The Walsh Fam (and friends) around town

Now that I'm only working one night each week (slacker, I know...) we have been able to do some fun family things on the weekends and host some company, as well. Here are some highlights (in no particular order)...

March 27-28 (I know, I'm really behind!)
Our friends from college, the Vogels, came to visit from Ohio. Ignatius ("My friend Igmatius" as Owen calls him) is 3.5 and Augustine turned one in November. On Saturday we went to the Choo-Choo Restaurant. The boys loved it!


On Sunday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. We also met up with Mertz, another college friend. The boys had a great time. There is so much little boy stuff to see there...farm equipment, planes, and trains. Here are some highlights...

Yes, this wheelbarrow is full of just what you're thinking it's full of! It was an exhibit on alternate fuel sources...

The elevator and escalator were also fun things to check out/play on while the dads waited in line. Now I know why we usually go during the week! Thanks to the Vogels for visiting! It was great to see you guys :o) And Mertz, too!

Nature Museum and Oz Park April 15th

Another beautiful day! This spring, we have been blessed with quite nice weather! We deserve it after last year! We met my work friends at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to learn, play, and enjoy a picnic. It's free on Thursday and miraculously we found free parking right out front! After we looked at some of the exhibits, we found the indoor playground.

Owen and the other kiddos had quite a time on the slide!

Ben loved the picnic! I think this was his first time in the grass!

Here are the kids... Aren't they all getting so big?!

After the museum we played at Oz park. It was tons of fun!

Doesn't baby Emelia have the best legs ever!!!

Saturday, April 10th Brookfield Zoo
We'd been to the zoo last summer with our friends, but Mike had never been there. It was on my list of things I'd like to do before we move away from Chicago, so e checked out the passes from the library and off we went. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't crowded at all.

Do all kids like laying on benches, or just ours? Should I be worried about this?

Matching cheesy smiles

This guy joined us at our picnic...

Ben had a fun time, as always... :o)

We thought Ben had a slight resemblance to this pygmy hippo. He was a little guy (only about 3 ft tall) and he had lots of neckrolls and was very cute! I hope that's not mean! We love you little Benny!

What do you make of this?

Peek-a-boo ostrich! He popped up for a photo!

They have lots of giraffes at Brookfield. Owen was hoping to see a mommy and baby giraffe (that's what he told us in the car) and I'm not sure if we did, but some were smaller and others were bigger and that was good enough for him!

"Hi goose. I'm Owen and you're a goose" I wish we had gotten this one-sided conversation on video. It was pretty cute. The next morning as we were walking Lola, he said to a squirrel, "Hi squirrel, this is my dog Lola." The squirrel took off pretty fast!

Owen, Ben, and I enjoying a snack!

And of course, no day at the zoo would be complete without a ride on the carousel. Owen loved roaring while he rode the tiger.

Lincoln Park Zoo April 2nd
Our good friends from college, The Barber's were in town. Their daughter, Keatin, is 19 months. The weather was absolutely beautiful (Ben even broke out his linen pants!)

They came into town the night before and we played at the choo-choo park and ate dinner. The next day, we met at the zoo and the kids had so much fun! It was great to catch up.


Auntie Em and Uncle Jim met us at the zoo, too!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa George!!!

We couldn't call Grandpa George for his birthday because he is in Spain, so here is our birthday song!!!

MD

Did you hear the news? We're moving to Maryland! Mike got a fellowship at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. We are excited about this new and great opportunity for him and our family. At the same time, we are sad to think about leaving all of the great friends we've made in Evanston. And, the prospect of moving so much further from our families is disappointing. It is only a one or two year fellowship and we are lucky to have family on both sides in the DC area. We're hoping Mike will start his new job on September 1. We've been working hard to get our condo ready to put on the market and packing up lots of boxes in order to "declutter." Here is a video of the boys playing with their new favorite toys...

If you hear of anyone looking for a great 2 bedroom condo, please send them our way!!! We're ready to make a deal!

Love this!!!

If you needed another reason!!!
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2010/04/breast_milk.php

Happy Easter!

We were lucky enough to have Grammy and Grandpa George in town for a little bit of our Easter festivities. My Aunt Phyllis turned 60 and they came in for her celebration the night before. My Uncle Frank and cousins threw her a great surprise party. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but I spent most of the party nursing Ben (who wouldn't let me out of his sight after I had worked the night before) and chasing Owen (who kept escaping!!!) We met for brunch and an egg hunt at Emily and Jim's before their early flight home (my mom had to get back to work Sunday night!) Em made a fantastic brunch of Food Network favorites. Yum! I should have taken a picture of her delicious spread!

Ben and Grandpa George watching "Face the Nation" together while Owen hunted for the Easter Eggs and baskets

Each egg he found had to be opened and the loot inspected before he could find the next egg. This made the egg hunt last a little longer than we had expected...

Owen and Grammy checking out the contents of another egg. Mickey Mouse fruit snacks. "Awesome!"

Ben didn't know what to think about the whole ordeal...

...until Owen found his Easter basket for him! What a great big brother! This is not the world's best picture of it, but I knit this sweater for Owen when he was a newborn.

Owen was excited about what the Easter bunny left for him, too!

Here he is, modeling his new apron for art projects.

Perfect for egg dying. Yes, we did dye eggs after we had our egg hunt. Oh, well! Maybe next year we'll get around to it beforehand...

Owen and Mike did a beautiful job with the eggs!

Ben just watched the egg dying, but I'm sure he was taking notes for next year!

The morning really wore Tess out! We didn't stay too long because the boys were a little crabby from too much partying the night before!

Everyone woke up from their afternoon naps in a much better mood!

The boys walked over to Subway to get us a sandwich feast for dinner. They made it home just as it started to thunder and pour!

Little Bunnies

The boys got to visit the Easter Bunny with Mike 2 weekends while I was sleeping after work... I think Owen really liked her...

I tried to get a cute picture of the boys in their bunny hats and this was the best I could do...

It got even worse once we added Lola into the mix...

So we settled for cute individual pictures of the boys :o)

Much better!

And Lola, too!