Lyon Forest Preserve

This was the hike Ali and I checked out a little before school got out. We took the boys back with us and did more of the trail. It was so beautiful.

Then we went to the Fox River that was right near there and found some ice cream. Fun start to our summer adventures!

Last Day!

We had a fantastic school year! We had three kids in school bands, 1 played football, 2 in track, 1 in school clubs, 1 in choir, big school projects, and 4 kids with amazing grades! But now, it's time for summer! 

Field Day at 2 schools:

Last Day!! Next year we'll have 2 juniors, an 8th grader, and a 4th grader (that's upstairs!).

Subbing

I spent a lot of my subbing days at The Wheatlands this year. It is fun to see Jake when I work. I was subbing for the librarian on a day they had all the special classes together, so I got to snap a picture of Jake with his favorite special teacher (aside from ME, of course) Mr Berry.

Pinewood Derby

The Primary Activity Days groups decided to have a Pinewood Derby. Jake was very excited to make his own car (with some help from Eli and his dad) which he named The Destroyer. The leaders did a great job decorating the gym and having car-themed snacks. The Destroyer did a great job in its races, coming in 2nd place every time except for the race it came in 1st!

DnD

We're in a DnD phase around here; much free time goes into planning and executing campaigns!

Washing DC Wedding

Jason's nephew Josh got married in Washington DC, so Jason went out for the weekend. It was great for him to get to be with his family and meet Josh's sweetheart Ali (who is very well-named, and even correctly spelled!).

Jason was so glad he noticed that the reception place was only about 45 minutes from Gettysburg- somewhere he'd never been! 

Dog Sitter

Ali got to dog sit for a friend. Wrigley took a couple of visits to warm up to her, but she soon won him over and she loved visiting this playful happy guy.

A nice perk was that they let Ali borrow their Jeep so she could easily get to and from their house...and a Jeep is Ali's dream car!

Corvette

When your neighbor's grandpa has a really cool car and your mom passes along your drooling, and then he offers to let you come take a closer look and then even takes you on a drive around the neighborhood, life is good!

Chicago

After taking Ali to Chinatown during Christmas Break, Jason decided that this year he wanted to explore some of the parts of Chicago he doesn't usually (or ever) frequent. He and I went to Greektown one weekend and had some delicious Greek food.

Another weekend we took Eli with us to Little Italy to get yummy pizza and then we went to an Italian Ice stand that's been there for 50+ years (it had a HUGE line, but was SO worth it). Eli enjoyed taking a train and downtown bus and humored my desire to walk around quite a bit.

Jason's work building!

More neighborhoods to come!!

State Float

The big 3rd grade end-of-year project is to make State Floats. Jake was thrilled to get his first pick: New York! Ali and Logan have fond memories of making their floats (Colorado and Utah), and so were happy to join me for a walk down memory lane at Jake's mid-day project presentation that coincided with a half day for them. 

End of Year Concerts

The end of the school year means final concerts! We were proud of Eli for remembering to bring his band music for the first time ever (haha!).

Eli has loved being in choir this year with his good bud Mason.

Last band concert EVER for Logan (5 years of school saxophone playing was more than enough for him).

After maybe 7 concerts at OEHS we discovered that the view from the balcony is way better than from the main floor- you can see the whole band from up there rather than just the front row!

Proud of these hard-working, talented kids!