Old McDonald's Farm

We had a surprise visit from Aunt Gretchen and Reagan today!! The rain held off just long enough for us to go to Old McDonald's Farm at Beaver Park and see all the fun animals.












We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our youngest niece/nephew! The kids have been talking about the new baby for weeks and now that it could happen any day I get asked just about every hour if he/she is here yet. So not only was it great to see Gretchen and Reagan...but I didn't have to answer the same question every minute! :-) Josh has been praying for a little nephew because as he said, "It's old being around girls all the time." I'll remember that when he's sixteen.

Shoreline Tours & Navy Pier

Today we spent the afternoon at the Navy Pier and took a boat tour on the Chicago River. The kids loved the big boat and I have a freakishly shaped sun burn to show for it.

As we took the boat tour Josh and I said that we'd both love to live in Chicago. It truly is amazing to see all those tall buildings and the hustle and bustle of the city. Chicago is such an amazing city. But then we changed our minds when we got stuck in rush hour traffic.

Tonight we had pizza delivered to the hotel and the kids got another chance to go swimming in the pool. We've crammed a lot into just a few days and I can't believe it's already time to head home tomorrow.

I think we may need to take the next few days to catch up on sleep, though.

Museum of Science & Industry

We are in Chicago for a few days with the entire Krueger side of the family. Today we went to the Museum of Science & Industry and everyone is WIPED! Josh and Lauren just had a blast. Well, Ella did, too...when she wasn't sleeping. I swear they were like little pinballs bouncing from one exhibit to the next and thankfully we had eight adults to watch them because trying to keep track of them on my own was enough to send me into a panic attack.




Conductor Josh and Lauren!









This is a face of a child who just stole her mother's ice cream cone...after eating her own dish.




Me and Lauren right before takeoff!










I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow but I believe it's the Navy Pier!

Another Milestone

I have officially lost Lauren now! I had taken a break from weighing myself because the daily fluctuations had been making me neurotic. So...I had my annual physical this week and as of last Wednesday I have lost 40.4 pounds!!!

Here I am holding the weight I've lost!



As I struggled to pick her up in order to take this photo I still can't believe I've lost that much weight. My next milestone is 50 pounds and my goal was to lose that before the end of summer. I think I'm gonna make it!!

Poolside

After hearing the weather reports all week for today I decided that maybe the kids needed a trip to the pool. Well, I thought sitting poolside all day would be fun and the kids would enjoy a little splish splashing as well.

With Ella's sensitive skin I figured that her and Daddy could nap for a few hours and Josh, Lauren and I would head out to the pool early so that Ella and Dustin could join us later.

The sun was intense today! I slathered as much sunscreen on the kids as possible and covered myself as well as one can. Boy did we have a blast! And BOY are we wiped!! Even as I type this my eyes are only half open and I am mentally counting down the minutes until bedtime. (Seventy one minutes and counting....)

I didn't get too many pictures as we spent most of the time going down the waterslides and jumping in to make big splashes(does that ever get old for three year olds?).

Nonetheless, it was a success and no one wanted to leave. Well, I wanted to leave, but only because I had three kids making a scene about having to leave.