Zoo Day

We went to the zoo on Wednesday with some people in moms group. It was a gorgeous day! I didn't get very many good pictures, because most of my time was spent chasing Dylan, who didn't want to be contained in the stroller. Here are a few anyway....

This was the only picture I got that actually had an animal in it. Nice. I think at this point, Dylan was thinking "what in the world is this smell?"

City Boy

When I Grow Up....

We visited a fire station while out for a run last week!

 

Sunglasses

At long last, Dylan keeps on his sunglasses when I put them on him.

First Visit to River Park Splash Pool

River Park near us has a huge splash pad area, and we took Dylan there for the first time a few weeks ago.

Heading over there. D has gotten a lot more attached to his Bean Bag Bear lately. So Bean Bag Bear came with us to the splash pad.

Checking it out.

Going for it.

"Places I Got Stuck Going With Mommy"

"The bike shop, to fix a tire on my stroller. I actually didn't mind because I have a fascination with bike pedals, so I checked that out....until the bike fell on top of me."

"The car repair shop. I actually thought this visit was cool too because I saw a machine that hoists cars up into the air. My mommy DIDN'T think it was cool because she thought it was just a visit to give the air conditioner unit a charge, but it turned into a $1,400 ordeal with everything they found wrong with the car."

Trader Joe's Shopping Cart

I let Dylan have his own shopping cart at Trader Joe's for the first time this month.

He was so proud of himself!

My Mom's Visit

My mom came to Chicago for a visit in early August. It was such a blessing - for everyone - to have her here. She is always full of such compassion, interest in others lives, and FUN.

At Starbucks. (Side note: my mom used to french braid my hair growing up. She was so good at it, that other family and friends would come over just to have her braid their hair for special events.  While she was here - with me being proud enough that I had hair long enough to actually braid - I asked her to put a little braid in my hair for the day. I felt like I was 6 again.)

 Checking out the water feature at Welles Park.

 Playing catch.

Mom's birthday was while she was here, so we got to help her celebrate!

Her one birthday request was to be able to watch the Bachelorette finale, so that is exactly what we did. Marc and I don't watch it, but we sure got into that last episode! (Yes, Marc too.)

 At Target, buying D a pretzel.

 Being silly with Grandma.

Dylan's turn.

Roader!

We took a spontaneous trip to South Dakota in late July to see family.

Hotel pool in Yankton, SD.

Mom and Dad were camping in Yankton, so Dylan got to enjoy the beach a bit.....

Tea party with Grandma. Look very close at what is happening on the table.

Great Grandpa took D for a walk.

Dylan checked out his Uncle Ryan's new ballcourt. "If only I were an inch taller...."

Ryan and Bridget invite a bunch of kids from town and have 5 on 5 basketball games.

Dylan and his cousins.

Marc Caifano, Reality TV Star

Marc is going to be on reality TV! Bill Rancic (first winner of The Apprentice) and his wife Giuliana (host of E! News) have a reality show about their life together. It's called "Giuliana and Bill" and is basically about their (very interesting) life together. She is a hoot! Anyway, they are moving to Hinsdale and landscaping their yard, and asked Town and Country to supply the pavers. Marc taped 3 sessions with Bill. It turns out Bill's father was Marc's school superintendent growing up. And Marc's coworker who's also helping out with the project, knows Bill because their fathers were good friends. Small world....

 Bill and Giuliana.

Marc snapped a picture during a taping. Bill is the one with his arm up talking to the crew. The backdrop is a truck that Marc "ordered" to pull onto the job site to give Town and Country more exposure. :)

Trucks and Puddles

"I Wanna Play!"

While playing at our nearby park, a Chicago Park District class appeared, consisting of kids just a bit older than Dylan. They started a running/racing game, and Dylan just joined right in. It was so funny to see him migrate right towards all the fun. 10 seconds later though, we were told he could not participate due to liability reasons. I understood, but in my mind I was sticking my tongue out at the guy who made me take away my sad, confused 2 yr. old from all the fun.

High in the Sky

Whealon Aquatic Center

We took Dylan to his first zero-depth-entry pool a few weeks ago. He literally could not stop smiling and laughing. Neither could his parents. :)

It unfortunately started downpouring an hour into our time there, so we had to exit and wait out the storm under the entryway. In picture above, Dylan seems to be telling his daddy that it's raining and he'd like him to make it stop.

The Buggy

We forgot to tell our babysitter where to leave "the buggy" (the red car above with push handle) after taking Dylan out for a walk one night. So when we got home from our date night, we saw that she had hauled it up into our apartment (bless her heart). When Dylan woke up the next day, he thought it was SO AWESOME that the buggy was in our apartment. I walked into his room and realized that he had brought it in there to accompany him as he played with his toys.