Chicago

At the beginning of March the kids and I went out to visit my sister in Chicago. It was so great to see her and her family and my kids had SUCH a great time. I don't think either of them were ready to come home. One day while we were out there I asked Samantha if I could play with her. She told me no, she was just to busy playing with her cousins. I was surprised how much she wanted to play with Carter and Andrew. I guess since they're older and boys I figured she wouldn't have much interest. They were both awesome with her and it was fun to watch her interact with them. Carter played ball with her quite a bit and even took a bike ride with her. He was a little surprised that the bike ride involved more talking than riding and was done after one trip around the block. Andrew went out to ice cream with us and the whole time Sammi was holding his hand and kept saying, "we sure do love each other, right Andrew?" Paul also had fun chasing everyone and learned how fun it is to wrestle. 

They both loved baby Alyssa. I was surprised how gentle Paul was with her. I guess since he hits me over the head with something on a daily basis, I figured I'd have to be careful. He would get down right next to her and "talk" to her then jump up and run away. He also wanted to get under her baby gym thing. It was a tight squeeze, but they both managed in there. I took a ton of pictures, but didn't realize until later that I got very few (if any) of the older kids. It's probably because they were at school while we were doing a lot of the activities. Plus, when all 7 kids were there I was not thinking about getting my camera.

We went to the Shedd Aquarium. We were so lucky that Kelle's friend got us tickets so we were able to go for free when it wasn't a free day. That meant it was way less crowded and we got to see the whales, dolphins, and penguins. They had a show where the dolphins were jumping, etc. Sammi called it a "dolphin talent show" (pretty accurate) and since then has been putting on talent shows.

Sammi using her map to tell us where to go next (they loved their maps) 

Playing in the water with all the things to touch

We also went to the Children's museum in Naperville and Burger King (a big hit). Other than that we just played in the beautiful weather we were lucky enough to enjoy and hang out with all the kids.

Sammi rocking out (I love the suit coat she chose)

Paul had fun in the water before this

 After visiting Kelle we got to spend the night down at Kim and Chris' house for a quick visit. Sammi keeps asking when they're coming out here to visit. Apparently she didn't get enough time playing with them. I guess everyone needs to come out here soon!