Chicago and My Bestie

At the beginning of the month I flew to Chicago to meet up with my best friend, Tricia. We walked in the Cancer Survivor 5K.  She is a thyroid cancer survivor.

It was fun being in the city again together and we had great food and lots of fun shopping.  The absolute best part of our weekend, though, was the Segway tour we took of the lakefront on Saturday.  A huge storm came up just as we started out and we got soaked.  Despite the gale force winds and my lack of coordination and balance, we had an amazing time and by the end my stomach hurt from all the laughing.

Waiting for the train, trying to take a selfie.  This is pretty much what we looked like the whole time.

 

Lemonade Stand

Levi and Milo had been looking forward to running their own lemonade stand. Last Friday we had a free morning and they worked hard getting it set up.


We took advantage of the fact that there was an estate sale going on just outside our cul-de-sac. We loaded up the wagon and our neighborhood's first pop-up shop was up and running.

We sold a lot of lemonade to each other but they also had several generous customers.

Summer Nights

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Cutie Pie Nephew Charlie had his first birthday at the end of May.  His party was a smashing success at the "Farm Park".  My boys are still talking about it.  It might have been the most fun they've had there and if you've read this blog for any length of time you know that is saying something.

I was on a previously scheduled trip to Chicago and missed the festivities.  You can see more pictures of all the fun here.

Floriday- Time to Head Home

The kids posing in the 'Oxford' t-shirts Nana brought back for them from a recent business trip to England.

Waiting to board the plane and head home.

This is how Levi summed up the weekend in his journal.

Florida- Celebrating Roebin's Birthday

While there, we had a small celebration in anticipation of Roebin's first birthday.

The tower of candies was a labor of love by Kelly and is a part of the traditional Korean first birthday.

Singing.

Cake!

Yay!

Presents!

Is it strange that I want to cover that foot with kisses then put it in my mouth??

What a beautiful boy.

Here are some pictures from Roebin's Dol, a traditional Korean first birthday, which took place after they got back home to Boston.

Florida- Sunday

Sunday's service featured a gospel quartet. They were selling cds and camouflage hats that said, "I Jesus." Nana bought some for all the kids.

A huge thank-you to my parents who sponsored the trip.

I like going places with this guy.

I love seeing my brother in the uncle role.  Unsurprisingly, he is awesome at it.

Ruby was the sweetest babysitter.  Roebin was quite attached to her.

More snuggles.

Our traditional photo taking spot:

Florida- Briana and JJ Get Married

The reason for our trip to Florida was the wedding of my cousin Briana. The big kids were part of the wedding party. It was a lovely, happy day.

OK, SERIOUSLY, HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THIS COUPLE??

I love this picture.

The little boys were staying close to the groomsmen as to be available to the photographer for pictures.  I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were all dressed up and get a picture with my boys.  They became obsessed with the pinecones which made me really giggly.

"Just put the pinecones down...yes all of them...you can play with the pinecones after we take a picture...yes, ALL of the pinecones...please smile normally, no that's not normal, that's not a normal smile either...open your eyes, please.  PUT THE PINECONES DOWN."

Close enough!

On a side note- the boutonnieres for the ring bearers were accidentally omitted.  The wedding coordinator handed me an extra corsage and said, "Can you do anything with this?" I looked through what was unlocked in the church office. Using scissors and mailing labels Kelly and I cobbled three boutonnieres together.

Ruby and Levi stood for the ceremony on stage.  Their absolute favorite part was getting to link arms and come down the aisle together.  Levi put a lot of practice into learning how to offer his arm to Ruby.  It was so sweet.

AND THESE TWO, SO BEAUTIFUL!!

Excuse me, I need to faint now from the love and the sweetness and the beauty.

Poor, sweet Ben.  My boys love him so much and the way they show it is to manhandle him with hugs constantly.

Doesn't Roebin look like one of those dolls you can buy on QVC?  Poor kiddo was not feeling totally well.

Levi took this picture of the happy couple.  That reminds me, I should see if they'd like an enlargement of this one.

Milo took this one.

SO HANDSOME.  I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS MY LIFE.

Florida- Sunshine

It was so fun to see Roebin and all his tricks. He's now walking and talking and signing and being incredibly cute.

All the big kids gave him attention.

All ready to rehearse to be ring-bearers.

These kiddos are all over the place in their sleep.  I used to be the same way.

There were a few dinosaurs outside our hotel.

Milo loves it that Roebin is the baby and he is the big boy.

Ruby took such great care of Roebin.