Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our Christmas adventures to NC are coming to a close so I thought I would post a few photos.  I'll be able to upload more once I'm home with my personal computer but for now this should give you an idea of how we spent our Christmas vacation.  We loved seeing friends and family but wish we could have seen you all for a bit longer.  All of our get togethers were so short!  Maybe we start doing a Back family Xmas weekend somewhere???

The boys made some holiday treats with Nana.

Enjoyed Christmas together and had the excitement of Santa leaving the boys gifts on Christmas morning.

The weather has been rainy but super warm so when the showers cleared we made our way to the park to feed the ducks.

And the boys got to go bowling for the first time!

Had an afternoon/evening of fun in Mayberry......

And there was plenty of time to play games.

We had a really fun afternoon in Pulaski with our aunts, uncles, and cousins.  With five little ones it was really fun to watch their excitement with gifts and to see them attempt to somewhat play together or at least near each other.  I know there was a photo taken of all the kiddos but we didn't get that on our phones so we don't have a copy that is easy to upload right now.  I'm guessing Boppa got a shot on his camera but if any of you reading this have a copy that can easily be emailed to me.....please do!

Our family is heading back to Chicago tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that traffic is light and weather is clear!  Hope Santa was good to all of you and that you were able to relax and spend time with family.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oh, and I think the new year's resolution for each of you should be to visit Chicago in 2016.

Christmas is Almost Here!

Is everyone loving the Christmas season like we are??!!  I never thought the love of Christmas would be genetic but Zach truly loves everything about Christmas just like I do.  He was so excited to help decorate!  Gunnar just likes anything Zach likes so time will tell if he loves the holiday as much as we do or not but for now he is a great sport. 

We can't wait to see everyone in the Southeast in a couple of weeks!  Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday Zach & Happy Thanksgiving!

Zach is 5!!!  Can you believe it?  Zach has had a week full of excitement as he has built up to his birthday.  A few months ago he decided that he wanted a purple superhero party so that's exactly what he had last Friday.  We had his preschool classmates along with family join us to become superheros of our own.  Each child received a superhero cape and got to go through some superhero training before fueling up on superhero food of pizza and cupcakes.  It turned out great and I think all the kids had fun!  I hope the photos give you an idea of the experience.

The boys have loved having Nana and Boppa here to celebrate and play for the week.  So the whole week has felt like a party.  Today was Zach's actual birthday and since it is Thanksgiving I thought it would be fun to have a birthday morning and eat cake for breakfast.  Instead....Zach informed me that he wanted his cake after his turkey and vegetable dinner and he wanted to share it with everyone.  Silly me!  So, we opened presents this morning and then had cake with the whole family.  

I think everyone has had fun and we are all tired now after a great Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Boppa's house.  We hope you all had a fun Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy some fun, relaxing or down right silly time with family.    Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Halloween from the Bat Cave

We hope you all had a fun night of costumes and candy!  Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun

It is officially fall here with cool temps and colorful leaves.  I'm also officially behind on updating this blog.  Sorry.  I'm sure it actually hasn't bothered any of you that I'm behind but it bothers me.  Rich makes fun of me for not really doing a baby book for either boy so this is my best attempt at keeping a record of some of the early childhood memories.  If you don't want the email updates just let me know and I'll take you off the list. 

Here are a few shots we have taken in recent weeks of what the boys have been up to.  Thankfully our amazing nanny, Gloria, takes lots of photos and helps us stay up to speed on the boys' activities.


Gunnar is turning into quite the funny boy.....

Ready for swim lessons!

Touch-a-Truck event

 

Where's Waldo with Nana!  Good thing Zach knows where Waldo is on every page.  Not sure Nana would have found him.

  

I think these two may actually like each other.

Little helpers at dinner time.

Local Friday night lights at Evanston High School.

 Fun at the park with Vincent and Gloria!

And finally.......look at this Ham!  PK4 school picture.....

Back to School........and a Month of Firsts

Today was the first day back to school for Zach and he handled it like a pro!  I think he was a little excited to see his teacher and classmates (both of which were pretty much the same as last year).  He looks so much older in this photo compared to last year's first day photo.

In the past month we've had a few firsts..................

We had our first La Vigne / Nieland family vacation.  In the past my friend Autumn and I just planned adult vacations without the kids.  This time we took the whole clan to Saugatuck, MI and had a blast.  The boys are relatively the same age and hit it off big time.  Zach is still asking when we will see his best friend Wes again.

I gave it a shot and planned my first block party.  We have them on our street every year but some how I ended up in charge this year.

Zach got his first pair of cleats and shin guards and started up with his first official soccer team. 
Go Roaring Stars! 

And lastly Rich had his first day at his new job!!  We are so excited!  I should have taken a photo of him on his first day but not sure he would have really been on board with that.  Ha!  You will just have to imagine it.

I hope you are all doing well!