It was BP's Summer Fun family outing yesterday at Six Flags Great America (hence the matching t-shirts)! Everyone had a blast--Ellen Claire was quite taken with Wiggles World where she got to see a show and even drive a Big Red Car. Will is the official dare devil of the family with only a measly height restriction keeping him off some of the most amazing roller coasters. Meg was right there with him, but wouldn't ride the scariest ones, not even with her mother! Jack, by the way, is pretty much a big chicken :-) I'll send out pictures this week.

My parsley has been invaded!!! After a bit of internet research, the kids and I have discovered that these amazing caterpillars are Black Swallowtail butterflies waiting to happen! We are so excited and hope to get to see our backyard full of the beautiful butterflies they are to become. At current can see count, we have 13 in my parsley. Well worth the loss of parsley, I do believe!

Morton Arboretum

We had a fun time at the Arboretum as a late summer, finally had a sunny day trip! It was very busy so we all tired out more quickly than I had hoped. A return visit in September is already planned. Our friends, Sarah and Christopher Hossfeld, went along for the fun. The garden that we spent the most time in was the Children's Garden. It had everything from a secret stream to play in to being able to climb up into the 30 foot trees (which is where Will is in the picture above). As we have very few old trees in the suburbs (we all used to be a corn field!), this is sure to become one of our favorite places to visit.

Meg's First Game

Meg's first time to cheer as a high school Freshman was last Friday night for the scrimmage. The girls did such a good job and were doing stunts after only a month of practice that we didn't do for years many moons ago. Oswego East High School is her school--they are the wolves and their colors are navy and silver. She has 9 games to cheer for this season. Nana and Pop-Pop will be here in September and will get to see one, weather permitting :-) Go Big Blue!

Our First Blog

OK-so I have to admit that I just totally stole this idea from my cousin who just started a blog as well! I should say that I was "inspired" by her as that sounds a bit better, doesn't it? We have an amazing year in front of us with Meg starting high school, Will in his first year with a soccer club and Scouts and third grade (!) and Ellen Claire just being, well, Ellen Claire. We feel so very far away from most of those we love, so I hope this will keep us in touch all the more.