Let the Summer Fun Begin

I've been out of school for about 2 weeks now and have had so much fun with Evan already. Most of the time our activities are spur of the moment. I had planned on signing him up for some classes at the park district but really wanted to not be on a strict schedule (with the exception of his nap and bed times). Here's tons of pictures to show what we've been up to.

After his bath one night Evan wanted to sit on his Elmo potty (which he still has only peed on once) and then wanted his Elmo slippers on too.

I've been trying to get my "Spring" cleaning done. I was washing the windows in the living room, and Evan insisted on helping too, so I let him wipe the front door.

"So clean I can see myself in it!"

After a slow start the summer temperatures finally reached us in Chicago. It took Evan a long time to actually get in his pool once we set it up. He stood on the outside and was content pouring water from the cups and bowls. Finally he went inside but would only stand up and insisted on holding my hand most of the time.

Evan running around the house after coming in from the pool, complete with firefighter's hat.
Silly boy!

Evan was very crabby one morning so I decided to take him to a restaurant called Choo Choo Johnny's. It's a train themed restaurant, where a train runs along the counter and brings your food to you. There's also a train running around the entire restaurant near the ceiling. He really enjoyed it!

Evan found one of his diapers in the diaper bag, then asked for his bear and started putting it on the bear.

Today we went to my co-worker, Michelle's house for a playdate. The other kids jumped in the kiddie pool immediately but Evan preferred watching from the sidelines.

Driving the car with his friend, Carter

Dinosaur Videos

Here's two very short videos of the dinosaurs at Brookfield. Make sure your volume is turned up so you can hear them Roar!

Free at Last

My summer break finally started this past Tuesday at 10:30 am. After having such a crazy and busy end of the school year, it was an incredible feeling to walk out of my building that last day (although I had a bag full of work in tow to do over the summer months - 3 months of vacation for teachers, HA!). I am so looking forward to being a stay at home mommy, even if it's only for a short time.

We started our summer adventures today by going to Brookfield Zoo. Although we went a few times last summer, Evan was still a little young to really understand what he was looking at, however this time he really enjoyed seeing everything. This summer, Brookfield also has a special dinosaurs exhibit, where they have life size dinosaurs that move and make noises. It was pretty impressive how realistic they looked, and Evan was scared of them. He kept covering his mouth with his hands and clung to Rick the whole time. We've probably scarred him for life! Despite his fear, though, when we ask him what he saw at the zoo the first thing he says is "dinosaur".

Riding on papou's shoulders

Not part of the actual dinosaurs exhibit, but the dinosaur in the famous fountain at the zoo was a "preview" of the exhibit. It moved its head and neck and was very loud!

One of the first animated dinosaurs in the exhibit

Evan's first reaction to the dinosuars

This one moved its head and actually blinked its eyes.

Evan wouldn't even look at the giant t-rex, which I forgot to take a picture of but did take a video, which I will post soon.

He didn't mind seeing the dinosaur from afar.

Checking out the polar bear laying out in the sun

Getting close to a lizard