We went to see the "Tall Ships" at Navy Pier on Saturday. They come every 4 years and were pretty cool. It would have been even better to go on them and look around but it cost extra money and was at least a 1/2 hour wait for each boat so we passed.
Pretty city shot from the Pier
My favorite. So big and cool.
There was a boat named Madeline:)
Pretty view from the harbor
There was a kids stage with a pirate for entertainment. I'm not sure Owen knew what to make of it. 
He's very much like Brett in the fact that he sizes up a situation before he decides whether or not he wants to be part of it. Apparently in this instant, he didn't.
There was a little Thomas ride which of course Owen was all over. The highlight of the day I'm sure. 
Owen won a Canadian flag in the bean bag toss. It was a promo for Canada, our friends to the north!
Little Bean shows off some of her tricks. (Apologies for no diaper cover, it was dirty. I hate that her diaper is showing but she still looks cute!)
Maddi, my dear, you love lifting up your dress. Oh how Mommy and Daddy hope you'll grow out of this phase before you actually know what you are doing...
Last weekend we went to Ohio. My mom, mother-in-law and I headed up to Canada for our yearly visit to Stratford and Brett held down the fort in Toledo spending time with the kiddos and his Dad.
They had lots of fun playing with the trains.
Some random shots of Maddi over the past few weeks.This one cracks me up because of her expression. Wonder what she's thinking...
Our little prepster
Maddi's newsletter welcoming her to the room
Sleepy Kitty
Our kids are beyond loved by all of you. It is just wonderful. It's also nice to share Owen's reaction to gifts when we can. He LOVES Buzz. Boy do Aunt Lu and Uncle Ed have his number... :)
In a Halloween Part 2, Brett will be going as Woody to match Owen's Buzz costume. Hi.lar.i.ous.
Owen read a lot of books this summer and got his very own certificate.
Some of Owen's limited edition artwork. (Limited in the fact that he hates doing arts and crafts so rarely has anything to bring home. Woe is me.)
Ok, so we LOVE the school that the kids go to. However, I half way considered taking him out after this note went home. In case it's too small to read, here is what the last section reads. "Tomorrow we will talk about the President and how he is a hero." Puke. This was part of Everday Heros week.
How you can even think of lumping Obama (or really most of the presidents) in this category is beyond me. Perhaps the lesson should have been about how when Owen grows up he'll be part of socialized medicine and unless he's poor, he'll be paying taxes out the ass and he'd be better off taking welfare because they will be the only people actually making money. Oh, and he'll be taking care of Brett and I since there will be no social security and we'll have been taxed to death on anything we've saved. But it won't matter really because we'll probably die young since there won't be any medical care for people over a certain age. Good grief.
Please say a prayer that illness leaves our house soon. A few weeks ago I had a nasty stomach virus and the past week all 4 of us have come down with horrible colds. Ick.
Ok, that's it for now. Off to Florida on Friday. I'll be traveling home with the kiddos by myself for the first time so wish me luck.
