cousins, museum, zoo

We've had a lot of family and social gatherings the past few weeks. While Jason played at Festa Italiana, I got to watch our nephew, Sean, while Meghan and Bob went to Meghan's 20-year reunion for Waukesha South. The first picture is of Grandpa Gillette holding them before they went to bed. Grandma and Grandpa came over to play with the kids, too.

We had a rare family day...just Jason, Sarah and me at the Betty Brinn Childrens Museum.

The first picture is in the "Backyard" area for toddlers.

On the dance floor area

We went to the zoo yesterday with cousin Sean, Aunt Meghan, and Uncle Bob. Sarah loves saying Bob's name and doesn't like for him to leave the room. The zoo was packed, but we had an enjoyable time watching Sean's reactions to being at the zoo for the first time.

This picture is of Sarah watching the elephants being groomed and doing tricks in their indoor exhibit

Sean watching the elephants on Bob's shoulders

Sarah at the giraffe exhibit

The above picture is of Sean's 1st time on the merry-go-round. You can't quite tell in this picture, but he loved it! Bob took some great pictures of Sean smiling and having a great time.

The picture below is of Sarah's 2nd time on the merry-go-round and she cried quite loudly the entire ride. However, after it stopped she clapped and said, "Yay!" followed by, "MORE!". Go figure. It looks like I was crying, too. :)

I'm sure there's more to report, but I need to get some sleep. I have lots of packing to do tomorrow in order to get ready for our trip to Richmond.

Sad day to be a homeowner

Last Sunday Jason noticed a huge crack down the trunk of our gorgeous maple tree in front of our house. After a few estimates and tree experts who told us it couldn't be saved, we made the decision to take it down. I cried when we made the decision and I still have a sick feeling in my stomach. We loved that tree and felt terrible that we had to end its life. The tree people think that the tree took up a lot of water with the heavy rains a few weeks ago. Since it was at its fullest foilage, it couldn't handle the weight of the limbs and cracked down the center. They've seen a lot of trees like it this season.

The view from across the street

The crack down the trunk

Another view of the cracked trunk

It was such a great tree. The colors in the fall were beautiful

Trimming off the limbs

More trimming

It was such a tall tree.

The view from inside the kitchen this morning. Some neighbors came and hauled some of the wood away and friends of the workers hauled more away this afternoon. One of the guys busted his chainsaw so he has to come back later to finish off the trunk of the tree. I want to put a sign in our yard letting everyone know that the tree was cracked and couldn't be saved. I've seen some people drive by and shake their heads. What are ya gonna do?

Coming down the hill at the park by the Wilson Center in Brookfield

Our baby is growing up too fast!

The above photos were taken by our good friend, Andrea Warp (http://www.arwphotography.com/). Each photo shoot gets better and better. We had a perfect weather day. Sarah definitely did better for the outdoor pictures than she did for the indoor pictures. Running around suited her much better!

I can't believe it's already July 10th. The summer is cruising by so fast. We traveled down to my parents' in Iowa the weekend of June 21st to be at the 1st service in their new church building at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Williamsburg, IA. It was such a powerful day since we've witnessed the long road the church experienced to achieving this goal. Mom and Dad put a lot of sweat and tears into the process and it was a joyful day to be there for the first service. We were thankful that Williamsburg didn't experience the flooding but were sad to hear the stories of all those affected in nearby Iowa City/Coralville and Cedar Rapids.

Mom and Dad came up to Brookfield the following week to spend some much needed time away. Dad helped Jason get a lot of projects done around the house and Mom loved watching Sarah so I could get things done, as well. It was so lovely to have them here for more than a quick weekend now that Dad's retired. Sarah absolutely loved having them here and kept calling for them in the mornings after they left. The best part was watching her reach for both of their hands when she wanted to show them something. It would melt my heart.

We had a nice family get-together on the 4th of July. Ron, Ann, Meghan, Bob, and Sean joined my folks, Jason, Sarah, and me in celebrating the day. The cousins were in the baby pool for a short time together and had fun playing with the sidewalk chalk and the bubbles. It was such a beautiful day and we spent most of it outside. A bunch of us played croquette. Bob is definitely the croquette master! He won all three matches much to the chagrin of Jason and his dad (they're usually ultra-competitive....it's pretty funny actually). We tried giving the cousins a bath together, but Sean wasn't about to let that happen. He was a little freaked out by the strangeness of the tub. Put Sarah into the mix and forget about it. :) All in all, I'm glad it worked out for the family to spend a relaxing day together.

Jason is excited to go to the Cubs game tomorrow. I'm going to drop Sarah off at the grandparents' house so I can finally see "Sex in the City". I think Jason is actually a little disappointed that I'm going without him. Let that be our little secret. :)

The rest of the weekend is up in the air which is kind of nice. I think we'll finally take in the Brookfield Farmers' Market and go on a long bike ride now that we have the bike trailer put together. Sarah has been a couple of rides and seems to do well in it. We're also getting excited for our trip to Richmond to see Kim and Cleo. Kim can hardly wait to see Sarah.

That's all for now!

We love the summer!

Cooling off on the 4th of July

Playing with the balls

Uncle Bob, cousin Sean, Aunt Meghan, and Sarah