Fun with Friends and Family

A couple of weeks ago Aunt Khanh, Aunt Teresa and her boyfriend all came out to visit.  We had invited some friends over dinner and a little bit of socializing.  We met a new family with a boy the same age as Andrew and Cole, so they came over to hang out, too.

Here are the boys eating their dinner: Cole, Andrew and Gabriel.

Playing in the sandbox.

Teresa decided to play frisbee, but she has a fear of it flying into her face.  I thought these next pictures were hilarious!

Close...

Closer...

And gone!

The look of terror on her face is priceless!

Jason wowing us with his juggling skills.

Aunt Khanh brought her guitar, but we didn't take a picture of her playing.  

Andrew loves Jess!

Only one boy really needed to wash his hands, but somehow all three of them wanted to do it at the same time.

Cole hugging his friend goodbye.

Jason and Teresa

I wish I had taken more pictures while the family was here, but lugging around a camera and chasing after a 2 year old at the same time didn't sound too appealing.  So, you'll just have to believe me when I say that Andrew loved having lots of people's attention.  :)

Get out your oven mitts...

...because there's a bun in the oven!

I'm happy to announce that Dustin and I are having another baby!  We are very excited to add another member to our family and Andrew can't wait to be a big brother.  I am due March 6, 2013 which means  our baby will be born in the Year of the Snake (we were trying for a Dragon, but we didn't quite make it) but that's ok because its Grandpa was born in the Year of the Snake, too.

Please keep me and baby in your prayers and that I have a safe and healthy pregnancy!

Navy Pier

Before we headed back home, we took a trolley out to Navy Pier.  Of course, the weather decided not be as accommodating and it was 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  While we were waiting for our family to meet us out there, we enjoyed a soft pretzel.  You can see how hot it was by the color of Andrew's cheeks.

Beautiful Chicago Skyline.

Is Andrew prettier as a mermaid?

Or as a merman?

This little girl kept coming up to Andrew to say "hi."

Cousins!

Lyon Family

That last day was hot, hot, hot, but we all had a great time!

Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Sunday morning was the half marathon and everyone was pumped.  Dustin injured his Achilles a month back and it didn't heal in time for him to finish his training and run the whole half.  He wasn't planning on running, but he wanted to wear the shirt that came with his registration.  So, he found out that at mile 1 or 2, the runners would pass right in front of our hotel, so he devised a plan to run just the beginning of the race and stop at our hotel.  :)  That way, he felt he could wear his marathon shirt with pride.  :) 

The race was at 6:30 am, and Andrew and I were up by that time (we were still running on Eastern Time), so I got ready and headed downstairs to catch everyone running with the camera.

I waited 15-20 minutes and even saw the very last runner and cop car pass by, but I didn't see Dustin or anyone else.  I was so disappointed because I wanted to get a picture of him running.  Then I thought - Did Dustin keep running?  Shouldn't he be here at the hotel?  So, I went back up to the room to figure out where he went.

Yeah, well, I guess we just missed each other because Dustin was sitting in our room playing with this little turd.  Apparently, when I went outside, he was already finished.  I had exited the hotel and went right, while he was sitting to the left of the hotel and we never saw each other.  How typical.

So, while we waited for the other members of our family to finish the race, we went out for breakfast at Yolk.

While all of us are full of yummy breakfast, the other three are exhausted from their race.

Steve, Morganne, and Paula

Paula's Bon Jovi running shirt.

Hello Windy City!

Day before race day!  This was Paula's (and family) first time to Chicago, so we took them to some of our favorite spots.  One place we always have to go is Frontera.  Rick Bayless was unfortunately on vacation, so no sightings of him today.

Walking around the Magnificent Mile.

Paula is striking a pose for Dolce & Gabbana.

Or is it for JCPenney?

This street vendor made Andrew a monkey in a palm tree.  He loved it!

For dinner, we met up with my LONG time friend, Bill, who I have not seen in TEN years!  (My age is showing.)

Steve and Trevor at the Water Tower.

Goodbye Flaming Cheese!

Well, once again, it has been a month since I've posted last.  Shame on me...again.  It's been a crazy summer!  Here's a little recap on what has happened to us the past few weeks.  The week of 4th of July, our air conditioning unit went out (and of course, this had to happen during the heat wave of 100+ degree heat - thank you to the Bellomo's for letting us crash at their house) and took us 4 days to get someone out here to fix the problem; Andrew got heat exhaustion; Dustin and I were sick with sore throats and I had horrible canker sores in my mouth which prevented me from eating and talking; I restained the deck; Andrew knows where his wiener is; and Dustin has been steadily adding more items to our "garage sale" pile.  So, depending on what has been going on in your life, our month has either been very exciting or nothing special.

Which brings us up to date to last week!  Aunt Paula, Scuba Steve, Morganne, Trevor and Braydanne came up last week to visit Andrew (and us - although we are always an after thought) and run the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  Anyway, the Friday night they got here we decided to go to Santorini's for some fantastic Greek food.  Now, if you remember the last time we went to Santorini's, Andrew was deathly afraid of the "flaming cheese."  Now, realize it has been 5 months since we had dined here, so I thought maybe Andrew wouldn't be so freaked out.

He looks quite calm in this picture (pre-flaming cheese).

Still calm...

Now, I want you to look at the background in the picture below...that's right...we're outside now.  Andrew was so upset with all of the flaming cheese around him, he couldn't stop crying or shaking.  So, I had to bring him outside to calm him down and he refused to go back inside.  The owner was so nice to us and so understanding.  I asked her if I could just eat outside and she had no problem with that and even offered  to move our entire group outside to eat (even though we had already started eating) with no problem.  Andrew was much better after we situated ourselves outside.

Braydanne enjoying the atmosphere.

Still a little upset, but he's eating.

Morganne with a liquid libation.

Trevor

Aunt Paula and Scuba Steve

We still had a fantastic dinner and the customer service at Santorini's was spectacular, but I think Dustin and I are going to have to say "Good bye"  to our flaming cheese for awhile.