Idaho!

After Chicago, we were home for a couple weeks, and then off again to lake coeur d'alene where Ben has some family friends that own a lake house that Ben's parents are hopefully going to share a part of. The Blankenships and Grants were able to join us for several days of beautiful sun, tons of fun, and unforgettable memories. I think the biggest thing we learned was how wonderful it is to vacation with friends. The kids entertained each other so well, we got some great alone time at night to laugh and enjoy uninterupted conversations, and everything is just better being surrounded by people you love. Ben's parents and the Cooks were amazing and generous hosts, making a ton of effort to make things safe for the kiddos and ready for such a big group of people. They didn't even seem to cringe when toys were thrown off the balcony, endless rocks and sticks made their way inside, and the noise level almost always at a constant high pitch yell with the amount of business that 4 kids under 5 bring.

There were endless amounts of things to do.. we could have stayed many more days. But here's what we did fit in:

Several trips down to the beach:

Time on the kayaks including each couple getting to go out exploring sans kids!

Ben getting to sail .. even if it is a tiny boat

A trip into downtown coeur d'alene for some fun times at the park and toy shop:

Special times around the lake house:

An amazing bike ride along the lake. 

Ben took up the miming profession:

The largest scoops in Idaho apparently :O 

A boat ride complete with toddler driving, wake boarding, and tubing:

A constant stream of laughter in the evenings over wii dance, Matt calling the wrong state to ask a restaurant what time they close & if they serve dessert, and funny stories.

Thanks again Cooks and Crowls for such a memorable trip!

Chi-town

In the middle of July, we ventured to the midwest for my cousin Kevin's wedding. I was a little nervous about the flight because it was longer than any flight we've taken, and 17 months is fairly unpredictable when it comes to behavior :) I got even more nervous when the man sitting on the aisle seat sat down, immediately put on his headphones and apparently fell asleep. Things went pretty smoothly until Colter decided to chuck is crayon right onto the crotch of the sleeping man. I tried to encourage Ben to remove it, but he didn't seem to think that was a good idea. So the man slept on, apparently not phased by the missile that was launched at him. Colter then threw a crayon that somehow managed to go through the crack in the seat in front of us. He had already proceeded to grab the ladies hair on several occasions, so we weren't on the best of terms. She too did not notice the flying object. So there we sat, with two of our crayons perched on our fellow passengers. Apparently the man on the aisle was really dead to the world because at the end of the flight, he took off his headphones and looked over at us and said "wow, what a fantastic traveler! I didn't hear him the entire time!" I just smiled and tried to soak in the comment, and also wondered .. did you not hear him opening and shutting the window shouting "bye bye" a million times? Did you not hear him scream "UPPA" when he wanted to turn off and on the light 6,000 times? You must not have seen him chuck a book full of stickers over the seat behind him. Why yes, he is a great traveler, now I'm going to pass out from exhaustion.

Anyway, on the first day, my mom blessed us by watching Colter most of the day so Ben and I could take on the city kid-less style. We only had Ben's camera phone, so the pics aren't the best quality, but we had a blast. We made a stop for deep dish pizza.. how wonderful to not panic that it takes 30 min. to cook a pizza! After lunch we ventured to the Field museum. We could have spent a lot longer there. What a cool place!

To get to downtown from Arlington Heights, we got to take a train ride. We were all excited to experience this with Colter!





The wedding was located in a fantastic hotel! I'm talking the type of hotel that has free zumba classes, free wine/appetizers EVERY evening, thick towels, cool decorations, etc. Colter's favorite part was that two L tracks were really close to our hotel and could be seen outside our window. This is pretty much what we did every time we were in the hotel room. He would see a train and then frantically make the more sign and say choo choo choo choo in the cutest voice imaginable.

                

               

During the days we were downtown, we ventured to the bean and fountains, and took a dip in Lake Michiagn, one of my favorite moments of the trip.

W

I also had a blast taking pics of my favorite newly married couple, my bro and his wifey Kelsey. We walked around the city, and I acted like a super professional photographer :) I still can't get enough of her dress!

Ben was an amazing hubby and daddy and took care of Colter so I could go to the wedding and enjoy myself. We were going to try to take him to the ceremony, but after a slight melt down in the elevator down to the wedding, they opted to take a train ride around the city.. What a good poppa. The wedding was amazing. So many beautiful details from the gorgeous flowers, to the live band, to the harpist during the ceremony. One hilarious moment was when I brought a plate of food upstairs to Ben and I tricked the people in the elevator that I was a professional wedding crasher.

All in all, a FANTASTIC trip to the windy city!!

catching up!

Man I feel behind in the blogging world! Time for a major summer catch up post! We've been super busy soaking up the sun that we've been blessed with for the past month. Here are some of our fun adventures!

Mary & Greg stopped in on their way to Idaho for a weekend. We checked out Remlinger Farms with the Heavilands. What a fun place! Thanks Nana for the groupon!

We went on a great "choo choo" ride, which was likely Colter's favorite since that is his favorite thing these days.

It was so fun that Colter was able to do the majority of the rides including a pony ride!

He also went on a canoe ride with his cousins and I just about jumped over the fence and into the water when I thought Colter was going overboard. Really he just wanted to touch the water and break away from James' death grip.

We also tried out a new park called OO Denny Park. It was a fantastic park with wide open spaces, lots of rocks to throw, and plenty of water. 

We've seen caspar babypants twice this summer. The first time was at a UVillage summer concert series where Colter took a picture with the UW husky. I wasn't sure what he'd think of a mascot, but of course the fact that it was a dog helped! 

I am a HUGE fan of libraries. I think my love started back when I was a kid and I would participate in the summer reading programs. I think they are absolutely fantastic. My feelings about libraries went up another notch after going to a carnival put on for FREE at a local library. Free train rides, bouncy houses, stickers, crafts, story time, bubbles, chalk, and even free tattoos. (Colter looked like such a rebel with his book reading otter tattoo). 

One of my favorite highlights of the summer was going to see the Blue Angels. I've always wanted to go, but i've been intiminated by the crowds. My sis has the brillant idea to go on a practice day. Still busy, but not overwhelming. We camped out at a beach, and got an amazing show. Colter also loves planes and can spot them even when they're super far away. I need to record the sound he makes but it's basically like a loud rocket. 

One weekend we went to the Magnolia Summer Parade. My sister had described the parade as the "best parade ever" so we were pretty stoked. It was QUITE an upgrade from Edmonds' advertising parade. The only advertising really in this one was a bank that was handing out free ice cream so I'll take that advertising! The kids loved it! 

I wish I took more pictures at our various play dates, but we've been having lots of fun at different friend's houses playing outside in the water, and just enjoying the sun! Other than all this fun, I've pretty much been soaking up my days wandering around with this little man