LA

This weekend, we went to LA for a friend's wedding. Kyle & Emily came as well. We think it was their first trip to LA. They had a blast at the wedding, dancing up a storm. And of course, they loved staying at the hotel because they could go swimming.

Post wedding ceremony running around the golf course. I suppose this is what you get when you ask 3 year olds to sit still for 30 minutes... the energy just builds up and it has to come out at some point!

Kyle & his buddy Cooper cuttin' it up on the dance floor!

Kyle slows down for a second to dance with Emily

The four of us did a nice dinner one night in Beverly Hills and Kyle & Emily did great! They both colored, ate and behaved very well. It was pretty momentous!

Kyle checking out what was supposed to be cream of tomato soup but turned out to be carrot soup. It was still good, but hard to wrap your head around when you are expecting tomato.

Yes, Miko & Seal went to dinner as well as a little good behavior insurance policy.

And the dessert at Diddy Reise, another good behavior insurance policy. Nothing like an ice cream cookie sandwich, freshly made, and milk.

Blueberry picking

Saturday was surfing dogs and Sunday was blueberry picking in Temecula. Kyle & Emily have been asking to go blueberry picking for some time now. They loved strawberry picking so we tried our hand at blueberry picking as it's only about an hour drive north from us for some fresh, ripe blueberries. And what fun it was!

Yep, I think this is a good one!

See blueberries grow on bushes

This is so much fun!

Yea, tastes good!

Very meticulous

Kyle was all about getting into the bushes to seek out the best blueberries.

After blueberry picking, we went over to a winery for some tapas lunch. One of the things we ordered was a bruchetta that had anchovies on it. The waiter put it down in front of Emily and immediately apologized for putting it there because there is no way a little kid would eat that. Little did he know, Emily loves those little white salty fishies!

The view from the winery.

Surfing dogs

Back in San Diego, we went to the Surfing Dog Competition in Imperial Beach. No, that is not a joke, there really is a surfing dog competition! Just google it! It was quite a sight to see! Despite it being quite chilly, the kids had fun watching the dogs surf and then running to the waves and then running from them just before they could get wet.

All bundled up. Emily in Jeff's jacket, Kyle wearing the sweatshirt I was wearing. He had on shorts, but his jacket wasn't cutting it and his legs were cold.

What are you lookin' at?!

Fast runner from the waves. What form!

Chicago

Recent travels took us to Chicago for a week of family fun festivities.

Kyle sitting with Daddy in front of Emily and me on the plane.

Emily enjoying her peanut butter sandwich. The kids were so hungry that day. It's a good thing we packed so much food because (1) we were delayed 2.5 hours, (2) we had snack and dinner times to contend with, (3) naps were super short because of our travels though 1 hour of it was at home in their bed and (4) they were up until midnight that night with all of the transport. And I might add they did wonderfully with such a long day. I suspect though frequent meals (that they asked for) kept them even keeled.

Waiting for Daddy to come with the rental car, Emily was cold so she has on her jacket, my jacket and Deedee and seal in her jacket to help keep her warm.

Kyle (unintentionally) testing out how well the car seat is padded. Turns out quite well. He thought it was hilarious and wanted to keep doing it. For those of you who watched the silly sit-com "Dinosaurs" way back in the day, it was like the baby dinosaur saying "AGAIN! AGAIN!" when something silly would happen or someone would get bonked.

Firewoman Emily! Grandma had the day off on Thursday so we went downtown to the Navy Pier Children's Museum which has a reciprocal relationship with our Science Museum membership. That place is HUGE! It's about the same size as the Indy Children's Museum which is absolutely amazing. Anyhow we had a blast there Thursday morning climbing, bowling, driving, turning, drawing, and running from the huge school groups.

Kyle on his rolling pin chair. Quite a concept!

Turning the crank to send his helicopter blades up high to see how it twirls to the ground.

Emily climbing the rope / boat / tube course

Kyle scooting down the rope bridge. He was a little tentative the first time, but then loved it.

Emily working with the pulleys for the water buckets.

Grandma's neighbor's tire swing, wheeee!!

Grandma follows American Idol and one of the finalists and eventual winner, Lee DeWyze, who is from Mount Prospect, was having his homecoming concert. So Kyle & Emily went to their first adult concert (they've been to kiddie concerts by Hullabaloo).

After spending a few days with Grandma, we went to Papa's house for a few days. All of Jeff's brothers and their families were in town too as Papa and Kari were getting married. They had the great idea to put a bounce house in the back yard for the weekend and what a hit it was! Kyle, Miko & Emily enjoying the bouncy house slide in Papa's back yard!

Wheeee!

Emily & Jadon off to the races

Kyle & Ben enjoying pigs in a blanket and some edamame.

Emily enjoying her pig in a blanket.

Kyle, Ben, Emily & Jadon posing in front of the bounce house after the wedding.

Family picture. Emily is the only girl on Jeff's side! He has all brothers and his brothers each have 2 boys!