Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!

Mom & Dad's anniversary is coming up on Tuesday but because Mom is taking the bar that day, they decided to celebrate on Saturday, so Grammie and I hung out at home while Mom & Dad hit the town.

The town we live in is very small, but one of the cool things about it is that it has tons of good restaurants. On the weekends our normally sleepy town comes alive with people and cars as everyone pours in for some great dining experiences. With so many good options to choose from, Mom & Dad started their night with dinner at the Sage Grille here in town. They said it was very good and really liked the atmosphere, too. The only thing was that Mom decided she does not like cucumber soup!

After dinner, they headed a few miles south to a place called Ravinia Festival. Ravinia is a music venue dating back to the beginning of this century. Currently, it is the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and also sees modern acts like Sheryl Crowe and the Beach Boys. Learn more at http://www.ravinia.org/.

The coolest part of Ravinia, however, is how you experience it. The musicians perform in a pavillion and you can sit in the pavillion if you want, but it is also surrounded by a huge lawn area with speakers that broadcast the music from the stage. The way to do it is to bring your own picnic, wine, blanket, chairs, whatever you want and listen to the music from the lawn. For some people this is no regular picnic, either. Mom & Dad saw lots of people with full tables of food and candleabras! Here's a picture to give you an idea of how many people were there.

Mom & Dad brought wine and dessert for themselves. They said the weather was perfect and the music was fantastic. The orchestra was performing Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand," and not only was it the orchestra, but also a choir, a children's choir, and several more performers totaling around 500 people on the stage!

The only disappointment was that it was over too soon. The symphony was about an hour and a half, so when it was over at 9:00, Mom & Dad looked at each other like "now what?" Well, they found a great answer to their question on the way home. Our town is having a carnival this weekend so, dressed in their dinner clothes and all, Mom & Dad stopped in at the carnival! Here are a few pictures from the ferris wheel and tilt-a-whirl!

We go to Florida in just three days, so stay tuned for lots of pictures and stories from the Sunshine State!

Countdown

One day until Grammie comes to visit!

Two days until Mom & Dad celebrate their anniversary early!

Five days until Mom & Dad's real anniversary and Mom takes the Illinois bar!

Six days until WE GO TO FLORIDA!!!!!

As if that wasn't enough to get you super-duper excited, check out this picture of me on the big boy swing ALL BY MYSELF!

My Grammie is coming on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just thought you'd like to know.

Look, Mom....FEET!!!

Mom says I've discovered my feet, whatever that means. I just know that when I bring my legs up, there are these things on the end of them and Mom and Dad call them feet. They also call them footsies and feetsies, but I think that's just their grown up way of trying to be cute.

Mom says I should give everyone an update on some of the cool stuff I am doing now. Besides exploring my feet, I am trying very hard to sit up. I can sit up supported by my arms, but I tend to fall sideways, so Mom has to put her legs on either side of me to keep me afloat. I also want very badly to go somewhere and whenever Mom puts me on my tummy I get very frustrated because I cannot crawl yet. She says that's why she has to put me on my tummy though, so I try to muddle through it for a few minutes before completely freaking out.

I am also an expert at big boy food now. I can eat cereal, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. Today I get to start trying fruit! I've also started trying to drink out of a sippy cup. I get the whole sippy cup thing, but I have a hard time lifting it up to my mouth, so Mom has to help me. We have sippy cup practice every morning after breakfast and Mom says I will be holding it by myself in no time.

Mom says she thinks I would probably eat anything she gave me. That's why she finally boxed up all my 3 month clothes the other day. She says I am growing like a weed! I can still wear some of my 3-6 month clothes, but those 6 month clothes sure do feel nice.

Raise your hand if you know what an exersaucer is! Well, I do because I am an exersaucer master. Mom says it's funny that a few weeks ago when she first put me in it I would just lean forward and couldn't reach any of the toys. Now I own that exersaucer!!! Here are a few pictures of me at work:

Tiiiny Bubbles...

Caught by the paparazzi...

Pigging out at the hippest restaurant in town...

Passed out on top of a gorgeous (but married) woman...

Wearing an awfully wet loin cloth...

Wearing an embarrisingly small hat...

oh wait...

4th of July and More

This weekend was my very first 4th of July, but that's not all! My Grandpa Al and Grandma Gail came down to visit so we've been very busy explorers!! I've also been learning all kinds of great football moves from Grandpa. Look out Adrian Peterson!

First, here are a few more pictures of me from the 4th.





That night we went into town for the fireworks. When we arrived there was a battle of the bands going on, so we got to listen to some good local music. Mom really liked one of the bands called Maq, but they didn't win and Mom says they got hosed. One of the songs had a fun beat, so Mom and I were doing a little dancing. Here's a little video of our moves...




Mom and Dad were a little worried about how I would react to the fireworks. Before they started, I was feeling pretty tired and being fussy. Mom had just gotten me calmed down when the fireworks started, so when that first boom came Mom let out a really big groan. But it turned out she didn't need to worry at all. I was completely AMAZED by the fireworks. I didn't even flinch at the booms! Mom turned me to watch and it ended up that everyone spent more time watching me watch the fireworks than watching the fireworks themselves! Overall, we all agreed it was a great 4th.



The next day we all loaded up for adventure. First, we headed out to see Lake Michigan. Our house is only about 2 miles from the lake, but there isn't any public access, so we had to drive to a nearby state park. Mom thought the lake was beautiful but wants to make it clear that no matter what they call it, it IS NOT just like the beach!


One of the cool things was that instead of having shells, the shoreline was filled with smooth stones. Mom took some pictures for you all to see and also made sure to dig her toes in too.
After the lake, we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We got there kind of late in the day, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time at the gardens, but Mom got a few pictures of some the beautiful flowers.






They also had a really neat miniature railroad garden. The garden was filled with tiny trains running through small-scale versions of American landmarks. Mom and Dad really liked seeing the replica of Pike's Place Market in Seattle since that was one of their favorite parts from their honeymoon. They definitely want to take me back to the see the trains again when I'm a little older. Here are a few of the features from the railroad garden.

Can you believe that Mom didn't take a single picture of me that day? CRAZY!!! Guess you'll just have to check back soon for some more pictures!

Happy 4th...er...5th!!!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I would have said so yesterday but I was very busy celebrating our country's birthday! I'll have more pictures and stories to share later, but here's a quick sneak peek:

Play Ball!!!

I know I just updated yesterday, but I just wanted to say GO RAYS!!!!!

Tune in to ESPN tonight to see the Rays SWEEP the Red Sox!!!

Minnesoooota

Tuck in for my longest post ever, folks. But, before I tell you about the great state of Minnesota, did you see that my last post got 2 COMMENTS?!?! Cha-ching! I am a comment stud! Keep 'em comin'. (p.s. Eva Baxter, I'm so glad to have at least one faithful reader who is not related to me!)

Anyhow, this weekend our family (minus Bushie Cat, who is done with car trips for awhile) packed up and headed north to the land of my ancestry: Minnesota. We had a very busy weekend scheduled and we had a lot of fun!

Before we could get to Minnesota, however, we had to drive through Wisconsin.


I am a little confused about that state, though. Mom says it is called Wisconsin and comes near the end of the alphabetical list of states, but Dad says it comes near the beginning because its official name is "Dumb, Stupid Wisconsin," which puts it right after Delaware, I guess. Whatever the name is, Mom thought Wisconsin was a very pretty state. There are lots of hills, some even big enough to have skiing in the winter! And we saw some cool rock formations too, like this one...


After I long trek through Wisconsin we finally made it to Minnesota.


The first thing we did was to stop at my Grandpa Al's and Uncle Jason's office. It was a very special stop because it was the very first time I got to meet Grandpa Al! He had a special visitors name tag waiting just for me at the front desk, too.


After visting for a little while we got back in the car and drove to Brainerd to see my Aunt Laurie and my cousins (and a bunch of other people too, including my Yia Yia!). I was not too happy about getting back in the car. Mom and Dad say that was the very worst part of the whole weekend.

The next day I got to go to my first wedding! Dad's best friend from elementary school, Dean, was getting married to his beautiful bride, Tressa. The ceremony was at Dean's parent's house. Their backyard had lots of rocks and flowers, so it was the perfect setting.


I was very good during the ceremony even though it was like 60 degrees outside (in June!). I ate a bottle and then about the time Dean & Tressa lit the unity candle I blessed their wedding with a present in my pants.

What's that smell?


Besides getting to see Dean & Tressa get married and meet their adorable son, Jackson, Dad was also excited to see some of his friends from elementary school again. Before we left they all got together for a group shot.


The wedding was also a great opportunity for something that rarely happens: a picture of me with Mom! She is always taking the pictures, so she was excited when Dad picked up the camera to snap one of us.


Congratulations, Dean & Tressa. Your wedding was beautiful and we know you will have an even more beautiful marriage!

After all of that our day was still only just beginning! We headed back to Aunt Laurie's house in the afternoon for a party celebrating my cousins' graduation. Heather and Michael are twins and they graduated from high school this year, so their mom threw them a great big bash to celebrate. To be honest, I slept through most of the party, but Mom made sure to get some pictures.

They had karaoke at the party and Michael & Uncle Jason entertained the crowd with something called "Ice, Ice Baby."


Dad calls Heather "the Beer Drinker," but he says it's not for why you'd think. Here they are telling each other secrets during the party.


It rained most of the day, but that didn't stop the fun. Even Aunt Laurie got into the act!

Congratulations, Michael & Heather. We know you'll have a blast in college!

That day was also something called Summer Fest in Pine River (those of you who followed my other blog will remember that Pine River is the town where Dad grew up), so that evening I hung out with Yia Yia while Mom & Dad went up the to the Summer Fest Street Dance. Not only was it a street dance, but it was also a reunion of the Wilson Wildcats, Pine River's very own four-man football team. Here's a team picture...


Wasn't that a lot of stuff for one day? But that was only Saturday! On Sunday, the three of us (plus Uncle Jason) drove down to Grandpa Al & Grandma Gail's house to visit with them. My Grandpa was very excited because he got to have all three of his grandchildren there at the same time. My cousin Jett was born only five weeks after me, but as you'll see, he may be younger but he definitely has me beat on the size scale! That day we took some very special pictures in our matching John Deere hats.






We had a lot of fun in Minnesota, but I think all three of us were glad to get home on Monday. After all, we had a very busy weekend and we missed Bushie Cat a lot! We sure did have fun, though. Hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip! There are more pictures on our Shutterfly site: http://www.katieandadamshores.shutterfly.com/