Watching the twin fawns that frequently visit our backyard..
Gull Lake, MI...Relaxing after lots of swimming:)
We took a trip to Binder Park Zoo, in Battle Creek.. This picture was taken at the end of the day, we were all pretty wiped out, but it was fun:)
Grandma, Grandpa, & Aunt Courtney took the girls on the kid's train ride.. Carly and Casey were so excited, they love to ride this little train.. it takes just a short 5ish minute trip..
Carly was brave enough to brush the goats..She likes animals, but usually doesn't like to be near them.. She's taking big steps here..
Casey loves animals and dove right in, literally.. At one point, she tripped and fell in a pile of goat droppings, I was worried what the front of her shirt was going to look like when I peeled her off the ground..Whew, just a little dirty.. She went right back to brushing ALL the goats..
On the way to "Wild Africa".. This is a tram that heads to an area of the zoo where it looks and feels like Africa..It's suppose to give you the feel of being on a safari. They have giraffe's out this way and we were able to feed them lettuce this day, Carly and Casey like to "watch" the giraffes eat, but not "feed" them..
We visited the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo. It's a museum of different kids of airplanes etc. and they have a few rides to try out.. They had several 3d/4d experience rides also.. Carly is on a little helicopter ride in the "kids" area..
Courtney rode the bi-planes with Casey 2 times. Casey enjoyed making the plane go up and down while it went around in circles.. Courtney had fun too, but i think 2 times was her limit.. What a super auntie:)
The above two pictures are of the hot air balloon ride.. It looked harmless enough, but once on it, some serious speed and tilting.. Carly loved it and wanted a second ride! Casey put her head in my lap by the end of the ride, it made her a little queasy.. Courtney and I also felt the same way...Too much spinning..
mmmmm, birthday cake in her birthday suit!!
Casey in her Birthday Girl dress
Casey turned two on August 13.. It was a super fun day for us, we started out the day with a trip to Grand Rapids, to see the Wiggle's live.. The girls have loved the Wiggle's forever and it was a great concert.. I took a few video clips, because, yes, THEY REALLY ARE THAT GOOD!!! They did a fantastic job and they sounded wonderful and the dancing was great too.. The girls were glued to the show:) We went to the show with a few of our neighborhood/playgroup friends and ended the day with dinner at Steak n Shake, all the kids got milkshakes for the ride home.. Casey loved that part!!!!
Kalamazoo county fair 2009.. we had a great day... started out looking at the animals.. They loved the pigs best and Casey was afraid of the horses.. A nice 4H boy took out a duck for them to pet and gave them a little lesson on how to tell if it's a boy or girl duck.. the one with the loud very distinct "Quack" is the female... I learned something too.. They were not interested in petting the duck.. The laughed when the turkey's all gobbled at the same time..
Friends from Urbana came to visit us... we went for dinner downtown Kalamazoo and took a picture at the fountain on the mall....Elie & Lucas Dixon...
Pfizer family fun day.. Carly has watermelon, ice cream, and a very frosted cupcake! takes after her mom.. she was in heaven.....
Bowling at Pfizer family fun day... she loved the shoes and, well, uhh, bowling, not so much....She lasted 3 or 4 frames...
Just a cute sisters picture.. Gotta snap these moments quickly.. they don't last very long or happen on a regular basis...
Carly colored her legs and arms w/ wet sidewalk chalk.. she said she was "pinkalicious"!!!! Pinkalicious is actually a favorite book of hers, it's a story of when a little girl eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink...Carly and Casey were so pleased to meet George and were even more excited when uncle Bill told them George was their cousin!! George was a good sport and I had seen him spin before, several years ago, I can't believe he still does it! He was very interested in the girls and didn't hide from them at all. They enjoyed walking around outside with him...
George is Cousin Michele's cat (Michele is in Korea teaching right now and so George is living the life in the suburbs! he was a Chicago cat about a year ago..
Carly decided this was the perfect kids table and the ate lunch pretty good there. Except for the occasional "kick" of the table by casey...
Doing art outside in the gazebo - very happy girls! the weather was beautiful and so nice to be outside...
Carly in Bill and Laurie's driveway, "chalking" it up! and in her pj's too! she's in heaven
At the elementary school playground in their neighborhood - the girls really enjoyed this.. we told them how their cousins :Michele, Kyle, & Ross went to this school and played here when they were little...
My favorite picture of casey on the train, we tried the upstairs seats out.. as you can see, she loved it!
Carly and Daddy trying out the upstairs seats, she thought that was pretty neat..
The group outside Shedd. It was crazy busy that day, but what fun! The line was HOURS long, but we were able to join the shorter 30 minute stroller line.. whew! and we saw the dolphin and beluga show.. very cool..
Carly and Casey took their first taxi ride..No carseats! I did ok, but still couldn't help but worry.. We all fit into one taxi and took it to Union Station to catch the train back to Libertyville. As the picture shows, Casey was exhausted! Seriously, who falls asleep in a chicago taxi!! Proof of a very busy and exciting day!
Uncle Bill and Aunt Laurie on the water taxi to Shedd..
Our water taxi on Lake Michigan, we went from Navy Pier to Shedd Aquarium..
The water taxi that took us to Navy Pier on the chicago river..beautiful views of the architecture. We sat on the top just behind the captain.
Our favorite wildlife coming for a visit...Check out the video below:) Casey is saying "she's walking" and pretty excited to see twins:)
Carly so proud of her cardinal drawing..We do LOTS of chalk drawings in the driveway..
Our pool that was attacked by the raccoons.. Seriously, why did they chew it up??? It's a mystery..
On the carousel at the local mall. It was stopped when I took this picture, I have to stand between them b/c they are not over 42 inches tall.. the ride is a reward for being "good" when mommy is shopping..
Safety Day in Portage, MI about 20 min south of here.. there were emergency vehicles on display for the kids to climb in etc.. It was hot, Casey was impatient to wait and Carly was not that interested...
Casey was pushing, pressing, you name it any button she could get her fingers on.. She loved this part, Carly not so much, I pretty much made her sit up here for the picture.. she was unhappy as you can tell, she had to stop picking the clover in the grass next to the truck.. However, when she was in the driver's seat she said "hey, Mom I can see SEARS and the Mall over there"... yep my little shopper!! that was the highlight of her day..
