The Fruits of our Labor

The swingset is finally up and functional- and we LOVE it!! Both girls could swing for hours. Dan told me the other day that when the season is over, we should put the baby swing in the garage for the winter. I promptly told him that this was a year-round activity, and if we're able to, we're going outside to play! And so far we have. Coats, hats, mittens, and boots do not inhibit swinging.

Grandma Hay has already put in a few hours of pushing swings on her Wednesday visits!

Evie gets so excited when we go into the backyard, and practically dives into her seat. One afternoon she swung for an hour and a half. (Is that good for brain development??)

Madeline can't get enough of the Underdogs!

Pre-Halloween Fun and Swingset Part 6!

Spending so much time working in the backyard left us begging for a break, so we headed downtown to a Halloween fun-fair with Grandma Schmitt.

It was great to play the games and get some candy, although I realized that we were going to have to do some coaching with Madeline before Halloween. Her candies of choice were things like Smarties and Laffy Taffy. Mom and Dad would prefer that she go for the good stuff instead, like Snickers and Butterfingers! :)

Evie just took in all the sights!

We met Cooper and Mr. Dave here too!

The final push... after a very long 6 weeks. Sunday evening in the dark and in the rain, the swingset was finally reassembled!

HOORAY!!

Birthday Party at the Park

October 17- A wonderful fall day for a birthday party in the park. One of our playgroup buddies turned 1 and we all celebrated with them. Where's Dad?? At home, working on the swingset.

Madeline plays on the teeter-totter with Mr. Doug, Rori, and Avery.

Miss Alison with Nora and Ella

... and Evie with Miss Maureen.

9 months!

October 12, 2010

The Evolution of a Swingset Part 3

OCTOBER 10:

The Evolution of a Swingset Part 2

OCTOBER 3:

Everything that had been in contact with the ground was rotten, so Dan came up with a plan to cut off the bottom 5 inches of all the legs and replace the wood. Here is a few pictures of weekend #2. We also powerwashed the wood in preparation for a new coat of stain.

My 34th Birthday

Although I'm a year older, this was truly a year to celebrate! I feel so fortunate to be in this season of life with a wonderful husband and two beautiful girls! So this year Dan took a day off work and we made a trip down to the Shedd Aquarium to spend the day together. It was a "free day" so we only had access to the main level and not any of the special exhibits, but the hour or two that it took for us to explore this was plenty for the girls.

It was also a beautiful day, so we took some photos in front of the building. If we didn't have to go home for naps, we would have loved to walk along the lakefront.

After naps we went over to my parents' house for birthday dinner. Dinner tastes so much nicer when someone else prepares it!

I really couldn't have wished for anything else!

The Evolution of a Swingset Part 1

SEPTEMBER 25:
For a while we've been planning on adding a swingset to our backyard. I tutored all summer with this purchase in mind, and we had our eye on a number of options- new or used. After checking out a few listed on Craigslist, we came upon this one. It was in need of a little TLC, but seemed to be in pretty good shape and had the options we wanted, and the price was right. So we bought it, disassembled it, and rented a truck to haul the pieces back to our house. Here are pictures of the disassembly, mainly taken to be a record of what it looked like so we could put it back together. I figured we would spend a couple weekends working on it. Ha!

Elmo!

Has it really been two months since I've last posted?? Pictures keep being taken and saved, but I have a hard time actually posting them due to the slow load time with this website. Lots has happened since the beginning of September...

But I'll just start with a cute pic of Evie with her friend Elmo. My mom got this from her friend at school- when you push his hands he sings a little song to the tune of "YMCA" and will "boogie down". She just LOVES it. Every time we turn him on she starts wiggling and wagging her head. She's a girl who loves music and dancing... just like big sister!

First Day of Preschool

Madeline is attending a "2+" program with the Naperville Park District. Tuesdays and Thursdays she goes for an hour and a half with 14 kids and two teachers. I've been so excited for her to go- and so far so good! I'm excited for her to meet new friends and have new adventures. Here she is on her first day...

... and Miss Evie and Mom get a chance to hang out, run errands, and go to Lapsit Storytime at the library while Madeline is at school. :)