Isaac's first day of kindergarten!

Isaac started kindergarten today at St. Elizabeth.  He was really excited to take his backpack and lunch box.  We are so excited about how much he will learn and how much fun he will have.  He's in Miss Kostoff's class at St. Joseph-St. Elizabeth.

Isaac loved T-ball!

Isaac played T-ball this year at the Jorgensen YMCA.  This was the first time he played games.  They had practice for the first half-hour, then they played a couple innings against another team.  All the kids got to bat and run around the bases, and they didn't keep score.  It was the perfect introduction to baseball, I think.

The first week, Isaac wasn't very excited to go and was very shy, as we expected.  However, when we got there, he ran out there to his coach and did everything they told him to do.  He loved practicing in our backyard and got a lot better this summer.  Of course, his favorite part every week was the snack at the end.  When the season ended, they all got a medal :)

Visiting Ben

WWhile in Chicago, we stopped by the Lazzara's house for a visit.  Isaac and Ben were good friends at Concordia for almost 3 years.  They had a great time playing while the adults cau

Hannah being silly

Hannah and I waited at the hotel with our bags while Isaac and Dave pulled the car around.  It took him a little long, so Hannah had plenty of time to play in the revolving doors and pose for photos.  She had a lot of fun and entertained some of the bellhops.

Hannah

Hannah stopped to pose in Millenium Park near one of the scultpures. 

Building a tower with Sam

 

We met Sue, Sam and Frida downtown at the "Bean" There was a tent with children's activities in Millenium Park.  So, Isaac and Sam built a large tower, while Dave and Hannah "helped".  The tower was taller than Sam!

Hannah, Sue and Frida

Sue and Frida were very excited to see Hannah again.  Sue used to watch Hannah every day while we were at work for her first year when we lived in Chicago.  I think Frida was a little surprised and disappointed that Hannah is not a baby anymore :)

American Girl Store

We were going to take the kids up the Sears Tower (Willis Tower).  So, we took a cab over there only to find out that it was an hour and half wait to get in. We knew the kids couldn't handle that, so we headed to the Water Tower Place instead.  Isaac loved the Lego Store and Hannah loved playing with the Bitty Babies at American Girl Store.  She pushed one in a stroller and gave it a bath. 

Watching the boats

Our hotel room overlooked the Chicago River.  So, Isaac and Hannah loved watching the boats go by. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We had pizza and cake to celebrate Dave's 37th birthday! At his request, Isaac and I made a tie-dye cake.

Making Daddy's Birthday cake

Melissa was off today, so she and Isaac made Dave's birthday cake.  Dave picked out a box-mix for a tie-dye cake.  It was a lot of fun to make up 6 different-colored cake batters.  Isaac especially enjoyed licking all 6 bowls :)

Fun at Pokagon Beach

 

We drove up to Pokagon beach for the day today.  The kids had a great time playing in the sand and water!  We had a picnic lunch, played on the playground, watched the boats go by and played some more. Hannah said the slide was too hot, so she just walked down it :) The kids were so tired when we got back, they took nice long naps. 

Dave and my brother, Denny, putting up a light fixture at Mom's house

Using Isaac's computer

Max and Joyce's

We went up to Melissa's uncle Max and aunt Joyce's cottage on Lake James for the evening.  Max took us on a tour of Lake James and Snow Lake on his pontoon.  We stopped at our new lake house on Snow Lake and showed everyone around.  Then, we played in the water at their place and Andrew tried to catch a fish.  We all went out to dinner to finish off a great evening.  Dave and I are now really excited and ready to find a boat, so we can start enjoying our lake house!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry picking

Melissa took Isaac and Hannah to pick strawberries on her day off. We had a great time. Isaac was a really good picker and Hannah was a great helper. Hannah didn't even eat any! We picked over 5 pounds in about an hour.

Finally, a warm enough day for the new water table!

Isaac lost his first tooth

Isaac lost his first tooth today. He had all his teeth by 15 months, so I guess I'm not surprised that they are coming out a little early. Isaac said he wants to glue it to his dinosaur picture instead of giving it to tooth fairy. He said he'll think about it :). Can't believe he's growing up so fast!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend. Dave's dad and Melissa's dad came over for a cookout on Saturday. On Sunday night, we had dinner at Bandido's with Dave's dad.

Zoo Day!

What a beautiful May 1st!  It was 80 degrees today and Melissa's day off.  So, we headed to the zoo for our first trip of the summer.  Isaac was so excited to wear shorts and no-sleeves.  However, he got blisters on his feet pretty quickly and it was almost a bust.  He got a second wind after we saw the giraffes, and we headed to Australia for lunch and a relaxing boat ride.  Hannah was terrified of the boat and clung to me at first, but got quite used to it.  It's going to be a wonderful summer!