Photos of summer fun

Monday nights are kickball nights. Here are some pictures of my team on and off the field. Go PIRATES!

And then Fridays bring softball. Here are some pictures from this past Friday's after game party.
This is me and Pike, the mascot.

The red team plus our #1 cheerleader, Kristi.

Nick, Kristi and me. Classy shades!

This is why I love Chicago

I woke up this morning, peeked out the window and decided it was a great day for the beach. So I threw on my swimsuit, grabbed my beach chair and headed down the street to Oak St. beach (a whopping 3 miles from my door.)

I spent a few hours basking in the sun, reading and watching all the entertaining people around me. Oak St. beach is always fun because it attracts a lot of tourists who have been wandering the magnificent mile. Therefore you get a lot of fully dressed people with their pants rolled up to their knees wielding cameras. But there are always the families, college students and others who are just naturally drawn to a beach.

Once I had my fill of beach lounging and was properly hungry I meandered back to Michigan Ave and got a sandwich from an Italian cafe and dined alfresco while listening to the band playing outside of Hancock.

Then I crossed the street to Borders and wandered the aisles there, picking up a couple of new books and a CD. While I was perusing the bargain fiction section, an older gentleman approached me and asked if I worked out my arms a lot. I laughed and told him no. My arms are certainly not my best feature! He went on to tell me that they looked like I do and then said, "They look massive and strong." Wow. Is that supposed to be a compliment? I laughed my way out of that section.

Once I had regained my composure I crossed the street to visit the Hershey store to pick up a supplement to Alexander's birthday gift (chocolate twizzlers are a favorite of his.)

Then I hopped back on the Chicago bus and continued on my way home. Just a great way to spend a day. I really need to remember to do this much more often.

Now I'm off to take a shower and meet up with some friends for an evening out on the town.

Gotta love Chicago in the summer!

Things that make Lily smile.

Getting ready to crawl.

Lily is a huge fan of Terra fetching her dog-toys. I think she sees possibilities in this. If she can't figure out the crawling thing, I think she'll just train Terra to go get her toys and bring them to her. If only mom and dad didn't keep telling Terra "No!"

Mommy's so funny!

Tasty treats!

Hmmmm, you look tasty...

Yes, absolutely delicious.

I'm not so sure about elephant...

Oh, what was I worried about? Elephant is divine!

She is her father's daughter

Carl at about 1 year.

Lily at about 7 months.

I don't think there's any denying they're related.

Lily's funny new trick

I'm out in Baltimore for a little visit and am highly amused by one of Lily's latest tricks. When she's in a sitting position and wants to get into a rolling or crawling position she just leans forward and THWAP! clunks her head on the floor. Now, while they may have nicely padded rooms at school, the only thing on the floors here is a pretty thin rug. This results in a nice red circle wherever her head came into contact. I should mention this doesn't seem to phase Lily in the slightest. She just goes on with her business.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but if you look closely you can see the red spot above her right eye.

Busy weekend Part II

And then my friend Kristi and I spent a lovely afternoon taking in some of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Oak Park.

Busy weekend

A day at Brookfield Zoo with my friends Ilda and Marco and their son, Noah.

Now that's a busy mamma.

You want me to do what to the goat?

OK, mom, I got it now.