Early Eastertide

For Palm Sunday, the kids had an unusual parade at church ... complete with sunglasses and a VW bug made out of papier mache.

On Saturday the 22nd we had our 6th annual Easter Egg Hunt, that was held indoors for the first time. The 5 inches of snow we got on Good Friday was somewhat prohibitive to hiding eggs in the yard. We still managed to have hot dogs on the grill and gave away a lot of sugar along with the prizes. George was thrilled that his friend Paul came over - and Paul was happy with the bug eyes he grabbed from the prize table.

Easter Sunday was a full day with brunch at church and afternoon dinner. We honored the local Polish tradition of kielbasa and pierogi with our menu. The kids had fun hunting for eggs at church too. Just what we needed - more sugar!

We're having a good week for spring break even though we sure wish it was warmer! Riding bikes through the snowbank can be a little challenge. Maybe it will finally be warm by summer when we go to Arizona for Aunt Cara's wedding! :)

Fun times in the big city

A few photos of the Chicago birthday trip for Estelle - one settling down on her last night of being seven in the hotel room after dinner at Water Tower Place's food court; a couple at brunch at American Girl Place (cinnamon rolls were yummy); swimming in the hotel pool; and the view from atop the John Hancock Tower. Dinner at Maggiano's with Uncle David was delicious, though we didn't take pictures there. We stopped in Elkhart on the way home to visit for a little bit with George & Lauri and made it to the soccer game on time Sunday. Estelle decided she wants a mini-van ... hope she saves her (now $2 / week) allowance! We were so happy that Grandma Muffin, Aunt Kathy, and Cousin Kate could join us for the girls' weekend in Chicago - and thanks to everyone else who sent spending money too!

Next time we go we'll have to visit museums and take in a Cubs game with the boys.

More George News

So here's some other pictures from Florida, not too different than the previous ones you've already seen, but I love showing off George at the beach in January!



And now, George's debut of THE FIRST LOST TOOTH! This actually took place on February 10. He pulled it out himself and the tooth fairy came that night to leave him big bucks. The tooth fairy's name was Edward, and Edward's comment about the tooth was "small". (Grandma Muffin had given George a tooth fairy box for his nightstand a loooonnnggg time ago and it has a little pillow inside it to place the tooth, then a card for the fairy to sign, date, and comment.) I think we believe the tooth fairy is a male based on the Tim Allen Santa Clause movies that we love to watch.


Figured I ought to post these pictures before I take more of Estelle's big weekend. She's all set for school tomorrow with her giant chocolate chip cookie (soccer ball frosting) - for 32 people. I think she's mostly looking forward to no longer being the same age as George. Gotta go pack for Chicago!

Winter News

Pelican at the pier that didn't fly away ...
Chocolate cake! Yummmm

Windy day at Grandma Winky's condo.

Lunch with Grandma Winky at Whale's Rib.

We had a great trip to Florida for George's 7th birthday. We rode in First Class on the way there (lucky us!) and he started calling the coach seats "second class". Swimming, beach, and chocolate cake were highlights. One cool day out of 4 so we went to Gumbo Limbo and looked at sea turtles and sharks instead of sitting by the pool. George and Uncle George showed off their abilities to touch their tongues to their noses and we had a good dinner with everyone at Bobby Rubinos.

Little Estelle stayed home ... but she's looking forward to her trip to Chicago next weekend!

Loads O' Pictures - Part 3

Sunday morning December 23 George was "Kid #1 - Lead Shepherd" and Estelle was "Assistant Director" in our church Christmas program, a play within a play called "It Wasn't the Hilton, You Know". I don't think shepherds in Biblical times wore fur lined Crocs but they are all the rage in 2007. After the play and a few bites of cake we hopped in our rental Cadillac (not so great) and drove to the cousins' in Indy.

John got tackled and attacked by these hooligans.

Then they celebrated their great victory over Daddy / Uncle John before pigging out on hot dogs in crescent rolls. And finally, the 5 cousins posed for the moms' cameras ... somehow Chris snuck in higher than George on the stairs or else they'd be in age order too.

We went on to spend Christmas in Springfield with Uncle David, Gramma R, Gumpy and Grandma Muffin (and 2 big dogs). Alvin & the Chipmunks movie was our Christmas Day activity - and George does a great impression of Theodore singing the chipmunk version of "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me..."

Back at home, the adults had a night out while the kids and friend Jenny played non-stop Wii, then the next night we joined Dan, Sara and Sydney to see Lights before Christmas at the Zoo (even though it was after Christmas) and ate at El Salto. New Year's Eve took us to a surprise party for a friend who is turning 40 this Sunday so everyone also sang to John - who has long since passed that milestone! He got bacon buns and beer for his birthday, so generally speaking, 2008 has been a good year so far!

Loads O' Pictures - Part 2

Here we are celebrating Christmas. John sent an e-mail to Santa and he came a little bit early as we headed out to Indiana and Illinois on the 23rd after our Christmas pageant at church. George is showing his new DS Lite (which he wanted so he could play Pokemon Diamond and Pearl) - but it has taken a back seat to the Wii - a BIG hit!! Santa also brought a monkey (now dubbed "Bananas") for George and an elephant ("Elley") for Estelle. It is pretty amazing how Santa knows their favorite animals. Actually Estelle also got a carved elephant that now has a place of honor on her nightstand. Thanks to everyone for the presents!

One more post will wrap up our 2007 photos... on to Part 3!

Loads O' Pictures

First set of pictures from the Children's Message at church - raptly paying attention of course.

Second set from the Christmas Pageant at school. George played the cymbals in one of his songs and Estelle was one of 3 "featured" singers. George had some kind of chapped lip thing going on so it is not the perpetual chocolate face you're seeing.

Think I'll do the next round of pics in Part 2. Happy New Year!