Chicago & Camp Birchwood close out the summer

Hiya! Just a bit behind on our blog entries. The boys have started school, Daddy has started a new job, and Mummy said goodbye to Halcyon House with mixed emotions. But that will all have to wait while we show you pics from our fab summer vacation!



The fam hopped on a plane to Chicago to visit Aunt Jilly and Uncle Ronan. Remember last year's trip? We had a wonderful time once again. Above is Conner as a part of a unique display at the Chicago zoo...



What a cool downtown fountain this was! If you look closely, you'll see two shirtless CNMs splashing around. We don't have pics of the Cubs game, Lego Store or witnessing the filming of a scene from Transformers III, but the Field Museum was a big hit. Dinosaur bones!





When asked, Conner will say he is going to be a Paleontologist when he grows up. While his brother was measuring himself against a Brontosaurus femur, he was digging for T-Rex teeth.



We had such a nice time with Jill and Ronan. We were very well taken care of, and got to see yet more of the Midwest's coolest metropolis. We've been calling this trip the vacation of opposite extremes, because after a few days in downtown Chicago, we jetted to La Porte, Minnesota just south of the Canadian border. Camp Birchwood!



Our neighbors the Bredemus family runs this awesome kids camp, and we finally made it up to see them. We stayed right in the camp, had chow in the dining hall three times a day, and took part in a long list of activities. Archery, horseback riding, rock wall climbing, tennis, sailing and the boys' fav: playing in the lake on the floating trampoline and huge slide!





In the last entry we shared a pic of Carson navigating a sizable ocean kayak at Harvey's Lake. Here is Conner working an even bigger, less stable river kayak.



It was a great end to a big summer for us. The boys are closing in on birthdays # 6 and 7. Holy cow, they need to slow down a bit. Both boys continue to test their boundries with us. We're anxious for the end of Conner's "You always do that just to be mean" phase and Carson's extended phase of being naughty just to get our dander up! Next entry will document the first weeks of all-day school for both boys. A new life for the whole fam!

It's Gotcha Day!

The Neon Masked Avengers take a break from fighting crime to celebrate the 4-year anniversary of Gotcha Day. Check here for the original day. This year, since it was the first 100 degree day of 2010, we celebrated by going to Toy Story 3D and then "breakfast for dinner" at IHOP. (not our usual dining destination, but kids eat free from 4 to 10 p.m...)



Hard to believe it has been 4 years since we brought an almost 2-year old and an almost 3-year old home from Kras. They boys are growing up before our eyes, and within days will both be at Pinkney Elementary from 8 to 3 Monday thru Friday! (except for early release Wednesdays, Mummy wishes to point out)



We promised more pics from our early July vacation to Harvey's Lake, PA. Ashamed to admit that we're still collecting them, but here are a few. Tubing was one of the favorite activities, along with kayaking as seen below.



Both boys hopped in cousin Geoff's ocean kayak and skillfully navagated the craft by themselves even though both the boat and the paddles dwarfed them. It did, however, prepare them well for our late July vacation to Camp Birchwood. More on that later...



Our little engineer built this off-road vehicle out of Connex, then proceeded to build a bigger, more elaborate dragster with help from cousin Kyliegh. Conner continues to impress with his constructive skills. We'll see how that translates in the classroom. He has received reading tutoring from his soon-to-be first grade teacher this summer. How great to help them form a bond before class even starts!


Daddy playing guitar with his Daddy, Carson playing a less hip guitar with Daddy.


So, we say goodbye to summer and hello to full time elementary school for both boys. We owe you a full entry on our wonderful vacation to Chicago to visit Auntie Jill and Uncle Ronan, and the immediately following trip to Minnesota to our neighbors' summer camp for kids. Both were wonderful and helped make summer 2010 truly memorable.