Dinner and Toads with the Weis and Schilb Families

I am just now getting to post somethings we did all the way back in August....We were able to get together with our wonderful friends for dinner and playtime! We don't get to see them as much as we used to, so we really treasure our time together.
We had a an extra fun surprise on the night they were over. A few toads had jumped into our window well so John went and got them out so all the kids could play. They had a ball!...well except for Hannah...she wanted NOTHING to do with those toads! :)






The kids are getting so big and have multiplied in numbers since we first met these families. It is fun to watch our families grow. We feel very blessed to have both the Weis family and the Schilb family in our lives!

Our Trip to Brookfield with friends

The triplets had a day off of school, so we headed to the zoo with our friends, Heather and Aubrey and Katie and Ronin. It was a great day to go to the zoo since it was a little cool and overcast that day...no one was there! I think there was about 30 cars in the entire parking lot! Crazy! So we had the whole place to run around and explore. It was so much fun! Unfortunately I started taking pictures after Katie and Ronin left, so I don't have any of them. And most of my photos are from them playing at the park inside the zoo. :)




This the beautiful Aubrey! She is such a sweetie pie!


Isabelle loves animals, so I thought I would let her pet a goat for the first time...and YES we used hand sanitizer when we were finished. :)

My Mom's Birthday Surprise and Disney on Ice

Yesterday was a great day! I know that may sound strange since it is a day that lives in infamy around the world as one of the worst days in US history. However, it is also my Mom's birthday, so the day has a lot of happiness too.

Since we weren't able to see my Mom on her actual birthday, we got together a couple of days before to give her the BIG surprise present....A ride in a hot air balloon! She has mentioned several times that she would really like to do that, so Jim, Brian, Jodi and John and myself all went in on this extra special gift. We hope she loves it! Happy birthday Mom!


So, on her actual birthday, we took the kids to see Disney Princesses on Ice. They had a great time! It was so great to see their eyes light up as they saw their princess friends again. They actually talked about them as if they were the exact same people we saw months earlier in Disney World...so cute!

Random cute pics...

Brody is our dare-devil

A rare, sweet moment between Emmi and Logan

They are just too cute!

Logan is playing "dentist" and the bow is his light. :)

Izzi loves her baby doll!

A hiking we will go...

We went to Starved Rock State Park on Labor Day with our friends, the Marshalls. It was a perfect day for a hike! Everyone else in the area must have thought so too since it was ridiculously crowded. John and I had talked about this experience since the babies were very little. This place has special meaning to us and since John loves to hike, we were looking forward to bringing our kids here someday. They did very well and we all had fun!

"Let's go fly a kite"...

John was playing with the kids in the backyard. Then, all of a sudden it was silent. I looked out the window and they were all gone. I decided to check out front and found them all across the street on the hill flying a kite. :) It was so cute I just had to snap a few pictures.

Pizza and Game Night

We tried this place by our house for the first time called Lugis Pizza and Fun Center. It was a great time! The pizza was pretty good and there were plenty of games the kids could play. We really appreciated the fact that the games were 25 cents each...so a few bucks went a long way! They even had Mini Bowling that the kids LOVED! We had so much fun and they each "won" a sucker that they bought with all their tickets. :)



Emmerson was so proud of herself!

Logan was so excited to knock down all the pins!

Brody was determined to get them all!

Daddy was our "bowling pro" and showed the kids how it was done.

Our First Family Baseball Game

We had a blast at the Schaumburg Flyers game on Friday night! It was so much fun! It was one of the last games of the season and it was a bit chilly, so the stands were pretty empty...which was great for us! The kids loved seeing the guys play baseball, eating popcorn and seeing all the characters that were there that night. It was Sesame Street night, so Ernie, Elmo and Cookie Monster were on hand to cheer on the Flyers! They also met the mascot, Bear. Mommy was also very excited to win the "loudest fan contest" and $50 to the Radio Shopping Show!!! I didn't even know there was a contest going on...I just thought everyone was up dancing and cheering with the characters, so when Ernie handed me the certificate, I was surprised. I found out later about the contest. :) I wasn't even that loud, but I think the cute kids helped! :) It was a great night!

Lisa and Steph come for a visit!

It is very rare that I get to visit with my 2 BFF's at the same time. They both live far away and it is always a planned event to get together. I was so excited when they were both able to come for a visit on the same night! We had a blast watching our kids play together and laughing about stories from the past. I love you guys!