Can it really have been three years ago?!

Yep. three years ago today, we completed 30 straight hours of travel to bring our little boys home. It doesn't seem possible that it has been so long, but we did have a quiet celebration this week when we FedExed the last post-placement report to Russia.



We promised more Chicago pictures. Here is our little kindergartener showing off the waterworks fountain that he made himself. This was a fun, wet room of the Children's Museum. Raingear provided in case the water found its way out of the fountain area...



More Children's Museum stuff. Both boys still go nuts for dinosaurs, so you know that this display was a bit hit. If you look closely, you can see how poorly the raingear worked for Carson.



Two pizza chefs making their own culinary creations. Yes, that is spinach, peppers and tomatoes that our little veggie lovers piled on their own individual pie. The pizza kits came complete with aprons and fancy chef hats. You can just see the Cubs jerseys under the apron. The boys made it through 9 innings of a Cubs game with Daddy and Uncle Ronan. here are some pics of the game!









The last one was actually taken by Conner. This is a good representation of how much fun we had at the game. Peanuts in the shell--very good snack during a three hour baseball game! Well, we hope that your fall has started well. We'll update you on school ups and downs in the next entry, and start celebrating all our fall b-days!

First day of kindergarten!

Wahoo!! Here is Conner in front of his new school. We've gone from a pre-k class that only met 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Mon, Wed, Fri to all day kindergarten which is 8 to 3, Mon thru Fri. What a huge transition!



They have an all-school assembly to begin each day. Mummy, Daddy and Carson took him to his first day, and as you can see, he fit right in. He was too distracted to eat much of his lunch on the first day, and for whatever reason chose to dump sand on his head during recess. Otherwise, success!!



We had such an amazing trip to see Aunt Jilly and Uncle Ronan, and we've been so bad about posting the pics. There are so many great ones, that we will have to split them into two entries.



The first two are of the family in the Navy Pier ferris wheel. The weather was fantastic the whole time, and we did just about everything a tourist fam can do during a four day whirlwind. Below is a group of photos we'll entitle: "Back to the camera"

Back to the camera at the Shedd Aquarium
Loved the dolphins and Beluga Whales!

Back to the camera at Wrigley Field
The Cubs won, and regained first place in the division.

Back to the camera at the Kids Museum
An awesome hands-on experience.

Front to the camera at the Lego Store
Maybe Carson had to go to the restroom...

We had such a great time. Our first whole family adventure. We rode planes, buses, cars, subways, trolleys, rickshaws, and barely missed jumping on one of the Budweiser Clydesdales. A huge hug and thank you to the O'Donavans for an unforgetable adventure. The next entry will include the second round of pics!

It's Gotcha Day!

Wow, three years ago today. Hard to believe, until we look at pictures in the August '06 entries. Our little babies have become little men! Conner begins kindergarten in less than a week, and he seems more ready than his Mummy and Daddy. We owe you a chock-full of pictures entry about our visit with Jilly and Ronan. It will come in a few days.



Here is evidence of a very happy garden. This year, the boys helped plant the seeds for the beans and the cucumbers. They love helping Mummy and Daddy pick the fruits of our labor, except that the mosquitos are always party to the event. We did take a break from gardening to have a summer Kras Connection with the Parrack family. Here's a pic from their blog.



Among the pictures we hope to post in a few days are the ones documenting our amazing trip to Wrigley Field. It was so great that the boys have picked up a love for the game. Interesting to see them swinging lefty, since they both write with their wright. Anyway, just a quick hello to all and a celebratory post on the third anniversary of a staunch Russian judge saying, "Congratulations, you are parents. One looks like Mama, one looks like Papa."