Friendly Competition

Sunday after singing for Fr. Gallagher's 90th Birthday Mass we met some friends for tennis and frisbee golf. The kids had a great time!

Busy Saturday

-Kids Swim Lessons
-Chris cleaned gutters
-Zach's 1st Basketball practice
-Birthday Party
-Chicago Fire Playoff Game (pictured)

Halloween

The kids had a great time at their class Halloween parties on Friday. Saturday the soccer games were cancelled so we met some friends at the La Grange Halloween walk in the morning. That evening we went trick-or-treating with our usual group.
Sunday at 9:30 Mass Meg got her reconciliation candle. She will make her first reconciliation in January.

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!

Pre Game - I Am An American!

Due to Zach being sick this was a dad & daughter and mom & son bonding weekend.

Meg and I left Elizabeth and Zach in Chicago to head to Lafayette on Saturday. It was the annual reunion game fro Grandma Chris and her college pals. We watched Purdue defeat the Illini on a dreary cold day. Afterwards we caught up, ate lasagna, and celebrating Meg's birthday. Zach and Elizabeth video conferenced in so they could enjoy everything (except the lasagna).

Day 7 - Hollywood Studios

Saturday morning we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and headed over to Hollywood Studios.
First stop, of course, was Toy Story Mania. Then we headed to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Meg was tall enough to ride so Mom and Dad each took turns riding with her. We also saw Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage and Playhouse Disney—Live on Stage.
Meg was picked to go up on stage for Jedi Training while Zach opted to just watch Meg. We got him a Jedi robe at the Star Wars shop, which wore the whole way home. He didn't take it off until he went to bed Saturday night.
Unfortunately, around 1pm we had to head back to the hotel to catch our ride to the airport. The kids decided that the plane ride home was their "last ride" of the vacation.

Day 6 - Animal Kingdom

Friday morning we relaxed at the pool. The kids loved the water slides at the main pool, though we also enjoyed having our own private pool to jump in at night to cool off after going to the theme parks.
We spent the rest of Friday at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest were our favorite rides, we rode them twice. The Kilimanjaro Safari was very cool too. We saw lots of animals on our journey. Finding Nemo – The Musical was excellent. Next we had dinner at Boma, an african-inspired restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Then we went back to the park for a few more rides. We saw It's Tough to be a Bug! and then headed to the Dinoland area. We rode DINOSAUR which was surprisingly scary, TriceraTop Spin, and Meg and Dad rode Primeval Whirl (Zach wasn't tall enough). We ended the night on Expedition Everest, which had magnificent views of the park at night

Day 5 - Studios and Magic Kingdom

Thursday morning we changed our plans and headed to Hollywood Studios to be sure we could ride the Toy Story Mania ride. We followed the throngs of people as they ran to get their fast passes. We rode the ride, which was very cool, and then grabbed a fast pass for later. We also rode the Tower of Terror, saw the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Voyage of The Little Mermaid. We didn't bring the camera in the morning, so there are no pictures.

As we left it started raining. We spent some time back at the hotel and went to the Magic Kingdom that night.