Cousin Emily & Lincoln Park Zoo

We picked cousin Emily up at Midway this morning. Gretta has been counting down the days until she came she was so excited. Emily's picture is on our family calendar for the month of July and one day I over heard Gretta telling Eliza, "This is cousin Emily. She is coming to visit soon and I am so excited." 

We were all excited Emily would venture to Michigan to visit us. 

After we picked her up at the airport we headed to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a hot and humid day in Chicago, and I forgot the stroller, but we still had fun. I rented a stroller from the zoo for only $13. I was sure it was going to be at least $28 dollars because that it was it is at Disneyland, but was really happy it was only $13 because I was desperate and would have paid almost anything they asked. Without Emily and the stroller we wouldn't have made it especially when Gretta got really tired in the afternoon.

The zoo is great. It is FREE too! We saw a lot of animals and had a really great time. Eliza especially liked all of the birds.

We were sad we couldn't find the polar bear. I am sure he was hiding inside due to the heat.

It is kind of funny to see a tall building right behind a giraffe. 

This black bear had the right idea! He is enjoying a nice soak in the river.

We sure had a great day!

When we got back to St. Joe's it was still really hot and after dinner headed to the beach for a swim. The water was warm and we had a great time. What summer fun!

Blueberry Crumble

I know you all wished you were at our house tonight for dessert. Fresh blueberry crumble.

Yummy!

Blueberry Picking

Gretta took this picture and it is just too cute not to post. I am sad to say that Eliza has gotten more attached to her passy. I am not quite sure what to do about this. I have noticed almost off of the pictures of her she has it in her mouth. 

This morning we went and picked blueberries. After a great big thunderstorm last night that cooled it down it was the perfect temperature outside. We actually ran into 2 families from the ward. One of them happens to be the wife of Eric's boss. I guess that is what you get when  you live in a small town. Blueberries are easy to pick and we sure had a great time. I was however a little hard for Eliza just to get the blue ones. 

All ready to go. Isn't the lake in the back so inviting on a hot day.

Emma & Gretta showing off what they picked.

Easy picking.

This is what she got in about 20 mins. 

1.5 lbs of blueberries = $2.32  

Not bad. We are going to make some cobbler with them when we get home. Yummy!

Saturday in Chicago

We went as a family to Chicago on Saturday. We drove in and parked at Navy Pier. Our first stop was the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Once again our pass got us in for FREE. Yeah! It a a huge museum and well all had a good time. 

Eliza driving the Fire truck.

 

 Rocking out at the Street Party.

We made this skyscraper together as a family. I might be able to post the link of the whole process.

 

 Our creation along with some other families.

Poor little Eliza is having a reaction to the sun screen. That is why her eyes are so red. She still is s pretty cute bee.

Digging up some dinosaur bones.

 

 

Then we walked around Navy Pier a bit and then rode the free trolley to Michigan Ave. We walked up and down and the girls fell asleep in the stroller, so we walked back to Navy Pier. That was quite the walk. Then we checked out the ballon.

 

 

 

We then went on a harbor cruise. As we were on the cruise a thunder storm rolled into town. Luckily we were on a boat with a big downstairs area, so we stayed dry. Gretta wanted to go on the big speed boat. I am sure she would have loved it, but she would have been wet.  The cruise was just right for all of us and we stayed dry.

After the harbor cruise we enjoyed dinner at McDonald's right on the pier.  Just was we were finishing up a nice man gave us three tickets for a ride at the pier amusement park.  We headed up there and wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel, but due to the pending rain that was closed. Gretta made in on the Lighthouse before it started to rain. 

Then is started to pour, so poor Eliza didn't get to go on the carousel. We gave the last two tickets away to someone else and headed to Trader Joe's. 

This is what the sky looked like as we left the parking garage. It POURED rain for about 15 minutes. 

After a stop at Trader Joe's for all of our favorite stuff we did a drive by of Millennial park and headed home. It was a really fun day!

Should I worry if they are being quiet??? YES!

I was getting ready for Friday night date night and saw the girls run into the kitchen. The like to hid out in the small space in the pantry. They pretend it is their house etc. It has some empty garbage cans in it and sometimes I find their toys in there. I didn't think that much about it until it had been quiet for too long. I went with the camera to take a look and this is what I found at first...

You can't see Gretta because she is behind the trash cans. Notice one of the trash cans is wrapped in paper towel. I thought they were eating chocolate pudding under there until I looked closer.

Then I realized they were eating Carnation instant breakfast right out of the can. Yuck! I think my girls like chocolate as much as I do. At least this kind is suppose to be healthy.

Now it is up high in the pantry so this can't happen again.

Just another great day in St. Joe's

Friday afternoon we had lunch with Eric downtown. It was so much fun! I was really a huge treat. That is one of the best things about this place is that he is only 5 minutes away. He had to go back to work, but the girls and I went down to the beach and had fun at the Museum and carousel.

What a great life!

 Go Big Blue!!!! Who knows maybe my kids will grow up Michigan fans. 

Jeans...

The other day Eliza went into her room. I didn't think that much of it until she came out holding her jeans for me to help her put on. Then I went into her room and saw this... She went through 2 drawers looking for them. She then insisted on wearing them for 2 day even though it was 90+ degrees outside. Oh well. She sure looks cute in her jeans and BYU Cougar shirt.