Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Grandma and Grandpa McLean came up to watch Meg and Zach play soccer today. They got to see Zach's team win and traveled with us to watch Meg's team play their first game of the Galaxy tournament, which they won.

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter with family and friends. We lucked out with a beautiful weekend.

Saturday after Meg's softball we headed to Indy to see the McLeans. The kids enjoyed their egg hunt and running around with the cousins.

Sunday the kids woke up early for their next Easter egg hunt. Then we enjoyed dinner with Grandma Chris, Allison, Kendra, Harriet, Mary Ann and Josh.

Prince Charming and our mouse

This weekend was the final weekend for this year's Riverside Theater Guild play. Chris made a practically perfect Prince Charming while Meg was an adorable mouse. Thank you to all of our friends and family who came to see the production.

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful holiday. Christmas Eve the kids did some sledding with their cousins in Indy and then celebrated with the McLean clan. Christmas day was in Lafayette with Grandma Chris and Uncle Bobby who flew in from Florida. Santa was very generous this year ;)

Meg's 9th Birthday

We are happy to report, we made it through our whirlwind weekend!

Saturday after Zach's rainy soccer game we drove to Indy for the annual McLean Pumpkin Carving. We celebrated Meg's birthday, carved pumpkins and enjoyed seeing all the cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. That night we also celebrated with Cousin Allison and Grandma Chris.

Sunday we headed back home so Meg could sing with the Children's choir at 11am Mass. Grandma Chris came along with us to see Meg sing, play volleyball and attend the Festival Choral Concert where Chris and Elizabeth sang. It was a long day, but we made it though and Meg enjoyed her birthday weekend.

Christmas Eve w/ McLeans

Christmas Eve we drove to Indy to celebrate with the McLeans. The kids had a great time with their cousins, and of course they loved all of their presents.

Bending Towards the Light

We were lucky enough to get to sing in the Bending Towards the Light Jazz Nativity at St. Luke's Lutheran downtown. It was a beautiful concert and we loved that Grandma and Grandpa McLean, the Buskers, and the Mitchells all came to see the show. After the show we had dinner at Wishbone, which was a treat.

Bunch of Pumpkin Heads

On Sunday we headed down to Indy for the annual McLean pumpkin carving. Meg had a great time playing with the Spanglers. Great Grandma McLean was visiting and enjoyed watching the kids carve pumpkins and attack a pinnata.

It was a long drive home but we made it. By the time we got there Elizabeth had some hot pizza and a movie waiting for us. We love you Elizabeth/mom!

Happy Easter everyone!

Saturday morning we headed out bright and early for Indy. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa McLean, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, and even Great-Grandma which was a huge surprise.

The kids had fun hunting eggs with their cousins and using their bunny bucks to buy cool stuff at the bunny store.

Sunday we did Easter with Grandma Chris. Kendra, Mrs. Meetz, and Mary Ann came up from Indy. Also joining us were Bobby, Josh, Allison, and her friend Matt. Dinner was great as usual, with lots of food and delectable desserts.

It was wonderful to see everyone.

Christmas Eve with the Cousins

Aren't they cute? The girls were ready for pictures Wednesday night. Maybe that's because they knew that once the pictures were done, they got to open presents.

Visiting Cousins and Grandparents

Saturday after Thanksgiving we visited the McLeans in Indy. The kids had fun making hot dogs over the fire, playing outside and decorating gingerbread houses. We also got to see Great Grandma before she heads back to Michigan.

Annual McLean Family Pumpkin Carving

The weather was perfect on Sunday for Pumpkin Carving at the McLeans. The kids had a great time running around with their cousins and seeing Great-Grandma who was in town for a visit.

Vacation Day 5

Wednesday morning Chris and the kids joined Grandma Judy and Aunt Julie on their trip to Pointe Betsie.

Elizabeth stayed home to pack up for our vacation w/in our vacation at the Crystal Mountain Resort. As soon as we checked in we put on our suits and headed to the water park. For a break, we did the Michigan Legacy Art Walk, which was alot harder than we had expected. Then we did the Alpine Slide. We rode a ski lift to the top of the mountain and rode the slide down, it was really cool.

Vacation Day 2

After saying goodbye to the Spanglers we went to Mass, found a geocache, and then spent time at Elberta Beach. Sunday night we made s'mores over the campfire and watched the sunset with Grandma Judy and Aunt Julie.

Vacation Day 1

When we arrived at the cottage we were greeted by Great Grandma, Grandma Judy, Aunt Julie and the Spangler Crew. The kids enjoyed playing in downtown Frankfort, then we did dinner with Uncle Todd, Aunt Debbie and Cousin Tanner. After dinner Uncle Todd took everyone tubing. The kids loved it!

Easter at the McLeans

Saturday morning we made our way down to Indiana. After lunch in Lafayette we visited the McLeans in Indy. The kids hunted easter eggs and then used their bunny bucks to pick out items in the bunny store. After a nice easter dinner the kids had fun playing kickball and running around with thier cousins.

Aunt Julie Visits

This morning we got a call. Surprise Aunt Julie was in town! So we got the kids dressed and went up to the Schaumburg Ikea to meet her. After playing around at the store made possible by flat boxing and the allen wrench we went to Woodfield Mall to get some lunch and hang out.

Visitors from Indy

We are happy to say that Jack and the Beanstalk closed this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa McLean came up to see the show. We had a great time at the show and enjoyed teaching them how to play Wii Bowling. All of the kids were sad that the show ended. We will be happy to get our evenings back. Next weekend will be a fun one, filled with some much needed R&R.

Christmas Whirlwind

We had another whirlwind Christmas. The kids had fun coming to work the morning of Christmas Eve. Then we headed down to Indy. Meg and Zach loved seeing their cousins and Grandma and Grandpa McLean. We got back to Grandma Chris’ house around 9pm that night. While Chris and the kids slept we went to Midnight Mass.

Christmas morning the kids were excited. They got lots of presents and they were very happy. Overall, it was a good Christmas, but too short. We were back home by 5:30pm Christmas night. Luckily our favorite Mexican restaurant was open so we could get some dinner before collapsing on the couch.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a busy Thanksgiving as usual. We headed down Thursday morning to Grandma Chris's where we had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner with family and our friends Kendra, her mother and Mary-Anne. That night we worked off some of the turkey dinner playing on Uncle Bobby's Wii. Meg got really good at bowling, rolling a high score of 157.

Friday morning we drove down to Indy to enjoy a brisk fall day with the Mcleans. Meg and Zach ran and played with their cousins. The highlight of the trip was the S'mores on the campfire.

Before heading back to Chicago We did breakfast with Josh at the Route 66 dinner (recently featured on the food network).

The rest of the weekend was pretty normal Church and pizza on Saturday and a little geocaching on Sunday.