Summer in the Midwest – Part 1

Yes, it’s been almost two months since I put new pictures or news on the website.

Yes, we had a new baby a month and half before the last update.

Yes, our friends and family are mad at us because they haven’t seen any new pictures of Gabe.

So, here they are.

Our trip to the Midwest (first Chicago, then Wisconsin, then Michigan) began well because we were breaking in the 2004 Odyssey we had purchased two days earlier. I’m a big believer in minivans. Though selling our Saturn Vue was hard, we definitely enjoy the room, leather seats and wireless headphones (!!!) the new car has. We could put music or movies on for Jonathan and he could sit back there and listen away while we didn’t hear a thing. Beautiful!

In Chicago we invaded Doug and Kim’s house again, where Jonathan proceeded to have the kind of temper tantrum you can only have after 1 nap in 8 days. First time he went to bed without dinner. We went to Lincoln Park Zoo, a wedding, and breakfast with some other great friends of ours from college. Chicago was great, but rushed.

After that we drove up to Wisconsin and stayed at Papa Phil’s house. We had a great time just hanging out with family while we there, and I was able to spend a bit of time out on Papa Phil’s boat fishing. We didn’t do great, but I did catch the biggest Sheephead (freshwater drum) I have ever seen. What fun to bring that in on a 6 foot perch pole!

Jonathan and Gabe (mini-Phil) loved playing with the cousins and being around Aunt Katie and Uncle Josh, as well as the rest of the extended family on the 4th of July. Jonathan had his first experience with sparklers (or “sticks with fire” as he called them), and we watched a bit of the fireworks from Nanny Linda’s dock. It was a fun, relaxing trip and we look forward to being back over Christmas/New Years. More pictures from the trip here. More pictures and part 2 of the trip coming soon!