Waiting on the Concrete....

Everything is ready to go.  All we need is for it to stop raining so we can pour the 

sidewalk:

Driveway:

and pad for the hot tub:

Oh, and the front porch needs concrete too!

Master Bath

The Master Bath is finally coming together.  Here is the shower:

The dual vanity and the door leading to the back deck.

Here is Mommy's new bathtub.  All we need now is a larger water heater so she can fill it!

Chandler's First Day of K!

The day had finally come, it was Chandler's first day of Kindergarten!  He was very excited to start and I was ready for him to go to.  Believe it or not, no tears were shed by anyone as Chandler started his first day.  Maybe I'll cry when my last one head off, but not this time.

I bought Chandler a new Planet Box lunch box for school and this is how pretty his lunch looked for the first day:

Here's the outside of the lunch box:

Here's Chandler ready for his first day.  I decided to let him pick out his entire outfit.  He is carrying his school bag that he leaves at school for the week and takes home each Friday, and his lunch box.

Chandler with his brothers.

Walking into school.  Chandler is in the "A" building.

Chandler with his teacher, Ms. Valerie.

Chandler's attends a Montessori school that has 3, 4, and 5 year olds in his class.  There are 25 students,  eight 3-year olds, eight 4-year olds, and nine 5-year olds.  He is doing really well.

Ms. Valerie says,
"He has been absorbing all the rules, routines, and lessons he's been given so far. He's also been a great role model, therefore a great help for the new children that start each day. He has been a joy to have in our class!"

Last Day in Chicago

Today was our last day in Chicago.  We have had a wonderful trip and done so many things.  We are certainly blessed by great friends to provide accommodations so that we could make this such a nice vacation.  On our last day, we decided to visit Chicago's free zoo.  Lincoln Park Zoo was very nice and we saw lots of animals there.  For being a free zoo, I was throughly impressed, although I'll always be partial to our own zoo here in NC.

In front of the giraffes.  They were inside today, probably because it was so hot!

Standing at one of the entrances for a photo op.

That night Dani and Danny treated us, yet again, to another nice dinner out.  This was probably the nicest restaurant our boys have eaten in.  I found it particularly funny that Brighton said, "Mommy, why do I have two forks?"  That right there tells you the caliber dining we were at.  I had salmon and Derek had scallops.  It was a wonderful end to our wonderful trip.  

Museums & Views

Today was another fun day visiting museums.  We had visited the planetarium the day before and they accepted our Durham L&S museum membership as did the Field Museum.  That was a big savings for us.  I was really impressed with the Field Museum.  It was massive.  We certainly didn't see but 1/3 of it, maybe.  There was a special area just for younger kids and my boys could have stayed in just that one section all day.

Dressing up as skunks.

Playing in a dinosaur nest.

A view of the main hall one of three floors this museum has.  

Later that night, once the kids were in bed, Derek and I had Dani and Danny babysit and we went our for a drink and dessert at a nearby restaurant.  We went to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building. The views were quite nice and reminded me of when Derek and I went to 

the "Top of the World" in Las Vegas.  

Derek has a $14.50 drink that he said was o.k.  The creme brulee that we shared for $8, was worth that, I suppose.  

Here's a night time view.

More Fountains and "the bean"

Here's the boys playing at one of the more famous fountains in Chicago.  There are two of these large sculptures that face each other and they are TV screens that show different colors and faces.  

Occasionally the faces will change and look like they are spitting water out of their mouths.  Of course, the kids love this part.

See if you can find all the boys in the picture below.  

Hint: Maverick is in front with green shorts on.

The "Bean" of Chicago (unofficial name) was really neat to see in person.  Were were able to get a stranger to take a family picture.

The "Bean"

Lake Michigan & the Cubs

Today we spent a low-key morning playing in the water.  We took a short walk, just a few blocks, to a near-by "beach" where we could swim in lake Michigan.  The water was surprisingly warm.  Maverick loved crawling up and down the beach and splashing in the water.  While we were in Chicago, he started walking more and more each day.  

By the end of our trip, he is now more a walker than a crawler.

Walking on the beach

Posing by a splash fountain.

Here's a view of what the splash fountain looks like further away.  It also has water that will shoot out of the top and water around the bottom of the cube that comes out of the ground.  The boys loved this!

Later that afternoon, Derek took the big boys to a Cubs game.  I hear it was incredible and they had a great time.  I think they had some cotton candy and a pretzel.  

Posing in their new hats.