The End

Last Friday, Caterpillar made another offer to the Union in Joliet... And it was accepted!

Ryan will be home FOR GOOD this Friday. He's been gone four months, and now it is all over. Hallelujah.

Since it will all be over soon (I can't believe I'm really saying that; it's still in pencil in my calendar), we thought we'd take advantage of one last time at his "free" hotel outside Chicago.

On Saturday and Sunday, we swam, ate pizza, and walked along the canal. On Monday, and we headed to Navy Pier and the Chicago Children's Museum.

I think everyone's favorite part was the dinosaur dig. The bones were cast from a dinosaur that was discovered by a University of Chicago professor in 1997. The entire skeleton was located in the lobby, but these artificial pieces were buried in tire-mulch to be uncovered. It was fun.

Brennan and Collin also loved the Chicago Fire exhibit, and it was all we could do to get them to move to the next area.

Of course, the water table was a hit.

I love Navy Pier. I love walking along and watching all the people. I love all the accents from people from around the world. I love seeing the gargantuan yachts on the lake. This trip, I loved the PERFECT weather - 70s with a cool breeze. There were intermittent showers, but we missed them all perfectly. It was a great morning.

We also decided to do the Ferris wheel this time. We'd never done it before, and Collin started begging as soon as we got there.

Unfortunately, I forgot how afraid of heights I get, and it was miserable for me. I had a death grip on the side bars, while lecturing Ryan to hold the kids still and stop standing and rocking the car. So stupid.

The best part was when Collin said, "It's okay, Mom. We are almost back down." He was in heaven. Glad he didn't inherit that part of my chicken-personality.

Brennan has had a terrible coughing, snotty cold, so he was less than enthusiastic, but he's a pretty easy-going guy.

Here we are as we headed off the pier and back to the car. You can see they were done.

Go free hotels. Go Navy Pier. Go Union contracts. Hooray for our Daddy's Homecoming!

Worth Every Penny

Ryan's absence has taught me that one of the best things in life is...

paying others to do things for you.

He came home over the weekend, and we did this -

Bike ride with half way picnic...

 

 

...and lots of playing in the park.

While the dry wall hangers did this -

Before stairwell

After stairwell

Before entryway

After entryway

Before bonus room

After bonus room

Before bedroom

After bedroom

Eight hours, and it was done. And we didn't lift a finger.

(Clarification: These pictures are slightly misleading. They hung all the dry wall in one day, but I forgot to take pictures before the finishing work began. The taping and mudding you see in these pictures took a week.)

Now that's the kind of life I'd like to lead... if we had unlimited funds, of course.

Here's to paying people to do our work!

PS: The mowers are doing the yard while I type this blog. I could get used to this...

Camping at Comlara

First, a little update...

Ryan is still officially gone (3 months today). Last week was their scheduled annual factory shut down, so he lived in Peoria and went to his regular job. You wouldn't believe how awesome it was! Unfortunately, he had to head back again yesterday and life sucks yet again.
And now about our camping trip...

This past weekend we took a little camping trip. We headed about an hour away to a county park outside of Bloomington. Ryan did a triathlon there a few weeks ago, and we'd always wanted to camp there. They have a beautiful lake (Evergreen Lake) with beach front. They also have boat docks and lots of playgrounds. We all had a blast.

See that cute little face in there? He LOVED these tube slides with "boo" windows. What a doll.

Much to Collin's dismay, we didn't make it in time to go the beach, but we still walked along the water and threw in rocks.

We took our bikes along, and Ryan hauled both the kids. I felt like such a slacker. The kiddos were in heaven getting to ride with Dad. We biked Friday night and again Saturday morning. I even packed a picnic for us. The biking-as-a-family was my favorite part.

We bought a new tent too. We all fit inside with room to spare, even with the pack-n-play. It's called an "instant tent," and we literally took it out of the packaging for the first time and it was up in 3 minutes. Awesome.

We roasted hot dogs for dinner and then made smores after our first bike ride. This picture tells a lot about my kids. Would you like to try your hand at the caption? 

Terrified Big Brother Watches Fearless Little Brother

Despite the difficulty roasting, Collin devoured his snack. Delish.

You wouldn't believe how dirty Brennan got eating his smore. It really was pretty unfathomable. What a boy.

Here's Brennan after he escaped the tent mid-dressing. He spends half of his life half-clothed because I lose the resolve to chase him down each morning. 

Here are Collin's "treasures" (aka trash found in our campsite). And, yes, we did have to bring it all home with us.

While Ryan and I broke camp Saturday morning, I looked over and saw this gem. This is my two sons getting along, working together and being a team. Yeah, I can't believe I got this miracle recorded for posterity. Amazing.

Despite Collin screaming until midnight because he wanted the lantern on and Brennan waking at 5am because he was cold, we had a great time. It's funny to think we could have spent the whole summer doing these fun little family outings, but instead we've spent the summer apart in survival mode.

Sigh. Here's to a different kind of fall...

Reunion - Leavenworth Style

Total number of hours traveling the last 13 days:

RYAN: 40 hours, 45 minutes

ME & THE BOYS: 44 hours, 45 minutes

Now some explanation...

Ryan's family (41 in all) had a reunion over the 4th of July week. We went to Leavenworth, WA via St. Louis and then Portland, OR. Here's some picture documentation...

Ryan and I got to go on a date, and I finally got a picture of his uncle's diner in Vancouver.
Isn't it adorable? ...and it's delicious too!

Ryan's grandparents on his mom's side surprised us by stopping in from Canada
for the first days before we headed to Leavenworth with his dad's side.

We took the long way to Leavenworth so we could go through the Columbia River Gorge.
Good memories from our BYU-traveling days.
A perfectly-timed dirty diaper from the B-Man allowed us to stop at Multnomah Falls for a minute.

Here's Brennan and I freezing for a quick photo-op.

The boys searching for Pooh Cones by our lodge

Playing Pooh Cones off the perfect bridge at the lodge

Leavenworth, WA - the cutest little German town

Leavenworth's free kiddy 4th of July Fest



"Beach" near Leavenworth: FREAKIN' FREEZING.
I got in until my toes were covered...

Ryan - the man beast - survived the "polar bear plunge" and swam to the buoys!

Our usual photo

My little boys doing what they do best - digging in the dirt/sand/rocks

Breath-taking beauty

Love these mountains. Makes you want to live in WA, eh?

After we got back to St Louis, Ryan headed back to Joliet, but I went down to my grandparents' farm to finish the cleaning before it is sold. It was a long, hilly drive with lots of work at the end. There's nothing glorious about saying goodbye to a place full of wonderful memories, but we got the job done.

It was a wonderful week together as a family. It was awesome to meet Ryan's cousins' spouses and children, since we hadn't been altogether since his grandpa died seven years ago. It was a beautiful place, albeit far too much traveling.

I am SOOOO excited for my own bed tonight!

Nursery Time for Brennan?

He plays best when left to his own devices.

He wants to live with the pigs.

He steals toys from others.

He's in his own world most of the time.



He says a few words (like tractor).



He loves to color...



... and color.



He fits right in with a pack of ducks,



And he finds friends among the turkeys.

Yep, I think he's ready.