Lincoln Park Zoo

I am lucky enough to live by a great friend who loves my kids as much as I love hers- and the even cooler part is that our kids adore each other. We all headed out to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago yesterday and despite most of the animals being asleep, had a great time. The kids had the most fun just running around- the animals were totally secondary- but Anne & I enjoyed watching the ones that were actually awake (the polar bear and the giraffe). We had a fun day and the pictures turned out great.

Emma, Eddie, Andy, Isaac & Lo in front of the zoo entrance.

The kids riding hippos in the African Safari.
My husband's look-a-like . . . . just kidding David! (He'll probably never read this anyway!)
The kids in a tree tunnel.
The kids & I in the flower gardens- one of the prettiest places in all of Chicago, in my opinion!

Andy, Isaac & Lo fascinated by . . . . something . . . . .
Eddie, Lo & Isaac watching the polar bear watch them.
The kids pose for a picture- can you believe they really sat & let us take their picture- I can't!
The two coolest dudes I've ever met . . . .

Uncle Jason & Aunt Julie

We had a very special visit from my sister & brother-in-law this past week. They are expecting a baby on Christmas day and we just found it that it's a boy! Congrats to them- boys are so much easier! We had a great visit. We all went to the Michigan City zoo and beach on Monday. The kids loved hanging out with Aunt Julie & Uncle Jason and especially with Cooper. They left on Thursday and we were all very sad to see them go. The house was quiet and lonely after they left and Lo still asks for Cooper every time she gets up. Although he's a great dog and we loved having him here- I'm not quite ready to take that step- sorry kids, no dog for us! Thanks for visiting guys- we miss you!

Our family at the beach.
Uncle Jason & Isaac taking a walk with their dogs!
Lo loves Cooper and every now and then, Cooper loved her too!

What perfect form!
Wind . . . take me away!
Uncle Jason and Isaac chillin' out.
Aunt Julie & Lo taking a break with the Munster FD.
Jason, Julie and baby boy Griffen!

Community Pool

Lauren going down the slide. Despite what it looks like, she did love it!
The two of them taking a break for a short minute.
Follow or chase the leader- I'm not sure which!
Isaac running through the water spouts.
All done- boy that was fun!

I know, I know. We have our own pool - but we decided to check out the Munster Community Pool anyway. It was great for small kids- a walk in pool with sprinklers and water spouts and the perfect slide that they could go up and down by themselves. They had a blast and we had fun watching them!

Best Friends