Rats!

After seeing "A Christmas Carol" at C.O.D this morning, we stopped at Willowbrook Wildlife Center for a bit with the Peseks~
A docent was kind enough to bring out one of the rats (Blanco)~
And a dove, too~

Hockey on Ice

Thanks to a friend of Grandpa's, we had great seats at our annual Thanksgiving weekend Wolves game~
We were about 4 rows from the ice (and Wayne Messmer) ~
The boys~
And Daddy's girl (with Gene looking on) ~

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. ~Vietnamese Proverb

Oranges and Lemons

The boys had their fall performance (Sam's first!) at the Greenhouse today. Sam was pretty excited/nervous~
They performed some dances, recitations and sang~
I love this kid~
Charlie performed with his wizard sticks, as part of a scene with medieval "street performers" ~
Sam loves the Greenhouse. And his brother~

Minuet No. 2

Sam played his graduation (from book 1) piece at today's recital~
It was beautiful~

We are so proud of him~

Naperville Astronomers Club

While Charlie was at a concert, Sam and I got to check out the night sky with some pretty powerful telescopes, courtesy of the Naperville Astronomical Association~
They offer free star-gazing to groups. They have a small plot of land they use at one of the Naperville water reclamation plants. The folks that came out were incredibly helpful and generous with their extensive knowledge~
The center of the universe~
There were a couple of different telescopes~
Even though it was cloudy most of the night, when we were patient, we did get some clear views of the moon and Jupiter~
One of the observatories~

Toby Mac & Skillet

Charlie got to see Toby Mac and Skillet again~







Now my 11 year old has officially gone to more concerts than I.

Make two bunny ears....

Finally!

The Blues Park

I bring Charlie to the local junior high twice a week (once for his trumpet technique class, and once for band practice). We've been driving by this park (attached to the grade school and the YMCA) but I wasn't sure if we could use it. Mary has been asking to go to the blue park for a while now. Today I saw another family playing, and so we stopped. It is really cool~
It will stink when the weather isn't warm enough to play while we wait (we've been blessed with a very mild fall) ~