Barnes & Noble Choo Choo Table

The Barnes and Noble on Webster and Clybourn has a train table in the kids section. Dylan spends half his time in the store at the table, and the other half riding the escalators.

Caifano BBQ

The Caifanos got together for a BBQ to see Marc's cousin Christie (black and white dress), who was in from out of town.

Gavyn is always so sweet to Dylan.

He also has a fascination with picking him up.

D's not sure what to think about that.

Summer Festivals

'Tis the season for summer festivals! We went to the Old Town School of Folk Music's Folk and Roots Festival last weekend.

D wasn't too interested in what the festival offered. Basically, we paid $10 admission each to let him play in the sand of the baseball field. :)

Mr. Sandman

Before going to the pool last week, we played a bit in the sandlot nearby. Until now, Dylan hasn't been so sure of sand. I guess that's changed.

Just Doing A Little Reading

My Momtime Bible Study is doing "Entrusted With A Child's Heart" and Dylan discovered it on the couch one day....

"Let's see. What's this? Entrusted With a Child's Heart...."

 "Looks interesting. I'll see what it has to say."

 "Wow. I never thought of it that way. Very insightful."

Thanks, KP!

One of the parks that we visit is very close to where our friend Kevin Phillips used to live. Kevin used to be the Small Groups Director at our church, and it was at his house - through an event he hosted - that Marc and I met. We recently learned that he made a financial contribution to the park, and has his name in one of the bricks. Though it's waaay over Dylan's head right now, it's double thanks to KP that A) he exists, and B) he has this wonderful park to play in. So, on behalf of Dylan, THANKS, KP!

A New Instrument

A woman was playing the accordian at Giddings Plaza last week, and she let Dylan play it a little bit. (Side note - did you know I like accordian music? It is a fact about me that I think only one person in the world probably knows.) (That person is my husband.)

Sprinklers

There have been hose sprinklers in our courtyard lately, and Dylan has been having a ball running through them. By the end, he's absolutely drenched. :)

Kicks

Our friends Ross and Leah were at our place last weekend with their little guy, Grant. Grant LOVES to kick, and his whole body gets into it. At first, Dylan was like "what in the world?" as he watched him, but later he got down on his back and started doing kicks himself.

The Rest of Our Father's Day Weekend

We.....

....enjoyed a wonderful (free!) concert at Millennium Park. Our first one. Such a great experience!

  ...went to Orland Park to celebrate with Marc's parents.

...had a blast throwing rocks in the pond with Nana.

...jumped on a big trampoline in a neighbor's yard. The jury's still out on who had more fun - Dylan or his mommy.

...and opened presents. Dylan heard that ties make a good Father's Day present, so he went out and got his daddy one.

Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, TO MY SWEETIE!

We love and appreciate you, and all you do for our family, soooooo much!!!!

Water Feature

A water feature just got installed at the main park that we go to. The day before, on our way to the car from an event in another neighborhood, Dylan saw a park and wanted to go. So we stopped by spontaneously. In a flash, he went under the water feature, in his non-water-friendly sandals and fully clothed. So the next day, I excitedly dressed him in his swimsuit to bring him to "our" park to try out the water feature, and he wanted nothing to do with it. This was the closest he got. We'll see how the summer pans out, I guess. :)

It's Baaaack

The pink and purple stroller is back, and has been accompanying Dylan MANY places lately:

This last one is of him trying to carry it upstairs into the apartment.

So Long, Curls

D got a haircut last week, to keep him cool for the summer.

Wiggleworms

The Wiggleworms performed at Old Town School of Folk last week, so Marc took Dylan to his first live music concert!

D (blue shirt, tan pants) made his way into the crowd.

Watch what progresses in this video.

Marty's Visit

Marc's brother Marty flew in for a week in mid-June. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup while he was home, so note all the Blackhawks gear! D had a nice time with his "Uncle Marnie."

The Old Saying Goes...

"The bathroom is like a playground." 

Just kidding. That's totally not a saying. But Dylan seems to think our bathroom is another opportunity to exhibit his hanging skills. I am actually proud of the creativity of our son. He said to himself, "if my parents aren't gonna give me a yard with my own playground equipment, I will just hang on the bathroom sink."

Beans

We get our coffee set up at nightime, so that all we have to do when Dylan wakes up at 5:00-something in the morning is stumble out of bed and hit the "on" button. Dylan loves to help us make it by opening the cupboard, grabbing the filter, pushing the button to grind the coffee beans ("beans!" he says), and closing the lid to the machine. We let him smell the coffee grounds before we pour them into the filter, and one day I let him get real close to get a good sniff. That was when I realized he's not actually inhaling, but exhaling. In a flash, the counter, Dylan and I were covered in coffee grounds. :)

Grandpa Tom's Visit

My Dad came for a quick weekend visit in early June. We gave him a tour of our neighborhood, and had a fun night out on Saturday night at Million Dollar Quartet. (What a show!) Dylan loved time with his "Mm-pa."

Random Things We Saw One Weekend

A full-blown concert, with a stage and everything, in the backyard next door to us.

..............................................................

A dude playing the bass made out of a washbasin. We talked to him later, and he said he made it himself - by looking it up online. Now there's a Google search I've never done -"How to make a bass out of a washbasin."

My Little Red Wagon

Dylan shared his wagon with Allie on Thursday. We walked around the neighborhood, had snacks in it, took it to the park, had snacks in it, walked back to Allie's, had snacks, walked home, and had some more snacks. Life with 2-yr. olds.

Dylan and Allie watching the Choo-Choo (and probably having some form of a snack).

Congratulations, Blackhawks!

The Caifano family wishes the Blackhawks a great big CONGRATULATIONS on their Stanley Cup victory last night!!

Dylan sported his Blackhawks pj's while "watching" the game.

Finding Nemo

Our year-end hunt for a stuffed animal Nemo came to an end, while at the Shedd. We found one in the gift shop! Dylan loves his Nemo, and sleeps with him every night.

After we left the Shedd, we walked down towards the waterfront, and Kristin and I were chatting away. Suddenly we realized Dylan no longer had Nemo, so we started backtracking. We came around the corner to see the scene above. :)

(Kuddos to my husband, who came up with the title for this post. Nice one, honey.)

Swing x6

We went to a park in Ravenswood Manor (pretty close to Gov. Blagojevich's house!) the other day, and there was something in the air that made all the babies & toddlers want to swing. At one point, almost everybody at the park was doing the swings at the same time. It was kind of funny.