Days With Dylan

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Sport Days

Marc, Dylan and I went to South Dakota last week for my town's all-school reunion and 100th annual Sports Days - a weekend festival of sorts with carnival rides, parade, fireworks, sport competitions, dances, and more. The Ortman side also turned it into a family reunion, so I got to reconnect with soooooo many people. Such a special week!!

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THE PARADE

Family and friends watching the parade from our driveway.

Moments after Dad pushed my close friend Jamie into the stream of water being sprayed from a float.

I'm with my youngest nephew Tage, who always has a Kool-Aid stain on his mouth. :)

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THE CARNIVAL

Dylan's first ever carnival ride was the carousel. He loved it.

Dylan's second carnival ride was the elephant cars. He hated it.

My niece Olivia pushing Dylan to the rides.

Marc, sporting his "Canistota" shirt, and Dylan on Main Street.

My cousin Todd and Marc (in back) working the Lions Club foodstand.

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STREET SPORTS

The kids compete in a series of races...for money. (Isn't that funny?)

My mom, grandma, brother, nephews and Dylan spectating.

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FIREWORKS

My family, getting ready for the fireworks show.

Fireworks before the fireworks: nephew Tage and niece Olivia doing some sparklers before the show began.

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REUNIONS

The All-School Reunion and Banquet - singing our school song. :)

My classmates Travis and Troy.

Some pics from my family reunion....

Grandpa and Grandma with all 8 grandchildren and all 11 great-grandchildren.

My (pregnant!!) sister Nicole, brother Ryan and me.

Dylan loved exercising his new walking skills.

My niece Kalli and Dylan.

Cousins Lindsay and Holli (sisters) with their beautiful baby girls.

Sisters - me, Nicole, and our cousins Tonya and Tammy.

Olivia and Dylan were pals throughout the trip.

My brother, sister and kids played a quick round of softball before leaving the reunion.

A girlfriends reunion....

So many of my best girlfriends were home from all over the US. We had brunch together Saturday morning. Here I am with Sarah, Jamie, Emily, Shiloh and Stef. So great to be with "old" friends.

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Our travel buddy Dylan. He traveled so well!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Best $3 We Ever Spent

This was our garage sale purchase last weekend. Dylan LOVES it. I have to say, I feel like such a "parent" pushing him around in this thing. You realize that you do so many things you never thought you would, just to see your child smile.

Fourth of July

Ever since moving to Chicago, I said I wanted to meet someone with a boat. Well, we have! :) Our friends Dave and Amy recently joined our small group, and extended a generous invititation to our group to watch the 3rd of July fireworks from their family's boat. Such a treat!

Me - happy as a clam, by DuSable Harbor. Dylan - 5 minutes away from throwing a tantrum that did...not...end, and sent him and his daddy home 1/2 hr. after they arrived.

Exiting the redline. It was Dylan's first train ride!

On the 5th, we celebrated with the Caifano family. This is cousin Meg with her little girl Morgan - all decked out for the holiday. :)

Dylan had fun playing with the bird bath.

WALKING!!!

Last weekend, Dylan started walking!! Here is one of him in action, with his great aunt Pam. (We'll post some better pics soon!)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

We Are A Mac

Marc and I are official converts. We got our exciting new toy last week, and had our friends Dave and Amy give us a beginner's training session. We are having so much fun figuring out everything we can do with this machine!

Dylan, having fun with our new computer too.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Deck Scenes

We keep Dylan's rubber Tonka truck on the deck, and for some reason, whenever he plays with it, he lays on the ground sideways. (Needless to say, he is getting more baths these days.)

Our deck is partially shared with a neighbor, who has a statue of a cat. Dylan thinks it's real, and often heads over to the corner to talk to it.

Schmoozing

If you can see past the dirty window, you'll see the scene - a bunch of neighbors in the parking lot getting ready to head to Sommerfest in Andersonville. They noticed Dylan watching them from our deck, so Dylan engaged them with a little baby talk.

Family Picture

Whenever we "try," we can never seem to get a decent family picture. It seems to be the spontaneous ones that work the best.

Here was "take one."

Good Friends

My friend Shiloh and her husband Mike came through Chicago and stopped for a visit a couple weekends ago. Shiloh and I went to high school together and performed in many-a-music event together. Always great to get a Canistota connection!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Dylan loves his "da-da-da-da", and I am so thankful for Marc's heart of service, love and humility towards/for our family. A few picture from our day in Orland Park with Papa and Nana.....

Storm Damage

Chicago had some major storms last Friday, and our neighborhood really got hit. This is a picture right outside our condo. The white vehicle buried under the tree is our neighbor Dan's truck. He had been renting a spot in our condo parking lot, but then started parking on the street just 3 days prior to the storm. :(

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Houses

I realized that I didn't post something major, in regard to our "Days With Dylan." We put our place on the market a month ago! Anybody know someone looking for a "2 BR/1 BA newly renovated vintage condo in Edgewater Beach where you can walk to grocery, lattes, Redline, and Andersonville"? :) Our eventual plan is to buy a home in the southwest or western suburbs.

Our place has only had 3 showings in a month, so Dylan decided to make this buying-a-house thing happen on his own by getting one himself. His "house" has a big blue door, an extra large lightswitch, flowers with petals you can spin, a puppy that barks, and windows with shutters you can open and close - all...day...long. Probably what a house really would be like, if babies could design them themselves.

Mom's Group

Here's a picture of my Mom's Group, where Dylan and I go on Wednesday mornings.

Another Play Room

With the warmer weather, the deck has become another play area for Dylan. He LOVES being outside, and often gets some outside play time first thing in the morning.

Sox fan?

Dylan often goes into a room and shuts the door. We say that he just needs some privacy. This has happened twice now, where he goes into his bedroom, and after a few moments of silence Marc or I have gone in to check on him. Below is the scene we've stumbled upon - Dylan sitting in the corner, looking at a book.....and both times it was his White Sox book. Could his daddy have influenced him already?

Monday, June 8, 2009

Parties

We went to a couple of events this weekend. One was for my dear friend Sharon's birthday/going-away party, and the other was for my cousin Tammy's son Carter's 2nd birthday.

The girls with sweet Sharon - in the middle.

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Carter with his Grandpa. (My Uncle Dave, who married Marc & me.) :)

The boys each enjoyed a beverage as they watched gift opening.

Dylan was getting a kick out of a little wind-up toy. A measly 50 cents bought 10 minutes of laughter!

I got a kick out of the guests wearing their party hats.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Cousin Troy's Wedding

I flew to South Dakota with Dylan last week for my cousin Troy's wedding. Troy Boy, as I call him, is more like a brother than a cousin, so this wedding was a special one. I got to see soooo many friends, family and classmates at the wedding too.