We had a lot of fun on our visit to Chicago to see The Spriks (my sis and hubby) and the highlight was meeting baby Connor for the first time! A quick recap, my sis delivered Connor 13 weeks early. Born with the expected slew of complications and a 4 month stay in the NICU, Connor was finally released to go home where he belonged. (you can read more about this miracle boy here.)
He seems like such a happy, smiley, healthy little boy, it's hard to believe what a rough start at life he had. The future is still unknown for him, developmentally, but in my opinion he seems quite perfect and I loved snuggling with him and hearing him learn to laugh and talk and watch Maddy fall in love with her little cousin. My sis wrote up a blog about our visit, complete with pics so check that out here.
And here are my highlights, based on the pics anyway...
He seems like such a happy, smiley, healthy little boy, it's hard to believe what a rough start at life he had. The future is still unknown for him, developmentally, but in my opinion he seems quite perfect and I loved snuggling with him and hearing him learn to laugh and talk and watch Maddy fall in love with her little cousin. My sis wrote up a blog about our visit, complete with pics so check that out here.
And here are my highlights, based on the pics anyway...
Since Maddy had only ever seen Connor in pictures, I think she must be checking to see if he was real. That or she's showing us where she kissed his cheekies.
These two were so cute together. Maddy really was always giving him hugs and kisses, but the camera was never ready in time to really capture it! There are more cute ones on Aimee's blog post I referenced to above.
We went to a local zoo. Both Maddy and Connor were asleep for the first half of the wandering, but eventually woke up and had fun!
For our 4th of July festivities Dan and I took Maddy to the Eyes to the Skies festival. They had a carnival area, a couple bands playing, various food and crafty type booths, and of course, the hot air balloons. Apparently they take off at one time, then land, and then do a simultaneously light up in the evening. That's what we went to see, and even though the intense flames scared Maddy at first, she loved seeing this giant bunny and the fireworks later on that night.
Someone gave Maddy these bunny ears and she looked so darn cute. She still wears them at random wandering the house and making her bunny face. It seems like she'll forget she has them on sometimes and just be sitting and playing with blocks or whatever. It's so funny.
Looking at this picture she totally looks like she is either a private school student or works at Target. ha! Well she had to wear red for the 4th, and the khakis are the only long pants we packed that fit her without sliding off her bum and getting stepped on.
Looking at this picture she totally looks like she is either a private school student or works at Target. ha! Well she had to wear red for the 4th, and the khakis are the only long pants we packed that fit her without sliding off her bum and getting stepped on.
We all made a trip downtown to the Shedd Aquarium that Maddy seemed to enjoy, except for the part about not being allowed to run free.
Dan and I had been there when we visited Chicago a couple of years ago and were excited to show Maddy the "fishies." Here she is making her fishy face!
Our fam of 3.5 outside the Shedd. Not even like 3 feet to Dan's left where other people were trying to take pictures, these little birds would come up out of the bushes over the ledge and peck at anyone's head within range. It wasn't just one guy, or one time, it was EVERY person that stood there with multiple pecks for as long as they were dumb enough to stay put. It was actually quite humorous to watch. We found a safe spot further away with a nice view of the Sears Tower in the background... :)
After the Aquarium we walked further downtown to the Taste of Chicago. It was yum, but the kids had had enough so we were only there long enough to sample some grub, although that's basically all you really go there for.
There was a lot more we did while visiting...for example, Dan spent some time alone downtown during the day before meeting up with Brian for a Cubs game. Meanwhile Aimee and I and the kiddos went outlet mall shopping. We ate at some yummy places, spent quality time outside in the awesome weather, took the cousins to their first photo shoot, and other things, but mostly it was just nice to be with family and have time with the newest addition to the extended Rogers' family.
Thanks for the great time guys! Looking forward to your visit in December!
After the Aquarium we walked further downtown to the Taste of Chicago. It was yum, but the kids had had enough so we were only there long enough to sample some grub, although that's basically all you really go there for.
There was a lot more we did while visiting...for example, Dan spent some time alone downtown during the day before meeting up with Brian for a Cubs game. Meanwhile Aimee and I and the kiddos went outlet mall shopping. We ate at some yummy places, spent quality time outside in the awesome weather, took the cousins to their first photo shoot, and other things, but mostly it was just nice to be with family and have time with the newest addition to the extended Rogers' family.
Thanks for the great time guys! Looking forward to your visit in December!