Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone. Addilyn is ready to attack in her dragon/dinosaur costume.

Showing off her tail (and jumping on her bed).

Asher's first costume of the day. I saw this costume at Target when I was pregnant with Addilyn and loved it but she was too big for it for her first Halloween. Then when I was pregnant with Asher I found it on sale and bought it. It fits him (although he's just a little long for it) but he really wasn't digging the fact that his feet weren't free. So cute though, right?

This was Addilyn's contribution to her costume was the frog. It was her "dinosaur baby."

Costume attempt #2: the monkey we used for Addilyn's first Halloween. He looks pretty cute and oh so cuddly.

Can anyone guess what Tyler is?

We went to the PIM fall festival on campus. Addilyn thoroughly enjoyed the cookie she helped decorate. She wasn't really digging the hat so we ditched it and just stuck with the tiara.

No problems though. The hat and gloves found a home on someone else.

The princess and the princess dragon.

Asher thoroughly enjoyed chewing on a Heath bar. Hard candy covered in crinkly wrapping equals a baby's favorite teething toy. Who knew?

Daycation

Hello everyone! Last week was Tyler's Fall Break. He had lots of studying but we decided to dedicate one day to getting out of the city and enjoying ourselves. Welcome to our Daycation destination...Lake Geneva. This is a cute, little town just across the Wisconsin border. Some have called it the Hamptons for Chicago.


For a town of only 7000 people, it had quite the amenities. It boasts both a Walmart and Target, not to mention a couple of the largest coffee shops we've ever seen. This is the expansive Starbucks. They also had a spacious Caribou Coffee on the other end of the business district.

This is just part of the super-cute downtown area. It was filled with interesting (and quite swanky) shops of all sorts. Some of the shops were branches of stores in the higher-end districts of Chicago.

This town had tons of trees and lots of lovely tree-lined streets to show off the fall colors.

Just in case anyone was wondering, this is my dream job. (It's bad lighting, I know, but they were making chocolate turtles so I had to take a picture).

More of the color.

Asher fell asleep during our walk. He seemed quite comfortable.

We stopped for Addilyn to play in the leaves in the park that runs along Geneva Lake.

Gathering leaves.

Now throw them!

I think Mommy had just as much fun in the leaves as Addilyn did. Here we're looking for the prettiest leaf to take home.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Lake Geneva. We got to wander around a cute town and enjoy some beautiful drives through the countryside. Hooray!

Day at the Museum

Last week was Tyler's fall break so we decided to take advantage of the extra family time and visit the Museum of Science and Industry.

Lego versions of the world's tallest buildings make Tyler and apparently Addilyn quite happy.

Addilyn and Tyler explored the Idea Factory where there were lots of different experiments to explain science concepts to kids Addilyn's age up to 10.

She had lots of fun playing with these balls and came out very wet and very happy.

Addilyn working the gears on this conveyor belt. So fun.

Snack time.

Addilyn showing off her new shoes. She thinks they're pretty cool.

Addilyn thoroughly enjoyed these phones. When we left this exhibit, she had to say goodbye to each of them.

Asher's first visit to a museum.

Addilyn and Daddy playing with the model trains.

It was a super fun trip. And because it was a free admission day, we found free parking (with only a short walk) and we brought our lunch, it was completely free! Who says enjoying the city has to be expensive?

Some 6-Month Pictures

Give Me an 'A'

Wiggling & Singing

Peaceful Walk

Saturday was a fairly lazy day. We decided to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and go for another one of our City Walks. This one was in Wilmette, a very weathy and extremely quiet northern suburb. Here are the highlights:

This is the Baha'i temple in Wilmette. It is one of only 7 temples in the world for this faith and the only one in North America.

They started construction on the Chicago temple in 1920 and finished in 1952. It's made of a whole lot of white concrete. Check out that detail!

The temple is surrounded by gardens and fountains. The water in this one was so very clear. It was beautiful.

Asher is enjoying some mid-morning sun. (Who can tell which one of us took this picture?)

Wandering through the gorgeous gardens.

More incredible detail on the benches/walls in the gardens.

After the temple, we went across the street to a park that runs along Lake Michigan. Tyler got to run along these rocks. He was so happy.

Cheesy picture by the water.