This weekend we headed up to Palatine for a pony birthday party hosted by our friends, the Christensens, for their 3-year-old son. We’re not just talking pony decorations here–these were actual ponies!
The kids got to paint their coats, hang ribbons from their hair and even ride them around the indoor pasture. (Well, Mathias rode them at least and did a great job…it was a little different from his first time in the saddle. Despite her initial enthusiasm, Lillian decided her first pony ride would come down the road.)
Lori and the kids do a little pony painting.
Applying some finishing touches. The pony minders asked the kids not to glitter paint the ponies’ manes, tails or faces.
Mathias making the rounds. He went back in line at least five times to ride!
Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We had a very nice time splitting our season between Chicago and South Bend. We visited ZooLights, met with Santa, had plenty of fun with friends and family and brought home tons of presents for our lucky kids!
Stopping in to see Santa at ZooLights. The big man did pretty well by the kiddos.
Doing a little pre-rehearsal for the Christmas concert.
Mathias and Lillian get ready to open some gifts in front of our tree at home.
This is what Lillian wanted to pack for South Bend…that should be good for four days, right?
Getting ready to open gifts at grandma’s and Mickey Mike’s.
The holidays were a great time to hang out with cousins Aubrey and Ava–it had been too long since we all got together!
We also got to hang out with cousins Blake, Evelyn and Trevor on the Fahey side.
The kids pose with grandma at Fahey Christmas.
By the end of the weekend, the kids were running things. They had a lot of fun.
Hope everyone out there enjoyed a nice, spooky Halloween. We had plenty of fun here, although we ditched the costumes on the actual holiday–it was cold and rainy in Chicago. But between school and a street fair we got plenty of use for them…and plenty of sweet treats too.
Mathias and Lillian plan their pumpkins (although the Dude wasn’t too keen on scooping his out)!
Posing with their vampire and…fist, maybe? Lori did some necessary interpretation with Lillian’s pumpkin sketch.
The annual cousin photo on our way back from the Southport street fest. Mathias was set on being a devil from the start while Lillian talked big for a while about being a cuckoo clock and then switched to princess at the last minute.
Lori showed some free thinking with her costume choice–bonus points to you if you get the reference!
Earlier this month we welcomed guests to our place for a “princess and unicorn” party as Lillian turned three. Our party girl chose the theme and enjoyed fancy dresses, dainty eats and a rousing game of “pin the horn on the unicorn.” Thanks to everyone who joined us!
Lori presents Lillian with her princess cupcakes!
The kiddos pose with papa.
Our young guests get ready for pin the horn on the unicorn.
Eamonn takes his turn–nice try!
Lillian waits for a blindfold readjustment.
The Chicago friends settled for a round of “put the beer in your belly” instead.
Lillian and grandma pose with a cuddly penguin from Uncle Nathan.
Obligatory family pic!
And one with Oma!
This is what it looks like to be all princessed out. She had a great time, though, as did we.
A couple weekends ago we road-tripped it out to Pittsburgh to visit James’ college roommate, Kevin, and his family. It was a lot of fun–we enjoyed some welcome hospitality, had plenty of fun swimming and roasting s’mores and even took a riverboat tour that may or may not have involved a blood oath to follow a life of piracy. When in Pittsburgh…
Kevin proved to be quite the fire master.
The kids cook s’mores around the fire (although Luke and Lillian tried their best to scarf down all the chocolate while we weren’t looking).
A little night play. Left-to-right: Mathias, Luke, Lillian and Adam.
On our last day there, we decided to do a little tie-dyeing, stripping the kids down to their skivvies in an attempt to at least try to keep things clean. (Not very hippie-ish.)
Of course, James and Mary ended up doing most of the work (and James ended up using most of the blue and purple dye).
The results turned out great, earning the vaunted James tie-dye seal of approval.
We also went for a river cruise on Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers. Quiz time–can you name them?
The kids were sworn into a life of piracy.
While the adults enjoyed the scenery.
The kids got one more pirate pic before we disembarked. We weren’t sure whether a tip was appropriate, especially since the pirate had enough treasure to be giving gold doubloons away.
The big boys hit an awesome 27-hole putt putt court to finish off the trip. (Kevin won.)
While Luke and Lillian enjoyed a little ice cream.
All in all, it was a really fun trip. Can’t wait until we can all get together again!
One of our neighborhood parks served as a nice launchpad today as James and the kids took their stomp rocket out for a little liftoff. We even managed to catch a few of our rockets before they fell back to Earth, although none of us could master the nifty trick of hauling one in with our outstretched hats.
(On a personal note, James was happy to rip some nice launches off without popping the stomper and ruining the fun.)
Last month we headed down to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the Fahey family reunion. It was a fun get-together for multiple generations of the family on James’ mom’s side, all the way from great aunts to first cousins three times removed. (Working out the genealogy is easier once you’ve had a couple cold beverages…or maybe you just worry less about the fine points.)
Here are a few photos from the trip!
First stop–Indianapolis! We enjoyed the gracious hospitality of Lori’s college friend Katie and her little guy, Ziggy! (Dad Brian was plenty hospitable too–he’s just not in the picture.)
Off for a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!
We took the trail up to Laurel Falls–it was a nice climb…something we don’t get too much of in flatland Chicago (well, except for the stairs in our building).
There were plenty of little streams and gullies for the kids to get their feet wet in.
All leading up to the big falls themselves! Along our way, we saw two turkeys, a blue-tailed skink, some creepy funnel spiders, a giant beetle (named George), a millipede and a little bear rustling in the underbrush 20 feet below us!
We also enjoyed the sights of Pigeon Forge. Here we are at Adventure Putt Putt, where Mathias scored the only hole in one.
And here’s a video of Lillian trying a little Put Putt. We stopped counting strokes after a while!
We also made it to Dollywood, where we played skee ball with the Kellys.
Rode a kiddy roller coaster (Lillian cried).
Rode some sky drop thing with the Kellys (Lillian cried, and Mathias joined her when he skinned his knee jumping down from his seat).
Then we took it down a notch and rode on the ducks, which Lillian loved.
We also all had fun on the park’s steam engine, which also gave a couple kids a nice excuse for a quick nap.
Sure, maybe we ran out steam a bit by the last night of the reunion, but we had a great time! Just don’t ask how much it cost to have our radiator repaired after we overheated the car climbing the Roaring Fork Motor Trail before our drive home! 🙂 Even with that, it was all worth it.
Here’s a quick-hit update from a few parties we’ve enjoyed recently!
Crashing the couch for the baby shower for Marisa and Michael, who are expecting their first! Michael is one of James’ oldest friends, stretching back to the early 80s.
Mathias stands guard against zombies Marty and Joseph at Marty’s sixth birthday party. Both kids were in Mathias’ pre-k class two years ago, and we see Marty around the weekly community gardens!
James faces down a flurry of flame on his 35th birthday cake.
Last month, before Mathias’ party, we headed into South Bend to hang with the family and help Papa sow some seeds in his garden. Mathias and Lillian teamed up with cousins Aubrey and Ava as well as the neighbor’s grandkids (Alyssa, Abby and Nick) to shake some radishes and peppers into the dirt, plant a few tomato starters (and possibly squish one) and soak up plenty of sunshine.
It was lots of fun, and it gave the kids a good chance to get their hands dirty. Time will tell how much of their work makes it to the harvest.
We celebrated Mathias’ fifth birthday today with a “Dragons and Tacos” party inspired by one of his favorite books, “Dragons Love Tacos.” (Spoiler: While dragons do love tacos, they do not like spicy salsa.
It was a great time with plenty of fun with friends and family. The dude had a lot of fun, fired off plenty of Nerf guns and even got his first bike from mom and dad (as well as a second one for grandma’s from Uncle Frank and Aunt Susan).
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the party!
Lori carries the dragon cake made by grandma.
Hope he made a good wish!
A family action shot, with Lillian wielding her ball and chain.
