Normal Fun

Liz and Jonah on the Seadog.

The whole gang on the Seadog.

Me and the girls admiring the Chicago skyline from the new Navy Pier ferris wheel.  What a view!
  

 Julia on the Seadog, while the boat raced around the lake.  Although she thought it was fun, she was more interested in dancing to the Taylor Swift song that was playing.

4th of July friends before the Palatine parade.  

Jonah snuggling with Princess Buttercup.  He didn't like calling her Princess, so he only called her Buttercup.  She was so cute!

Buttercup's aunt, Sally, was also a fun companion for the day.

Buttercup and Dr. Shears.

The puppies were so cute it was really hard to leave.  Between the cuteness and hospitality, it took us a long time to actually leave the clinic.

We really loved Buttercup - how could you not - look at how cute she is?  We thought about sneaking her home, but decided that daddy wouldn't be too happy with us.

We are settling into a nice season of normal fun these days.  After coming back from Avalon and doing a week of VBS, my family came to town for a week.  It was my dad, my brother (Scott), his wife (Ericka), their daughter (Sierra) and Aunt Brenda.  In the midst of medical appointments and root canals, my family kicked around town exploring and having fun.  We were lucky enough to get to join them for a few of their adventures, including an architectural tour of Chicago on the Sea Dog. The best part of the Sea Dog tour was the 10 minute speed boat ride on Lake Michigan at the end.  We also checked out the new Navy Pier Ferris Wheel.  It seemed only appropriate, as we watched them take the old one down while we were at RIC.

This week, some very kind friends at Skycrest Animal Clinic in Long Grove invited us to shadow behind the scenes.  This invitation was inspired by the realization that Jonah wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up, and the rest of us were lucky enough to tag along.  The hospitality and welcome from the staff at Skycrest was amazing.  The facility was beautiful, the staff was warm and friendly and the puppies that were visiting were the cutest!  If you have a pet and need a vet - Skycrest is a great option.  We were all especially smitten with Buttercup - a 9 week old golden.  Thank you so much Skycrest for showing us all a bit of what it means to be a vet - it was so much fun for us all!

After the season we've been through, we're really enjoying a season of normal fun!