Monday, July 13, 2009

Fantastic weekend

What a wonderful weekend we had with Candice and Tara and all the kids, we even got to see our George. Friday we met Chris at the train downtown, and took a cab to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet the gang. We had a yummy dinner and the boys were pretty bonkers. There was this rocker looking guy that was a waitor, and Brandon and Josh kept giving him the rock on, whats up every time he passed them. Then they had a few birthday's and anniversaries and a whole lot of yelling that all the kids had fun getting in on. Then we all walked to the Hancock building. We went up to the top and enjoyed a hazy view, but it was still very fun. The kids really enjoyed running around and looking out. Then we walked to the hotel that they were all staying at and hung out for a while and waited for our train. Fun times.

Sat, we went back downtown to meet up with everyone for some beach fun. George met us there with his girlfriends brother and a little later V showed up. We had a great time watching the kids play in the sand and in the waves. We had a picnic on the beach and had plans to go to the fireworks, but everyone was pretty tired so we all just nixed it. Chris and I walked to the train with the kids and got some sushi on the way. It was a wonderful treat to end a fantastic weekend hanging with family and friends.

Sun, we just pretty much relaxed and went to Costco. Went to bed early.

This week, we dont have much planned. 2 days of tutoring for boy, and cleaning for the rest of the week... We got friends coming up this weekend for a warrior dash.. should be great fun.
Shel

Monday, July 6, 2009

Break my heart

Well we went to 6 flags and to my sister's house over the weekend. Chris got off work early on Thursday so we headed to 6 flags to enjoy a few hours. Then we got a hotel room and spent a full day at 6flags on Friday. We spent most of the day in the water park, and had a wonderful time.

We played a lot in the wave pool because it was warm. The little kid section had FREEZING cold water which I couldn't understand. Anyway, we enjoyed the warm wave pool. This little black girl came up to me when I was teaching Ashlyn how to swim. She smiled and watched us and I smiled back at her. She asked if I was teaching Ash to swim and I said Yes. She asked how, so I told her what to do and she tried it. I was telling both girls what a good job they were doing and the little girl was sooo excited I was teaching her. Then Katey came up and smiled at the girl and the buzzer went off that the waves were going to start again. Katey said come on to the girl and they both went off into the water to jump the waves... When the waves would stop, they would come back and we would practice swimming again. We did this for about an hour and it was time to go. We thanked her for playing with us and left. When we were walking out, Katey said that little girl broke my heart mom. I asked why and she said the little girl told her that white people don't like black people. Katey just looked at her and sighed and said I know, but those people are not nice. But I like everyone. And the little girl smiled and said, I know! This broke my heart, but also made me so proud. Its sad that this little girl at 6 yrs old has been affected by racism, its just terrible. But I was so proud of my Katey, she acknowledged that it does happen, and that she thinks those people are not nice, and made it very clear that she likes everyone. It was the first experience that Kathryn has had with this sort of thing, and I was just so proud of how she handled it.

We went to Cassie's after 6 flags and saw her new house, met her really cool neighbors and had a 4Th of July party and watched fireworks. We had a wonderful weekend.

Shel

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Family time

Brandon looking at the screen.

Blankets all set out, Ash cheesin

Our very own uni-bomber(sp?)
Ashlyn lovin on her Mama before the show.


I had a blast tonight watching a Sharktales under that stars with the kids and their friends. Luckily for us, we moved into a WONDERFUL little town that is very family orientated. The do stuff all summer long to get familys out doing stuff together. On of the things they do (for free) is put on a movie at the town center. You just bring a blanket and snacks and enjoy a movie under the stars. They even put on concerts on the weekends, and do a fantastic 4th of july full day of fun. I love that this town is so into familys and giving kids and parents stuff to do.

Anyway, just had a fantastic night and wanted to share.

Oh and what was really amazing... people in this community actually care about their community. I was blown away when we got all pack up and the place wasnt a little bucket, almost every picked up after themselves and left the place looking great... way to go people, now if we can only pass this on to the rest of the world... care about family's, give your families and children fun things to do (cheap, if not free) and pick up after yourselves.. holy cow, New Lenox is onto something here.

Enjoy the pics,
Im off to bed.
Shel

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Shel

summer

Not much going on here except for enjoying summer.
We went on vacation with Chris' family and had a wonderful time.
It's so nice having the resort to ourselves and only having family around. It's so nice to be able to let the kids run and not have to worry about weirdo's. Its a blast to watch them play with all their cousins for a week. The fishing was pretty good this year, and we even had a movie night under the stars. Uncle Wes has a projector and projected a movie on the side of a cabin. We did Tonka pies by the fire, and Chris even broke it out in the morning and did eggs, sausage, and pancakes on the fire. It was def. a great time.

The kids have been enjoying being back home and seeing their friends. Brandon has been invited to a party, invited to a beach, and invited to go to a baseball game.... he says this is so far his best summer vacation. Chris and I are hoping to get 6flags season passes, and cant wait to go to the water park and the rides. Also I cant wait to make it up to my sister's new house very soon, oh and being JULY my baby neice will be turning 3 on July 6th!!

I'll update soon with new pics and stuff.
Lots of Love,
Shel