Illinois Children's museum

My little shopper doing some serious grocery shopping
Eli making Gigantic, kid-sized bubbles... awesome!
Nate trying to see how far he can make his bubble stretch

This weekend we hit up another Children's museum in Decatur, IL (About an hour from here). It was darling! The big hits were the bubble making center, the grocery store, and this awesome auto repair shop. Sam's favorite was the airplane/air traffic controller station! Of course my camera ran out of batteries but I did get a couple of cute shots of the boys! We still have several winter day trips up: Chicago Children's museum, Indianapolis Children museum, and of course our favorite, the Normal, Il children's museum!

Snow, Snow, Snow and other tales of Winter!

Eli making a snow angel!
Eli teaching Nate how to make snow angels
Daddy making a Big-Time Snow Angel!
Snow Baby with Mutant hands (those are daddy gloves)
Snow monkeys
Look at that face! I want to smooch him!

Oh, Illinois! What a winter we have had! Snow, Snow and more snow followed by the coldest two weeks we have ever had the joy of suffering through! Just when we weren't sure we could take any more... Bam it hit above 25 and we were able to set the boys free in the snow! They love it so much! Look at those happy faces! My boys are serious midwesterners!

The Chattanooga Aquarium

Acting like the fish in the tanks
Crab walk
Butterfly dome
So excited to touch sharks, and stingrays, and sturgeon.

On the way home from Georgia we stayed in Chattanooga (we stayed there on the way down as well). We spent 6.5 hours in the car and then hit up the Chattanooga Aquarium. I am such an aquarium snob having been spoiled by the Monterey Aquarium and La Jolla Aquarium for most of my life but this aquarium was AMAZING!!! They had a River building and an Ocean's building. It took us more than an hour to get through each. They had the most amazing, life-like habitats. It was such a great experience for all of us!

Merry Christmas: The Georgia Edition

Family Picture: Thanks Auntie Becca
My boys on the double-trouble slide
Pop Pop and Nate cruising through the park
Momma and her boys enjoying the 5 degree weather and the sun
A Fierce Chalk Monster
Up to no good
Pop Pop and his boys
Opening stockings on Christmas Morning
My new love: Miss Emma
Gromma and Eli share in the joy of Christmas
Pop Pop and Nate chatting it up
Eli and Emma

Oh My! What a Christmas we had this year! We drove to Statesboro, GA to share the holiday with my brother, his darling wife Becca, and their little doodle-bug Emma! BABY ALERT! Yes, my niece is in fact quite scrumptious and has the most perfect little smile. She is the best baby (barring my own two hooligans of course). My parents arrived only a few hours later than we did. What a treat to spend the holiday all together. Chris and Becca have a great house on 5 acres and the boys got to be intrepid explorers (they even have a creek... so fun). The boys were complete angels on the drive and were moderately fiesty in Georgia. All in all, one of the best Christmas' celebrations! Thank you Chris and Becca and baby Emma for sharing your home with us and letting me hold that baby non-stop! My favorite memory of Eli over the holiday is his true love of Gromma and PopPop and my favorite Nate memory is that every time I held Emma he said "I don't like you momma when you hold that baby". That's my Nate!

Road Trip To Georgia: Metropolis, IL

Because we roll in style we ate lunch on our first day drive to Georgia at a gas-station Quizno's located in Metropolis, IL. Home town of superman. We are seriously the best parents ever.

Nate's Preschool Holiday Program...Adorable!

How cute are these little one's? This is Nate's 2.5 year old preschool class. My baby is the baby by three months or so, but he holds his own and wins the cute factor. He is surrounded by his "girlfriends". In order of significance: 1) Alex, 2) Rory, 3) Mary Alice, 4) Lola, and then from there they are all just general girlfriends. THis class is so special and we are lucky that both boys got to spend a year with Miss Sara and Miss Jen. The kids sang we wish you a merry christmas (the arm motion picture), frosty the snowman, and rudolph the red nose reindeer. Too cute!

Eagle Eyed Eli

Eli had his 4 year checkup on Thursday afternoon, and he did such a great job! His hearing is perfect (always a relief after all the ear drama of last year), and his vision is better than perfect at 20/16!!! Eli continue his trend of baby gigantico. He is 43 inches (95%) and 45.5 pounds (97%). Eli's doctor and I spent some time discussing how healthy he is now compared to this time last year. We are so thankful for his good health and for how much the tubes have helped him! Let's hope his 5 year check up is just as fantastic!