2 Little Chiefs

Sunday, July 26, 2015

4th of July 2015

A few days earlier I had Stella and Briggs over for a sleepover so the kids made their 4th of July t-shirts. They did a great job and I was just glad to have them done before midnight on July 3rd! Amber thought I was brave for letting 4 kids paint on shirts and encouraging their creative side to "do whatever!" I laughed and said "as soon as they got bored I sent them to Uncle Brandon and I finished all of them!" Amber and I are of like mind -- we don't like mixing play-doh colors and it's hard to watch our kids craft because we want to do it! But we let it go, take a deep breath and let them do what they want (and sometimes fix it later when they aren't looking!).

We had a cookout the night before with friends, but called it an early night because we had a big day ahead of us. My friend and I did the Firecracker 5000 run downtown. It was different route due to the flooding downtown and we didn't get to run by the giant flag by the river...I was kind of bummed about that, but we had a great race. Because we finished soooo fast we had time to go to Panera for breakfast! Then we headed to a parade, where the hubbies and the kids had gone earlier to save us seats.

That evening we went to a riverfront hotel that hosts a 4th of July celebration. They had food, games and activities. We had a front row seat to the fireworks, which were fabulous! The kids tried to sleepover in their cousins room, but they both ended up with us by midnight. We all slept in and then headed down for breakfast. Amber found us a wonderful spot outside to eat and it was a beautiful, peaceful, calm Sunday morning breakfast. I love eating breakfast outside! This was probably my favorite part of the whole experience!

They could have played this all night!

They had a band and Elizabeth could not walk by without dancing! Briggs was a willing participant!

The outdoor breakfast

Brandon and I are going to have to brush up on our American history because the kids are starting to ask questions. Thank goodness for Google (and I know that won't be the last time I say that!)

Her Majesty's Tea Room

Here is a little hidden gem that we have just discovered thanks to a dear aunt. A real British high tea experience right here in Illinois. Part gift shop, part tea room - it's just adorably eclectic! Elizabeth has already asked to go back!

Elizabeth thought it was so cool to "meet" her Queen!

The good witch was hidden inside an adorable little cottage!

Lots of hats to try on!

I just loved this chandelier!

She is kissing a frog with her big wax lips

Monday, June 22, 2015

Grant is 5!

We have decided that we only do birthday parties every other year. So this was a non-party year for Grant. We still make them feel special and do the cake and all, just not all of the extra invitees and party favors. Grant made his own theme this year "it's my birthday so I can do what I want" Ummm.... ok so we let him eat 3 donuts for breakfast and a cold hot dog for lunch, but let's not get crazy! Grant is really into golf. We went to Lou's for dinner and then to play mini-golf with Stella and Briggs.

Lou's

Let's just say 9 people playing mini golf was a circus. Bless Brandon, he actually attempted to keep score for all 9 of us! By hole 7 when Elizabeth was asked how many strokes she had and her response was "I think about 4 sounds good" and she had clearly had at least 10, he gave up on keeping score for the kids. We let at least three other parties play through, except for this horrible couple that was behind us at the end who pretty much just glared and gave us dirty looks the whole time. The kids had played on to hole 17, and Amber and I were conversing at hole 16 when this group of 4 men say "excuse me ladies, are those your kids? They are drinking the water." As in the heavily dyed blue water that runs throughout the course. Awesome. Hole 18 was the best, as the adults just sat back and watched their reactions to the balls being "swallowed" on the last hole. Grant and Briggs were on their bellies and sticking their clubs down the hole trying to get their ball back. The place we usually play doesn't take your ball on the last hole. It was really fun to watch their expressions. The once happy root beer filled bellies and mini golf enthusiast started to melt down.

In case you didn't know the proper way to measure for the correct putter...to the belly button!

Where did that ball go?!

We went home and let Grant open his gift a day early. Camping was on his bucket list, so we thought a tent would be great fun.

Despite the tornado watch that was in effect until 11pm, we set the tent up outside - even put the rain cover on. I then checked in with my local weather expert (our friend Matt) and he didn't return my text with a text, but with a call. Severe weather and lightning were headed our way. No problem...move the camp out inside! Luckily the tent goes up and down in 60 seconds, well maybe 120 seconds, but still fast. By 9:30 we were all (including Auggie) in the tent. We had one air mattress and 3 iPads, 2 flashlights and the weather radio. We watched movie on my iPad for a little bit and then 3 out of 5 began sleeping really well. At 2:30 Auggie and I threw the towel in and headed upstairs to a very comfortable bed!

On the day of his birthday we had a nice relaxing morning. We played hide and seek tag in the basement, chutes and ladders and took a swim. He had a tball game at 1:00, that he really didn't want to go to because he didn't want our family time to be interrupted. Awe! But he went and had fun.

We came home and Ima and Pops and the Campbells came over to swim. We grilled out, opened gifts, had cake and ice cream, watched the birthday DVD that my mom makes for the kids for their birthday each year and swam some more.

It was the year of Legos!

The birthday DVD

New golf clubs!

The joy and smiles of relighting candles!

Later we caught lightening bugs - a lot of lightening bugs! The hillside across the street was sparkling with firefly lights. I always remember that I had planned to host a lightening bug party for Elizabeth the weekend that I had Grant. The lightning bugs are always great in June.

We measured Grant, 3'11" and the kids wanted to sleep in the tent again. We said they were welcome to, but we were not joining in. They lasted until 3 am, when the twin air mattress got too small for both of them and they came upstairs!

It was a great day with Grant and a bonus was it was also Father's Day. A great day to celebrate all of the favorite boys in my life!

The annual birthday quiz...