Chicago-Brookfield Zoo

Last Wednesday, we went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. We went with Ricky's sister and her family and Ricky's parents. It was lots of fun, minus the rain. It was cold and drizzly rain all day long! Good thing we had umbrellas and ponchos. Lauren held her own umbrella!

We went on a train ride around the zoo. It was nice and dry on the train. Everyone had a good time!

We were all happy to be there and spend time as a family!We also saw the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. It was really neat. Dylan had a blast seeing all the dinosaurs. Some of them moved and some you could control. I thought it was really interesting!

Then we went to the Children's Zoo. Dylan feed the goats with the help of Grandma Tate. It was fun. He got to go inside with the goats and brush them, too! Lauren started waving bye. I thought it was so cute!

We really enjoyed our day at the zoo and spending time with our family. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo in downtown Chicago for 2 nights. It was really neat and looked like a spa in the room. We wore the kids out, so we didn't have any problems putting them to sleep. Good thing, because we were really tired, too!

Happy 1st Birthday Lauren!

It amazing how one year can change so much!

Happy 1st Birthday Lauren! We love you and are so glad to have you in our lives! You are amazing in every way and bring us so much joy!
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We were on a family vacation in Nauvoo, Illinois for Lauren's birthday, so we had a pink cake to celebrate! Luckily we went to the candle maker the day before and got a free candle to put on her cake! I thought it was very appropriate for the occasion.

Dylan helped blow out the candle. He is such a good big brother!

We went to Pizza Hut for dinner on our way home from Nauvoo. Lauren was showing off her new talent of holding her own sippy cup!Of course Dylan wanted to get a picture with Grandma!

And we got a family shot! We had a wonderful time celebrating her first birthday with the Tate family! We got home pretty late and put the kids to bed. Lauren woke up at 1am screaming and crying. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She finally went back to sleep and slept until 11:30 the next morning! I noticed fluid coming out of her ear, so I took her to the doctor. She had a double ear infection! Happy Birthday to her! (I'm glad she is young enough that she won't remember this!)

4th of July and Children's Museum

For the 4th of July, we went down to Indy to visit with my parents and to see one of my best friends growing up who was here visiting. It was nasty raining all day long, but that didn't stop us from going to the parade and park for lunch. We got there just as the parade was ending, so Dylan and I jumped out of the car to catch the last few cars go by. He got a sucker and a flag, so he was happy. Then we went to the park to meet up with my parents and Sarah. The kids enjoyed playing at the park in the rain. What can you do when it's raining all day on the 4th of July?!?!

Here is my friend Sarah. She was here visiting from Utah. I hadn't seen her in a long time! I love getting to catch up with old friends.

We went to Indy to see the fireworks, but they canceled them right when the show was supposed to begin! We were bummed. Dylan wanted to see the "crash-booms!" They said that they were shooting the fireworks off on Sunday, so I decided to go back to see them. Lafayette ended up shooting theirs off, because the rain had stopped. Oh well!
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Then on Sunday, we went over to Ricky's parent's house for dinner. Since I was leaving for the fireworks, we shot off the little package of fireworks they bought before it got dark. The kids really enjoyed watching them.

Lauren was not so sure, so she sat with Grandma Tate by the house. The loud booms can be kinda scary! We sat at the church in Indy to watch the fireworks. Dylan loved it and Lauren was half asleep. It was still fun! Mailee and Hailey got to join us since we were going to the museum in the morning.

They had a blast with the poppers. They were getting a little violent with them!Dylan had fun with them, too!On Monday morning, we all met up at the Children's Museum. They had the King Tut special exhibit that we all wanted to see. It was really interesting, but I'm not sure if it was worth the money. Dylan wasn't too impressed, and I had to pay $15 for him to go in! The artifacts were really neat and they had the display set up like they found the tomb. Dylan went on the Carousel with Tessa (Crystalin and Scott, too) and loved it! He is always scared of it and never wants to go! I was really surprised! He came running up to me when he got off and said, "I did it! And I wasn't scared!" I thought it was too cute!Lauren was loving Grandma because she let her play in the water! I love the face!It's surprising how little girls can change so much, so quickly! In March, Lauren was screaming in this play place. This time, she was screaming because she didn't want to leave! Ashlyn came to play with her for a while, too!Dylan being a scary dinosaur!

These two are so cute together! They get into all kinds of mischief!

We had a wonderful day! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Ricky there. After the museum, we all went to dinner at Red Robin and Kris, Joanna, and Alex joined us. It was the perfect ending to a great day!

Funny kids

We have been having fun around here. Dylan is doing great this week with potty training. It makes my week a lot better, too! We haven't had any accidents since Sunday! Yeah! Dylan is really enjoying his potty treats, so it all works out well! Dylan just finished his Water Exploration swim class. The teacher recommends that he take Level One next. Good thing, since I signed him up last week for it! He's taking the class with Tessa, so he really enjoys it! He talks about it all morning! He's such a goof ball! He was playing with his cereal for breakfast and he came to me like this:Silly boy!

My best friend, Mandy, had her baby on Sunday. His name is Noah Kolton and he is adorable! He has long black hair and they are both doing great. I got to feed him a bottle and change his stinky diaper the other day. So tiny! I can't wait to go see him again soon!

Lauren is definately getting around! I sat her on the floor last night and she ended up on the couch! Dylan threw all of the cushions off, so she climbed her way up. I think she is going to be more of a climber than Dylan was! She is constantly trying to pull herself up. I think she wants to walk, but hasn't figured it out yet. She can now go from sitting to crawling. She still crawls on her tummy, but she will push herself up to her hands and knees. She is still our little cutie!

Dylan was trying to keep himself busy yesterday while I was feeding Lauren lunch. He said that he was Superman. Too funny! He wanted to wear a cape, so I tied Lauren's blanket around his neck. He loved it! He was running back and forth putting his arms out and announcing, "I'm Superman!" Lauren and I were getting a good laugh out of him! I guess I need to make him a cape for Christmas! (Jaime, Do you still have the pattern?)

I just love this face that Lauren gives me. She has the cutest little looks!

Cousins all summer long!

Ricky's sister is visiting from Puerto Rico for 2 months this summer and we are having a blast! We have been hanging out with them a ton! She has a little girl the same age as Dylan, a 9 year old boy and 11 and 13 year old girls, so it's a lot of fun. We are keeping each other busy by shopping, playing video games, hanging out, going swimming, etc. If I don't get to blogging, that's why! My sister-in-law is also visiting for 3 weeks, so we are having cousin overloads around here! We are loving every minute of it! I got the cutest picture of Dylan with his cousin Alex the other day. I couldn't help but share this one! They were having so much fun playing with the cars together. They are such boys!Lauren was being really cute the other day, so I got the camera out and snapped some shots. They were all really cute, so I had to post 3 of them! She is starting to be more mobile. When we put her on her bottom, she will flip over to her belly to crawl. She hasn't actually crawled on her hands and knees, but she will push herself up. This morning she was sitting up in her crib. I guess we'll have to move her mattress down now. She still mainly gets around by scooting on her bum. The second picture is of Lauren cuddling with her blankie and sucking her thumb. It's adorable when she cuddles like this! I did notice the other day that Dylan sucks his right thumb and Lauren sucks her left thumb. I wander if it will have anything to do with which hand they will write with! Only time will tell! The last picture is of Lauren blowing raspberries. She started mimicking us. It's really fun to see the faces she makes while trying to blow! She is going to be a daddy's girl. She welcome daddy home by saying, "hi, da-da!" It is the cutest thing in the world!

I'll try to keep you posted on what we are doing, but we are busy! We are going to have a wonderful summer! Hope you are enjoying your summer, too!