay all day and really have a great time with the kids.  Ben and Aiden both in camo for the day...it was tough to see where they were in their camo! 

Abbey getting ready to drive the tractor.

Juliette was very  interested in the air blowing the ball up.

All the kiddos!

Aren't they cute!

And silly!

What a fun day!  One of the things I love about living in Chicago is the easy access to such amazing museums and fun things to do, so we try our best to take advantage of that when we can! 

Juliette is off to preschool!

Even though Juliette is at the same school as Ben and Abbey, she started the following week. I guess they wanted the big kids to get used to things before starting the little ones. She was so excited on her first day though!

Her backpack!

Abbey was very supportive and excited for her!  Abbey and Juliette actually have the same teacher and are in the same classroom, but go on different days and have different curriculum.  So Abbey was able to tell her all about it before she went!  

And big brother joined in too to share her excitement!

 

So Ben gets dropped off at 8:40 at the latest and preschool goes in at 8:50.  So every morning I drop Ben off and then park and wait for the preschool doors to open.  Then, the girls get out at 11:30 and Ben gets out at 3:35.  So yes, I am in my car driving to St. James a lot during the day!  But here she is outside of school ready to go in!

I'm ready Mom!

Here she goes!

 

She looks so tiny next to her classmates!

She did great and had so much fun.  She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is always excited to go.  She is such a big girl now!  

Juliette's Party!

Thank you for letting me know that the pictures were not working on the Juliette turns 3 post...I have fixed the problem now so hopefully you can now see the pictures that went along with the amazing writing ;)

Now, back to about a month ago...we had a small party for Juliette in our backyard with just family and some close friends. The morning of the party though, Ben had his first flag football game.  He is pretty much on the line usually, but he does a great job at it.  I will blog more about football later, but here are a few shots from his first game.

 

He was very excited that Uncle Brandon, Aunt Domi, Caroline and Hunter came up to watch him.  The girls were excited about this too...

Then it was back to the house to get ready for the party.  It was a hot and beautiful day, which was perfect for the backyard water activities we had planned.  Who doesn't enjoy sliding into a blow up pool?

Juju was thrilled that Cousin Andrew showed up after work and played with her!

After we ate some delicious burgers, hot dogs, and homemade Mac N Cheese (thanks Chef Paul), it was time for the Dora cake!  It probably wasn't one of my most beautiful cakes, but considering I drew Dora free hand based on a Dora book we have and mixed all the colors myself without any sort of instructions, I think it turned out pretty well.  She seemed to like it, although she did continue to ask why Boots was not also on the cake...these kids have some pretty high expectations of my cake decorating abilities!

 

She just looks so big with all the big kids around her!

 

Cute one of the sisters...I think Ben was still playing in the pool at this point, go figure!

Time to open presents!

Showing Cousin Caroline and her friend Dirdre.

 

It was a great party - Juliette had a ton of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  Thanks to everyone that came and made it special for Juliette!

Also, I took Juliette recently for her 3 year check up and she is doing great!  She was 36 inches tall and 30 pounds, which means she jumped up to the 40th percentile!  She was very calm and easy going for the doctor.  Abbey, on the other hand, almost started crying as soon as I said we were taking Juliette to the doctor.  She wanted to know if Juliette was going to get shots.  I tried to not make it a big deal (Juliette wasn't anxious about it so I didn't want Abbey to get her worked up),  but luckily there were no shots and she did just fine. 

Juliette is such a joy to our lives.  She is our baby.  She is shy and sweet, yet once she gets to know someone, she completely opens up and charms them.  Paul recently read that the word Juju actually means good vibes and I think that fits her perfectly...she gives good vibes to our family.  Happy birthday sweet girl - we love you!

Juliette turns 3!!!

Well, I have been having some blogger issues lately with the computer, so this time the lack of blogging wasn't entirely my fault! But, it appears to be partially fixed now, so I will do my best to get back up to date. On August 19th, our darling baby duck turned 3 years old! I can hardly believe it - she is turning into such a big girl and it is so hard to believe that we don't really have a baby in the house anymore :(

We started the day by going out to breakfast to her favorite place (Pamera as she calls it). Then it was back home to open up some wonderful presents!

 

She got her big girl backpack since she started preschool this year!

Unfortunately our schedule of birthday festivities had to be interrupted because Ben had football pictures at noon.  So we made some lunch and got over to pictures.  See Ben?  I can't wait to get the professional pics back, but here is the team picture we took with our camera.

Then it was back to celebrating Juliette by going to the Kohl's Children's Museum for the afternoon.  Looks like Ben might follow in Patch's shoes and become a radiologist?  

She seemed to enjoy it!

Then they built the Willis Tower!

Juliette worked hard on this.  As a side note, Juliette talks about the Willis Tower a lot and she came home from school today (I know, I need to blog about school starting still) and told me that she built the Willis Tower out of blocks.  She told her teacher that it was the Willis Tower and then she said it fell over.  I was quite proud of her!

Here it is...Ta Da!!

Then they all set to work on some puzzles!

We got to enjoy the outside part of the museum since the weather was so nice!

Juliette wanted me to fly in the plane with her...

I'm not going to lie...it wasn't easy to get down into this plane with her, but her smile made it worth it :)

There was a tall grass maze that Ben enjoyed.

And some interesting statues to rest on :)

Ben said, "Hey look, Mom, I'm hanging out with Jesus!" 

After a fun afternoon at the museum, we made Juliette's request for dinner (Pierogies) and then it was time for cupcakes!

Yay!!

We had a great family day celebrating her birthday!