Day Four...

~ Shedd's Aquarium ~

We got to all head in to downtown Chicago and spend the day at Shedd's Aquarium. It was such a beautiful day.. and thankfully it was not too crazy. The kids loved the aquarium almost as much as the parents. It was a great day!

The kids on a sea turtle

Madison, Emily, Cole & Christine checking out a giant sting-ray

Daddy and Kai checking out some HUGE fish

Cole pointing to the water snake.. his favorite

Madison got tired out from walking... so she took a break in the stroller

Ethan getting his face painted.. a hammer head shark.. cool.

Madison's sea horse

Cole's smiling shark

The whole family against the Chicago skyline

The four kiddos!

Eric, Christine and Emily.. such a cute family!

Thanks guys! We love you!

Day Five.. the Drive Home

We all had such a great time in Chicago. The weather was beautiful, the kids had a blast and it was so much fun to catch up with our friends. The drive back was pretty uneventful... until just before Fergus... then the rain came.. and it came hard. So the last hour of our trip turned in to more than an hour. Thankfully.. the kids fell asleep. smile. Thanks Eric, Christine and Emily for hosting us and entertaining us. We love you guys! Hope to do it again sometime soon.. as a family of 7! smile. 

Sunday Night Brinner

One of our favorite family traditions is Sunday night Brinner. (breakfast for dinner) The kids LOVE it and so do mom and dad. We mix it up each week with something different. The favorites... caramel rolls or waffles with whipped cream and strawberries! Yum!

YoungLife RockBand Event

We hosted a Young Life RockBand night for the leaders. It was so much fun! They rented lights and had costumes and even prizes. We all rocked out for hours.. and the kids even slept through it! We have a great group of leaders so far and are always looking for more. We love YoungLife!

Heart Pizzas

OK.. so valentine's day is over.. But I had to share one of our favorite things to do with the kids. We have a heart shaped foods to celebrate our day. It started with heart shaped pancakes, then heart shaped sandwiches and for supper.. make your own heart shaped pizzas. The kids had SO much fun cutting out their own hearts and putting on their own toppings. It was such a fun day!

Ethan was so proud of his hand shaped hearts.

Madison rolling out her own hearts... this one broke.. oops.
She thought it was hilarious that she broke her heart!

Cole decided after making two hearts, that he would spell his name instead. Here is his C that he made. So cute! Not really sure what it up with the smile though?!

Even Kai got in the fun. He loved to roll out snakes. Even though his never made it to the pan.. it ended up on the floor... he still had fun!

The final product... Yummy!

Hope you all had a great Valentine's day too!

Playing in the Snow

On one of the rare not below zero days, the whole family got outside to play in the backyard. Even the littlest monkey joined in on the fun! It was great to watch them all play together.

Ethan stopping to taste the snow...

Maddie stayed out of the snowball fight between her brothers and her dad. She is such a girl! Love it!

Cole loves being outside... and not smiling for the camera.

Kai was not happy that I kept tucking in his hands. (His mittens were not waterproof.)
He just wanted to touch the snow. It was super cute!

The only picture of all four that actually turned out.. sort of. What do you do? I am thinking the only way I will ever get a good picture of all of them together is by hiring a clown and bribing them with candy! smile. Someday.

All Four Kids

A rare moment...

All four kids playing nicely together... noone crying, noone fighting.. just having fun together.

What a great moment!