Chicago Seidlers

We’ve been on the move lately—Lori and Mathias especially! Our landlord kicked off a total renovation of our kitchen in late August (something we were eager to see happen).

Since life with a toddler isn’t too conducive to washing dishes in the bathtub, Lori and the little guy spent much of the construction time out of town. First they went to visit her family in Florida for a week (see previous post). Then she headed into South Bend until missing parts materialized and our kitchen was functional again!

Here are some photos from Labor Day Saturday and Sunday at my dad and Gail’s place. Sara was in town from Tucson for a visit, and Nathan was up from Purdue, so we had the whole family there for a great visit. It was lots of fun.

Here are a couple photos. You can see a whole album here.

Aunt Sara snuggles on the couch with Mathias and Aubrey

Mathias always ends up modeling the alien look here.

Mathias and Aubrey both managed to squeeze into her car, probably for the last time. (It was a tight fit!)

Uncle Nathan also managed to tickle Mathias’ feet on the swingset. The little guy loved it!

Lori and Mathias just spent a week in Florida visiting Oma, Opa and Uncle Bobe. (Uncle Dave even made it in for a weekend to join the fun.) The trip involved plenty of sun, fun, and, of course, a visit to Disney World!

The whole family at Epcot Center!

Mom can always make him smile!

Opa swinging with (and snapping a photo of) his little guy.

The zoo needed a few photos of kids playing in the gardens, so Lori and Mathias came in a couple weeks ago to pose. Here’s them enjoying a fountain at the children’s zoo.

I even got roped into a picture! Here’s us strolling past the main entrance.

Last weekend was one of reunions, with us heading all over the city to catch up with friends. The fun actually started Wednesday when Lori’s college friend Amanda came in with her daughter Marian, her fella Chad and his daughter Clare. Dinner was followed with some gelato in Lincoln Square. After a month of wicked heat, it was nice to linger outside.

On Thursday, James’ college friend Jim and his wife Carla came  to visit. Grandpa graciously headed in from South Bend to babysit, and the couples enjoyed some amazing Mexican food at Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill. Grandpa stayed to swing a bit the next morning before heading back home.

Friday afternoon, we met our L.A. friend Shayna for a veggie-friendly lunch at the Chicago Diner. The adults enjoyed faux gyros and Philly cheese steaks, but Mathias broke protocol by smuggling in some ham.

On Saturday, James headed to Lollapalooza with Jim and Carla, continuing his weekend-long trend of not getting any photos with them! The couple pictures he did snag are on an old film camera because Lori and Mathias took the digital camera to the beach to visit Grandma Gail’s family!

Click here for a full slideshow of the fun at the beach.

Finally, on Sunday we met up with the Polas at the Shedd Aquarium! Here the guys are showing off their catch in the Amazon Rising exhibit.

See a few more aquarium photos here.

We closed the weekend with a great lunch with Jim and Carla, which Mathias was nice enough to nap through. It was a fun-filled weekend…although we may need to charge up a bit before we try to match it!

This past weekend we traveled to Columbus, Ohio to visit Lori’s college friends (and the various hangers-on they’ve picked up over the years). In addition to all the family fun and barbecues hosted by the Pollocks, we also managed to take the Columbus Zoo by storm. It was a great weekend.

Here are a couple highlights. Click here to see a slideshow of all the fun!

Wrangling everyone into place for the group picture at the zoo.

Clare attempts to save Lori from a mauling at the hands of her favorite animal.

Back at the Pollocks. Swim diaper or not, this is as close as Mathias wanted to get to the sprinkler.

Photo from cousin Sue—Mathias and Eamonn enjoyed a little pool time yesterday.

Mathias has started to express his latent monkey genes with a desire to climb. Tonight’s summit was our couch. He couldn’t quite make it to the top, but he did throw a nice fit in failing. (Notice how he brightens up once he spots the camera—and then tries to shut down the paparazzi entirely!)

A couple weeks ago, Mathias visited Lori’s grammy (his great-grandmother!). They posed for a photo and played a little peek-a-boo.

For Mathias’ birthday, James’ dad refinished a rocking horse that James had rode in his diaper days. It was a great extension of some warm memories.

Here are the two cowboys side by side, separated only by 30 years (and a few pounds, it seems).

Mathias spends more and more time playing on his own, which is fun to watch (and fun to give us a little break too!) Here he’s goofing around with two of his favorite toys: the cookie jar and the shape box.

And here he seems to be rushing the camera. The shameful truth comes out…he can be violent when he’s displeased. (Luckily, he can’t read this for a few more years, so we don’t have to worry about setting him off by saying so…)