Happy Fourth of July!
We have started a tradition of visiting Jason and Kristy over the July 4th weekend. The past three years, that has meant spending a hot and humid weekend in Houston playing by the pool. However, we were surprised to learn this spring that because of an ExxonMobil transfer, our 4th this year would be spent this year in Chicagoland, just outside of Naperville, in Jason and Kristy's new house! We were so excited to get up there and visit and see their new community and the lives they are building up there.
The night before we left, Luke and Eli helped me pack up everything, and Luke could not contain his excitement. He repeatedly told me that we were going to see Bowen the next day, and that we were NOT getting in an airplane this time. He was also thrilled that we were taking Dexter on the trip, and wanted to know if he would need to pet Dexter on the way to calm him down.
Here's a pic of me trying to calm him down and get him to go to bed the night before we left. He just kept saying "Bowen used to live in Texas, but he doesn't anymore!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"
The majority of the weekend we just spent playing, taking walks, and letting the kids run us ragged. Watching Luke and Bowen play right now is so much fun - they run in circles, giggle uncontrollably, and constantly copy each other in every way. Luke told me at least 100 times last weekend that Bowen was his best friend. Kristy and Jason have a park really close by their new house, so we walked there lots of times, and while the two young ones crawled around, Luke and Bowen ran around like crazy. Below is a shot of them in the middle of a unique type of tag, where they don't actually touch each other, but just run in concentric circles close to each other screaming at the top of their lungs.
Luke also drove the power wheels for the first time - previous times he has been a bit nervous to get on them, and really hasn't liked how jerky they are, but this time, he hopped right on and drove immediately in circles. It was awesome!
Of course, while trying to keep up with the older two boys, these two kiddos were hilarious. Eli has recently (within the last week) become extremely mobile (crawling and pulling up), and so he was exercising his newfangled abilities while Noah was showing him his toys and taking steps here and there as he gets closer to being a full-blown walker.
Other than playing around the house (my personal favorite...) we went to two really cool festivals centered around the 4th. The first, on Friday, was the celebration in their new hometown, which is Plainfield, IL. The celebration was at a local high school, and had bouncy houses, blow up slides, a giant play area, and best of all, every kind of truck you can possibly imagine, wide open for playing in. Luke and Bowen got to climb through fire trucks, ambulances, SWAT vehicles, tow trucks, and everything in between. He was absolutely ecstatic.
On Saturday, we went to an even BIGGER festival, in Naperville, called Ribfest. This place had two live stages with primarily country acts, more Ribs than you can ever imagine, and tons of play areas and fair rides. (By fair rides, I mean the rickety ones that look like they were grossly under-engineered...).
Kara and I were worried that Luke would be too cautious to really enjoy the rides...up until recently, he has been very cerebral about things like this - always careful to look and observe for a while before trying new things, and especially something a bit scary like his first fair ride. However, our concern was totally misplaced - Luke jumped on right away and had an absolute blast.
Walking around with Aunt Kristy at the fair was so much fun. She is the best!
The night before we left, Luke and Eli helped me pack up everything, and Luke could not contain his excitement. He repeatedly told me that we were going to see Bowen the next day, and that we were NOT getting in an airplane this time. He was also thrilled that we were taking Dexter on the trip, and wanted to know if he would need to pet Dexter on the way to calm him down.
Here's a pic of me trying to calm him down and get him to go to bed the night before we left. He just kept saying "Bowen used to live in Texas, but he doesn't anymore!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"
The majority of the weekend we just spent playing, taking walks, and letting the kids run us ragged. Watching Luke and Bowen play right now is so much fun - they run in circles, giggle uncontrollably, and constantly copy each other in every way. Luke told me at least 100 times last weekend that Bowen was his best friend. Kristy and Jason have a park really close by their new house, so we walked there lots of times, and while the two young ones crawled around, Luke and Bowen ran around like crazy. Below is a shot of them in the middle of a unique type of tag, where they don't actually touch each other, but just run in concentric circles close to each other screaming at the top of their lungs.
Luke also drove the power wheels for the first time - previous times he has been a bit nervous to get on them, and really hasn't liked how jerky they are, but this time, he hopped right on and drove immediately in circles. It was awesome!
Bowen is the master of dress-up - he has a million costumes, and wants to wear them all the time. Hulk, Iron Man, a Ninja Turtle, and Batman all made an appearance this weekend. Spiderman also came, and brought his Spiderman Race car (the John Deere...), and then, of course, there was the time when the house was on fire, and we desperately needed Firemen to come help us put it out.
Of course, while trying to keep up with the older two boys, these two kiddos were hilarious. Eli has recently (within the last week) become extremely mobile (crawling and pulling up), and so he was exercising his newfangled abilities while Noah was showing him his toys and taking steps here and there as he gets closer to being a full-blown walker.
Other than playing around the house (my personal favorite...) we went to two really cool festivals centered around the 4th. The first, on Friday, was the celebration in their new hometown, which is Plainfield, IL. The celebration was at a local high school, and had bouncy houses, blow up slides, a giant play area, and best of all, every kind of truck you can possibly imagine, wide open for playing in. Luke and Bowen got to climb through fire trucks, ambulances, SWAT vehicles, tow trucks, and everything in between. He was absolutely ecstatic.
On Saturday, we went to an even BIGGER festival, in Naperville, called Ribfest. This place had two live stages with primarily country acts, more Ribs than you can ever imagine, and tons of play areas and fair rides. (By fair rides, I mean the rickety ones that look like they were grossly under-engineered...).
Kara and I were worried that Luke would be too cautious to really enjoy the rides...up until recently, he has been very cerebral about things like this - always careful to look and observe for a while before trying new things, and especially something a bit scary like his first fair ride. However, our concern was totally misplaced - Luke jumped on right away and had an absolute blast.
Luke loved the car ride, and wanted to do that one a lot. He also really liked a submarine ride that circled the boys up and down in a big submarine. His favorite, by far, was the Froggy ride though. The guy running this ride kept sending them over and over because nobody was in line, and Luke could not get enough.
Walking around with Aunt Kristy at the fair was so much fun. She is the best!
I am very thankful that we got to spend some time up in Chicago with the Bednarko family - the 4th at the Bednarko's is one of my favorite traditions. I love that our boys get to spend time together, and are becoming such good friends. I love that Luke is coming out of his shell, and becoming the rambunctious, crazy little boy that I knew he would. I love that Bowen shows him new things and challenges him and sometimes shoves him directly in the chest. Luke desperately needs that. :)
It was a great trip, and I can't wait to head north again soon!
Cheers!
Oh - one final note - Luke is absolutely destroying the whole potty training thing. The only challenge we have now is getting him to go inside. :)
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