First Day of "4's" Preschool

In his classroom

Cutting out his name on triangles, he's actually pretty good at cutting!

Chase and Ms. Janet

Climbing the tree outside of school, I think this is an after school ritual!

Wednesday was Chase's first day of preschool. He was pretty excited and so was I. I'm so thrilled that he is in the same school, same classroom, and with the same teachers as last year. He was very comfortable about going, even waking up with a smile and saying, " I get to go to school today!" He will be going 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day. I hope that he not only grows socially but also academically as well. I definitely think he is in the right place!

Lindsay's Shower

All of the girls

This weekend I went to my girlfriend Lindsay's baby shower. She was in from London for the last time before the baby is born. It was just a small gathering of good friends. We had a great time talking and catching up. Out of the 9 girls in this picture, 4 of them are expecting! I can't wait to meet all of the new additions!

Chase's First Bears Game

At home with mom, cheering on the Bears

Dylan, Charlie, Blake & Chase

Chase & Charlie

Saturday night Blake took Chase to his first Bears game. They had the whole "experience"-tail gating, seeing the players run in through the "bubble" as Chase called it, and about a million questions about all that he was seeing. Although the game wasn't much to watch, I think it was great for the two of them to begin to form the sports bond that I'm sure they'll have forever.

"Hockey" Class

Getting skates on with Dad

Being silly

At his lesson

Chase and Anthony

So after much discussion, we signed Chase up for a learn to skate class. His good buddy Anthony, from Cathy's house and preschool, was doing it too so we figured Chase would like it. This Saturday was his second week and he is doing pretty good. He's very excited to go and can stand and move down the ice better than we expected. We talked that we hope this develops a skill versus a passion, hockey is so expensive!!

Smore's with the Dolans

Trying to wrestle all of us into a picture with the dog!

The Dolan Fam

Getting the s'mores ready

Chase and Reese, could they get more serious?

This is the Luke that I know!

Last weekend we had Josh & Kim over for dinner but they brought all of the food! We had a Delicious meal from a Thai restaurant and the we headed outside for s'mores and some running races. We had a great time roasting marshmallows, seeing the kids interact together and even running a few races for the "Piston Cup"-Chase's CARS reference. Its so great to hang out with good friends and not really do anything but talk and enjoy each other's company!

Our Summer Adventures

A picnic in our "clubhouse"

So, since my first day back to school is tomorrow, I thought I would throw all of my summer pictures into one post and be done! All in all, it has been the best summer that I've spent with the boys. Don't get me wrong, we had some rough days together but a lot more good times than bad. I definitely have the back to school blues. I know it will pass and we'll get back into our school routine but I think I'll always prefer our summer routine better.

Enjoying our picnic

My future hockey player

Bath time bubbles are a MUST for Luke

When we were at my in-laws, this butterfly landed on my niece's towel,

how cool is that?

Enjoying a slide at the Riverwalk park

Chase was in a water extravaganza class through the park district

A great splash park in Woodridge

A get-a-way with my college friends. Although we were missing one of

the bunch, it was so great to reconnect with each other and see how

much ISU has changed since we've left. It was one of MY best

days of summer :)

Kidstown in Wheaton was a great place that we discovered and had a blast

at with our playgroup. The kids were very entertained by all

there was to do and play with. We'll definitely go back.

Filling up the car with gas

Chase and Jovani, one of our playgroup friends, dressed

up on the Kidstown stage!

Back to Blackberry Farm with our daycare provider, Cathy and a

lot of her kids and their moms. It was a fun day being with the kids that

Chase and Luke hang out with on a daily basis at her house.

Doria, Anthony (Chase's best buddy), Chase & Brendan

Cathy with ALL of the kids!

Hanging out watching a Kane County Cougars game

We also went with Cathy down to the Planetarium. The kids

had fun exploring space and they learned a lot. In this picture,

Chase is sitting in a rocket, about to blast off.

Chase controlling his "rover", it was very fun.

Hanging out at my friend Kim's pool

I think these 3 are going to be the 3 Musketeers. Payton and Tyler

are our neighbors and Chase can't get enough of them. Tyler also

has a little brother that is the same age as Luke. We really enjoy

the boys' parents and are so thrilled to have friends on the block.

I think these boys will be friends for life, they will all start

kindergarten next school year.

Walking with Dinosaurs

In July we took my niece and nephew to the Allstate Arena to see Walking with Dinosaurs. It was a really great show and I was surprised at how much information they packed into a show that a 2 year old was interested in. If you watch the video, you'll hear how loud and sometimes scary the roars were but the kids did great. My niece, Cassi, continued to ask, "They're just pretend, right?" It was a very fun for everyone and the airplanes flying overhead from O'Hare helped make the drive and dinner very exciting!