Into our lives a little rain must fall...Fairwell Uncle Bob ...July 2007

Unfortunately, our dear Uncle Bob passed away a day after we returned from Las Vegas. We thank the Lord for the many years he was with us. He was truly a wonderful man, silent, strong, a World War II vet and a great example of what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation".

Thomas and I stayed overnight with Uncle Bob serveral times over the past couple years. This was the first complete wake and funeral which Thomas attended. Therefore, we bought Thomas his first tie which he was very proud of. Thomas was well behaved and the entire family enjoyed his company as we said our final good bye to Uncle Bob.

Fairwell Uncle Bob, say hello to Auntie Clara for us. We'll always love you both.

Mom's Birthday Get Away Vegas Style...July 2007

A quick three day get away to celebrate Susan's Birthday. Mom, Mary and Margaret helped by watching our house and by taking care of Thomas. THANKS!!

We met Susan's brother and sister in law, Tom and Maureen, for dinner on their last night, our first and enjoyed the fine dining at the Belagio Hotel.

On our second day we relaxed, swam, worked out, shopped, went to a fine dinner and then saw the absoultely STUNNING Cirque Du Soleil LOVE show at the Mirage. The show combined incredible visual effects and out of this world audio tracks featuring Beatles music.
If you get the chance to see this show-you should. I consider it a MUST SEE!

Elmfest June 2007

It seems every town has a summer festival of some sort. Our town's name is Elmfest. One of the bands was a Beatles cover band and we decided to meet our friends, the Rosenbergs for an afternoon and evening of fun.
Ferris Wheel fun. Thomas has his Beatles Yellow submarine shirt on in preparation for the concert later in the evening. Jack is sporting his Gunzo's hockey shirt - a local favorite.




I call this picture "the big Hammer." Guess who got hit by the big hammer? Why Daddy of course.

This ride whipped the boys around a bit much for Thomas' taste. In this picture, he's starting to freak out.

No pictures of the concert, but Thomas went up front and was rocking with the band, singing and dancing to the "English Beat."

The summer schedule heat up, keeping Mom & Thomas busy June 2007

Thomas' preschool, Wilson Montessori Academy, has a year end outside summer party. Thomas pointed out that his team won this game of tug-of-war. Mom volunteered on this day and Thomas said she was running this event. Hmmmm...I wonder if Mom helped in the victory?

In addition to preschool, Thomas signed up for a special "science camp' sponsored by the wonderful Morton Arboretum. He had a great time learning about bugs - did we mention that we had Millions of cicadas visit our neighorhood this year? Thomas was in bug heaven!

The Arboretum offers lots of hiking, playing and an incredible natural setting. Take that hill, Thomas!!The Arboretum has many kid friendly parks and areas for hands on interaction. When Thomas saw this picture, he said "I'm climbing just like Spidy." Spiderman is one of his favorites.

Summer Time Fun! May 29th & 30th 2007

This is Thomas and his friend Erin Johnson from Wilson Montessori at the Elmhurst "splash" pool or as the locals call it "the hub". This has been the summer of Swimming for Thomas and all the practice is paying off. Thomas can swim across the pool on his own, swim to the bottom and pick up things and is now going off the medium diving board - without goggles even!

Here, Thomas and his good friend Michael are making "silly faces" while playing at one of the Elmhurst parks. Thomas pointed out to me that they are both wearing thier "basketball shirts."