Summer Trip

A few weeks ago, Mark was speaking at an Internet Retail conference in Chicago. We were able to tag along with him.  The kids and I would hang out during the day while Mark was at the conference and then when he was finished, we would all go do something fun in the evening. I LOVE Chicago, but we had never taken the kids.

The first day, the kids and I went to Buckingham Fountain and they just ran around. 

 Then, we found a cool park by the harbor.  The kids were able to play and then we walked around looking at all the boats.

We had a picnic lunch and then went to the "beach". 

After Mark got back, we went to American Girl.  Kate has gotten some gift cards from Gran and Nanny, and once we knew we were going to Chicago, she decided to save them for that trip.  That American Girl store is amazing!! She was in heaven. 

She had to make some tough decisions about what to buy.  She went in there thinking she was going to get another doll.  When she realized that was all she was going to be able to get, she decided to get outfits and accessories for the doll she has now.

She had all kinds of stuff picked out, and then happened upon the salon caddy she has had her eye on for months (and it was sold out the last time she went to spend some gift cards at our American Girl store). Once she saw that, she really had to make some tough decisions because if she wanted it, she had to put a couple things back.  It was so fun watching her make all of her choices and rationalize them.

She ended up with a cheerleading outfit, a soccer outfit, a tote bag that you can strap your doll into, a pair of shoes, and the salon caddy.  All of that added up to the exact amount of her gift cards.  She had brought some extra money from home and in the end, I told her to just buy all that stuff and I would split the tax with her.  Tax was about $20 and she proudly pulled out ten one-dollar bills from her wallet to pair with my $10.  It was precious.  

It worked out perfectly because there was a Lego store right by the second level of the American Girl store. Jack was one happy camper!

He could literally do this ALL day long. 

After all of that, we went to Giordano's, where we waited over an hour for a table.  Well worth the wait.  As good as I remembered.

The kids weren't so happy about waiting, and also didn't feel that the pizza was worth the wait. Ha! Actually, Jack fell asleep at the table after only a few bites.

 Onto the next day. It was yucky and rainy and we had planned a zoo day. After navigating our way around downtown in the rain trying to figure out what to do, I finally figured we would just go to the zoo and the rain would probably subside.

The kids were dressed in shorts and it was barely 60 degrees outside.  I was not quite prepared for these colder temps.  Luckily, at the last minute while packing, I threw in a pair of jeans and a hoodie for each kid. So, we all changed in the van in the zoo parking lot.  It was a tad crazy.

Be prepared... you will see these hoodies in almost every picture for the rest of our trip.  Haha! All I had was a jean jacket and I literally wore it every day.  It was COLD!

Yeah, I was wrong about the rain.  It settled in for the WHOLE day.  We toured the zoo with an umbrella.  It really was so fun, though.

This kid joined Kate and Jack in the tornado chamber.

There was a farm inside the zoo.  There were lots of farm animals and then this fun indoor play area, which helped with the rain factor.

That night, it was STILL raining.  We took a cab to the Rainforest Cafe.  The kids thought the cab was so cool.

I just knew they would love the Rainforest Cafe.  I thought Jack would, especially.  Nope.  I was SO wrong. Kate loved it.  Jack was terrified the.whole.time.

Every time one of the (fake) animals would move, he would freak out.  When the (fake) thunderstorm would happen, he would bite his nails.  He said, "I so scared" approximately 54 times over the course of our dinner.

Oh well, there's always next time!

So, the next day, Mark was only going to be gone for a short amount of time, so we just had a "hotel day". We stayed in the room and watched some TV, and then went swimming.

Sidenote about the hotel: This was the lounge on our floor.  So, when the elevator doors opened when we first checked in and were headed to our room, Jack thought THIS was our room.  He said, WOW! It's big. Where's our bed?" Ha!

This is why the Roskowske's don't frequent The Hilton very often. :) 

 When Mark got back, we went to Millennium Park to see The Bean and took a ridiculous amount of pictures.

We walked to dinner and then headed to The Navy Pier. They are doing some construction there, so it really wasn't that busy.  

Kate rode the giant swings (I was terrified for her!) and Jack had a little ride all to himself. 

There were fireworks that night, so we stayed for those.  

This is Kate showing me how she was going to get us a cab back to the hotel. Haha!

The next day was our last day in Chicago.  We spent the afternoon at Shedd Aquarium.

After a full afternoon of the aquarium, we headed to Saugatuck, Michigan for a few days.  Let me tell you, Michigan is GORGEOUS!! I will save those pictures for another post soon.  Stay tuned... 

For Our Daddy

We got back from a week long trip the night before Father's Day, so I am running a couple days late on this.  

Here are the kids' Father's Day surveys this year.  

Kate: 

What is your daddy's name? Mark

What is his favorite thing to eat? That cheese stuff.  That stuff he makes that smells really gross. (Philly Cheesesteak Steak 'Ums... gross!)

What does he do around the house? He takes care of us.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Go out to dinner.

 
What makes Daddy happy? When we behave well. 

 
How do you know Daddy loves you? Kisses, hugs, blah, blah, blah. 

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you." 

 
What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? We draw. 

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? About superheroes- like what they actually are. 

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yes, because he doesn't have to do as much as mommy does. 

Jack: 

What is your daddy's name? Mark

What is his favorite thing to eat? Rice Crispies... no, rice. 

What does he do around the house? He works.  Like works on the 'puter. 

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play superheroes.

 
What makes Daddy happy? Playing with superheroes and doing music and going to the toy store and playing outside. 

How do you know Daddy loves you? Because on the Bible song... Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.  (I rephrased the question since he seemed confused.  "How does Daddy show you that he loves you?")  He kisses me a lot and I feel his whiskers. 

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you"  

 
What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? We go to the toy store. 

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? Playing guitars and about superheroes.  

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yes, because he works on guitars, builds guitars, and fixes cars.  (Haha... only about one of those is true!). 

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Thank you for being the best Daddy we could ever dream of.  Thanks for working so hard for our family day in and day out.  Thanks for being our best buddy!  We love you!! 

Previous Years Surveys: 2013   2012    2011   

My Kindergarten Graduate!

Kate is finished with kindergarten!  What a fast year.  She has loved being a kindergartener.  

I picked her and a friend up from school for a little
"last day of school" celebration.  

This is them with their wonderful teacher!  We could not have hand picked a sweeter teacher for our girl.  Kate ADORED her! 

I took the girls out for ice cream and let them put whatever they wanted on it.  They put way too much ice cream in their cups and topped it with chocolate, sprinkles, gummy worms, gummy bears, cookie dough... and then they basically just ate the top layer and threw the rest away.  Ha! 

Then, we went to The Magic House for a few hours.  

Mark was working at an event with his boss that night, so after I dropped her friend off, I took Kate out to eat.

She is ready for summer! She said that on Monday, she is going to wake up and run through the house screaming, "I'm free!!"  Haha!  We missed her at a lot of playdates this year, so she's ready to be a part of the fun.   

I'm looking forward to the relaxation of summer.  We have a LOT of fun things planned, but there will be plenty of room for sleeping in, lazy days in Mimi and Papa's pool, running through the sprinkler, afternoons spent with friends, late nights, popsicles on the deck... I LOVE summer!! 

ANNNDDD, no more packing lunches or picking out clothes the night before for awhile.  Yahoo!!!!  Maybe on Monday, I'll run through the house along with Kate screaming, "I'm free!!" 

Jack

I love spending my days with my Jack Man.  He is going to preschool three days a week next year.  While that time will be nice, I'm going to miss my little buddy.

He has developed quite the temper, but he is also so sweet. He is stubborn, but sensitive.

He always asks to snuggle (which he calls "nuggle").  On Mother's Day morning, he climbed up in our bed and said, "Happy Mother's Day, Mama."  He said, "Here's your Mother's Day present" and kissed me on the cheek.  Ahhh, I love that kid.

He will tell me he has a secret to tell me and then will say, "I love you, Mama".

He says "Piderman" for Spiderman and "yittle" for little.

He usually calls a sneeze an "achoo".  One day, I told him his nose was all red.  He said, "That's 'cause I have a lot of sneeze in it."

Kate likes to make up jokes, which usually make sense. Jack's make no sense.  For instance, "Why did the football flatten the bee?  Because he wanted eggs."  When asked about that, he said, "Bees poop eggs out like chickens.  Ummmm, ok.

I was packing Kate's thermos one day and he said, "What's a thermos?"  I told him it was a container that keeps things hot or cold.  He said, "I choose hot."

He has zero endurance or attention span for cleaning up messes.  He can make a mess in two seconds flat, but begs for help when it's time to clean up.

We were talking to him one day in the car about disobeying Mommy and Daddy and how it is important to obey.  He asked, "What obey mean?" (even though he knows).  Right in the middle of explaining it to him, he got distracted and said, "What's that on that car over there?"  He doesn't have time for deep discussions about listening to Mommy and Daddy. ha!

He cracks us up with random little sayings like the other night when he said, "Hey, get me out of this stinking tub!"

We went out to lunch one day after church.  Jack wanted a hot dog.  We ended up at Q'doba, where he ate hardly anything.  He said he was done and I asked if his tummy was full.  He said, "Yeah, but I still have a yittle spot for a chili cheese dog."

As we were leaving our MOPS group not too long ago, it was really windy.  He closed his eyes as we were walking to the car and he held out his arms.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I telling the wind I love it!"

He loves to play fight.  He's always kicking and punching the air, along with sound effects.  He is all boy, for sure.

He is a Mama's boy, but sure loves to spend time with Daddy.  He has assured me he will always stay with me.  Let's just hope he keeps his promise. :)