Family trip, Chicago and great friends!!!

This past weekend we went on a great trip to Chicago with the kids. I have been so blessed to have maintained the greatest friendships and many of them have stayed in Chicago. Not only did I get to see my Chicago friends, but Kris and her family drove into Chicago as well and we got to see them. Between me and my 5 amazing friends...we have 10 kids between us. It was so much fun to get all the kids together and get some much needed time with my friends. Some of us have been friends since grade school and we have been through a lot together and it is so great to now be apart of each others families. Thank you Ryan and Pam for letting us stay at your house...I know it is not easy to have a family of 4 and all the toys take over. Thank you for hosting the party and thanks Becky for hosting on Friday night.

Below are many pictures (many of which are out of order).

We went to Lincoln Park zoo on Saturday and the weather was amazing. We had a group of 16 of us and had a great time.

Marina and Hendrix

Lucas and Tyler (Tyler is just 2.5 months younger than Lucas...Tyler is Kris and Mike's son).

Addison with Julie and Charlie's boys (Carter and Logan).


Lucas...I love this picture.

Kris and Tyler

Addison and Lucas enjoying the children's zoo.

Me and Pam

On Sunday we had the chance to visit with my brother and Nicole and the kids got to play with their cousin Avery! They just love him.

Aaron (Venessa and Jimmy's son...he is 5 months old).

Addison enjoying one of the parties.

Hendrix (Marina and Corey's son...he is 10 months old).

Some of the kids hanging out and sharing toys.

Cole (Becky and Cort's son...he is 8 months old).

The kids having fun playing in the diapers and underwear...that was fun to watch.

Venessa and Aaron.

Kris and Pam.

Pam, me, Marina and Kris...enjoying some time after the kids went to bed.

St. Patrick's day parade.

We took the kids to their first parade this past weekend. We battled the crowds and went to the St. Louis St. Patrick's day parade on Saturday. We had to get there about an hour before the parade started in order to get a good curb spot. We had to give the kids lots of snacks and dealt with a few temper tantrums since they were not all that patient at times just sitting in the strollers not knowing what this parade stuff was all about.

It was worth the wait though because they loved every minute of it. They loved all the balloons, music/bands, dancers, getting candy thrown to them...they just loved it all.

Here are a few pictures of the big event.

Enjoying the weather

We are loving that spring is just about here. We get out of the house as much as possible and have already gone to lots of parks and playgrounds and are enjoying our nice deck and great neighborhood. Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks.

The kids and their friends Mackenzie and Tommy.

The next 2 were my attempt to get the kids to pose in a picture together and this is the best I could come up with.

(They were looking at the tv instead of the camera.)

A sweet hug.

Nothing new.

It has been awhile since I have updated our blog, but really...nothing is new. The kids are great other than some crabby times. Work is going really well for both me and Bob. Bob stays really busy with various networking groups and he is involved with some other charity organizations (I told him that he needs to create a post himself about that because what he is doing is great)! We are anxious for spring and to get out and play more often. We were able to play outside a lot today and found a great playground/park that I am sure we will visit often.

Not much is new, but here are a few pictures of the kids from the last few weeks just playing around the house.

As you can tell from the pictures below, Addison still loves to dress as a princess and Lucas loves to wear hats!!!