10X His Body Weight

We saw this ant crawling up our wall today when a friend stopped by. It was pretty cool to actually see this tiny little things maneuvering a giant leaf~

Pitchers, like poets, are born not made. ~Cy Young

Sam's last Yankee's game was tonight. He played awesome! And he had a fantastic season pitching, giving up very few hits and even fewer runs. He really is a natural. It helps that he's had Charlie to play with all these years! Here is coach Matt, giving the team some final words of wisdom. I love how Sam has his arm around his good friend, Aiden~
What a great bunch of kids and coaches~
Next year they go to a draft, so we aren't certain to get all the same players back. We'll surely miss those that don't return~

Prehistoric Zoo

While visiting Brookfield Zoo today with the Pesek's, a friendly peacock and her chicks joined us while we were eating our lunch. Mary thought we were visiting the dinosaurs, which in a way, I guess, she's right~

There is always something new to see at the zoo~
This hen was pretty serious about where she was sitting~



We were able to see the new "Great Bear Wilderness" exhibit. (Our friend, Cole, is in the commercial!) This grizzly was HUGE~
We all had a lot of fun, but it was very crowded. I vowed never to go during summer break again. One of the privileges of homeschooling is not having to adhere to everyone else's schedule :)

Playoffs

Sam had his play-off game tonight. His team was ranked #1, and the opposing team, #2. Unfortunately, after giving it their all, they lost :( They still had a great season, losing only one game. Sam was amazing - playing with kids 1 - 2 years older than him and still dominating~
Little sisters in the cheap seats~
Next week starts travel league!

This is what happens when the kids get their hands on the camera...

I love when I'm downloading pictures off my camera and come across random photo shoots by the kids~









We're on our way to Sammy's playoff game!

National League All-Stars

Charlie was voted into the all-star game unanimously by his teammates. He really is an excellent ball player~
Here he is with the other Mets that made the cut~
Brothers~
The National League crushed the American League - it was a great game!

Hawkeye

We have a hawk living in a tree behind our back yard. The boys love spotting him~

Highland Games

Charlie and Scott checked out the Highland games, because his teacher's bagpipe band was playing there.
These hammer-throwing guys are bad-arse~

Great America

In honor of his birthday, Charlie took two friends to Great America today. The boys slept over to give them an early start~
It rained, a lot. But they still had a blast. You don't suppose these guys are Blackhawks fans?

Sam went on plenty of the "big" rides, too-including the Demon!


I wonder how Scott got this shot...
A really wonderful day, for a wonderful boy, and his friends :)

22 Years

I visited my old K-8 school today for a mini-reunion. The best part was walking through the now-very-tiny halls of Zion. Here's me, 22 years ago~

Under the Lights

Sam played his all-star game tonight. Of course the American league dominated~

Look! Nature is overflowing with the grandeur of God! - John Muir

The sky was giving us some beautiful views tonight at Charlie's baseball game (looking to the west)~
The southeast~

Strawberry Fields

Today we went with a couple of friends to McCann's Berry Farm, in Woodstock~
I can't really think of many things better than eating just-picked fruit~
Mary-girl ~
The two Charlies~
Hannah~
Sam and Hunter~
They also had sugar snap peas - we only picked a pound (they were good, but the kids were ready to leave by the time I spotted the peas. We picked about 20 pounds of strawberries (we probably ate about 10 while picking). We'll see how many make it into the freezer :)

Blackhawks Win!!!!!

Right after Wendy took Aiden and Allison home to bed tonight, the Blackhawks won the Stanley cup!! Sam was crying, and Mary was celebrating. Matt can't believe his eyes, and Charlie and Scott are speechless~

Shedd Aquarium - 2010

We drove down to the Shedd today, to take advantage of an awesome group rate a fellow homeschooler had set-up~
Aiden and Sam check out a sea star (we learned that's what starfish preferred to be called when were at the Juricha-Suchy museum last week~
Of course Mary loved the penguins~
Always very cool~
They continue to make museums more and more kid-friendly~



Our $5 (total, not per person!!) admission even included the Oceanarium show, which has become kind of hokey~


Too many theatrics, not enough animals~
But Mary liked it~
There's a sever case of Blackhawk fever taking over the city~


On our drive home, we saw lots of support for the soon-to-be Stanley Cup champions~
I fought rush-hour traffic in Chicago to get this shot for Wendy~