Basement Egg Hunt

We let the kids have an egg hunt this weekend in the basement, mainly for something to do given the chilly temps. I filled a few eggs with little stampers that both kids can easily use and require minimal clean up. Abby does try to stamp her hands every now and then, but it dries fast and washes right off. With Brooke moved out to her new apartment, Alex decided the empty spare room was the perfect spot for his "Lego City" and I promise to get some pictures of this once he has it completely set up. He tries to sneak up there when Abby isnt' looking so that she doesn't follow him. I 've also been cleaning out the arts and crafts trunk and found more activity books than we can ever possibly finish this summer, so no need to buy more of those! Here's hoping Alex can retain all the wonderful things he's learned in Kindergarten this year. He read 2 books to ME at bedtime last night. I can't believe how many words he can sound out and recognize!

Abby

Abby is getting so big, so fast! Her hair is getting very long, so long that if it isn't in a ponytail or pulled up in some fashion, it just hangs in her eyes and she can't see. She fusses for the minute it takes me to brush it in the morning but once it is done she leaves it alone for a bit. After playing Play Dough nonstop for several days, Abby has learned her colors and is working on shapes. She can count to ten if we count with her. She loves to play hide and seek with Alex and Daddy and even likes to wrestle with Alex. We have to keep her out of wrestling matches outside between the little boys because she can't really hold her own out there yet :) Abby had her last swim lesson yesterday and we are looking forward to swimming all summer long at the pool!

Warm Weekend Fun!

Last weekend was unseasonably warm, like shorts and tee shirts warm :) We took advantage of the nice weather by being outside all day Saturday and Sunday! Alex and Abby played in the sandbox for hours both days, I guess that never gets old. Brad and Alex went fishing with Jim and Josh at the pond by the park while I took Abby to play. We had our first cookout of the season with neighbors and assured our new housemate, our dear friend Brooke, that Chicago weather can flip like a switch.

Washington, D.C.

The hilariousness of these kid-sized cheetah print robes they offered at the hotel was beyond words. Alex insisted on wearing this each night after bath, to which Abby would reply "Andy, pants!!" She calls him Andy. Alex and Aunt Jackie at Union Station.

Alex and Gigi out to dinner.

Abby and her souvenir monkey.

Alex and Grandma Kathy building with large, rubber Legos at the Building Museum.

If only we'd had this plastic bag set up on the way off our inbound flight!

Two tired tots on the shuttle bus to our car in Chicago.

For Spring Break this year, we traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit Brad's sister Jackie. Grandma Kathy and Gigi were also visiting D.C. at the same time to celebrate their "big" birthdays so it was a good time for us all to meet up and visit together. Despite chilly temps and Abby's less-than-impressive bout of motion sickness while disembarking the airplane on Tuesday, we had a lovely time on the East Coast. Alex totally digs all forms of public transportation so he is in heaven any time he goes to D.C. and the complementary milk and cookies in the hotel for the kids made his night! We visited the Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, National Building Museum, Union Station, and lots of Metro Stops and restaurants in between.