Friday Night--Ed Debevic's

Friday night we got to hook up with the Sohockis. We love hanging out them and seeing their kids.

I know I have said this before but it is so great that their kids are the same ages as ours (Aiden is a bit older than Matthew though) and they each have a friend...it is perfect :)

The kids loved Ed's but especially Ella.

I asked the waiter to be especially saucy to her and he surely was.

He kept yelling to her, "hey Annie...hey baby....hey booger picker...."

The kids were loving the entertainment.

It was such a fun night and a great way to wind down our trip. On Saturday we woke up and had a mixer on Chicago with our friend, Aamir. I love that our work go hand in hand with play. Then after the mixer, we went home. What an awesome few days for our family. We got to see wonderful, life long friends and visit such an electric city. We didn't go to the American Girl Doll store but plan on doing that in a year or two...probably a girls weekend would be best :) I have a feeling Matthew would destroy that place and have no appreciation for the tea room! Thanks to all of our friends for helping make this a great trip!!

Chicago--Day 3 boat ride

The fun day continues! After we left the lake we went on an architectural bout tour of the city. Lordy it was HOT...I mean HOT...but we made the best of the situation. I was just worried that Liz would pass out and the headline would read, "pregnant lady passes out on architectural tour which her friend from Cincy made her do for her 3 year old son." Liz was a trooper!!!!

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The kids were so excited!

The adults were worried we were going to melt...

I swear Matthew was excited about this!

Ella wanted to go faster and faster

There were some great views of the city

Love these two!

Once the boat started moving, Matthew was out.

He fell asleepthe entire time which cracked me up because when we got tickets, we all thought that Matthew would be the most excited......nap time was more important :)

Chicago--Day 3

The kids were so excited for Friday (as we were). 

We had so many funny things to do and people to see!

We started out going to Liz & Ry's. After we visited for a bit, we headed out to the lake.

I asked for them to smile together and this is what I got.

But when I asked them to be super heros, they both knew what to do.

They were in their element.

All 3 having fun searching for shells

Whatcha doing?

The kids swam for a good hour....it was awesome!

I wonder what they are discussing :)

Look what I got!

Little Man was loving this

Liz, thanks for a great morning!!

We love you!

Trip to Chicago--Day 2

Day 2 in Chicago we headed to Jess' for the day.

I had been to Jess' once before but I think that was right after Ella was born (??). 

But nonetheless, there were no kids involved and since then, Jess has 3 and I have 3...crazy!

Jess set up the outdoor toys and away the kids went.

Again, like they were best friends :)

I like this picture because you can see baby Cooper in Liz's belly.

Now Liz, don't roll your eyes because you look amazing!

Tyler was mowing some grass

Laney with Jess' twins: Leah and Hailey

Matthew, Laney, Katie, Ryker & Tyler

Seriously...does it get any cuter?

In case you realized I was missing a child, Ella & Jason had some daddy daughter time and went ice skating at a rink nearby. They then did some shopping and just enjoyed some time together :)

Love these ladies!

Liz and Jess were in our wedding 12 years ago and they are still amazing friends to this day!!

I love this picture!

No matter how many funny things you have planned, a pool and hot tub at the hotel always win out.

The pool was about the size of this hot tub (no joke) but we had a blast!

Day 2 was a huge success and all of the kids slept well in the hotel :)

Trip to Chicago

Our first stop in Chicago was to see Kristi, Jim & Tyler Chadwick. They recently bought a house in the burbs and we were excited to see it. Plus, the Easterdays joined us. It was great to see all of the kids together.

Laney, Tyler, Emily, Ella, Matthew

You would have thought these kids have known each other forever, the way they played so well together.

 Laney, Emily and Ella

 

Tyler and Matthew apparently had some work to do

The group

Kristi, me and Kat

It was a wonderful visit and always great to see friends :)

Trip to Indy and Chicago--Day 1

A few months ago, I found out some friends of ours from Indy were going to Chicago for a long weekend. We really wanted to hook up the Sohockis and when Jason and I figured we could see so many college friends, we figured lets make it work!

The kids and I headed to Indy for the day and spent the night at the Sohockis. In Indy we went to the Children's Museum with Jen and Kelly (Kelly lives in MI but was down visiting her cousin in Indy). It was great timing! 

Kelly & me

We have never been at the Children's Museum at the right time for rock climbing tickets but today we were.

Ella was the first in line to get tickets and was incredibly excited to start climbing.

After a little help, away she went!

Ella has an amazing adventurous side.

 If you would have told me 7 years ago, this quiet baby would be adventurous girl (even going off of drop zone at Kings Island!!) I wouldn't believe it. I have zero adventure in me, which I don't like and wish I could change, so I am glad Ella loves adventure! She always wants to do the highest and fastest rides at KI :)

She tried so hard but didn't quite make it to the top.

The other kids were so good about cheering her on and being so patient!

On our way to Chicago, we stopped at Fair Oaks, a farm with tons of fun kids activities, and then continued to Chicago. We thought we would have the kids play here a few hours but the kids just wanted ice cream and then to head on to Chicago. That was some good ice cream :)

See, good ice cream :)

A trip to the Nature Preserve

Right down the road from us is a beautiful Nature Preserve. We met our friends, Laura, Amanda and Owen for some great time in the creek.

I didn't get any pictures of the kids in the water because I was too worried they were going to swim away but at least I got a picture of Matthew capturing a toad.

At one point I thought Matthew squeezed the toad to heaven but thank goodness the little guy was still breathing :)

Nothing like throwing rocks :)