More of Boston

Just some more pictures from our trip. These were all taken in the Boston Public Garden.

Decided to let Derek try taking some pictures, he did very good!

Here come the Ducklings!!

What a hike

We decided to stay an extra day in Boston, and enjoy spending time with family. For our last day it just had to rain, considering we had great weather the rest of the trip. At least it was still warm, just rainy on and off. So what is the bright idea I have for the day? Let's go for a hike...did you check the weather? Yes, it is supposed to rain today......ok, if that's what you want to do. I had all the kids on my side because the hike I found was kid friendly with a cave at the end. Luckily for us it wasn't raining until we were headed back to the car. We were just a little damp, not drenched. The trail was beautiful even with the gray clouds in the sky, and the cave was pretty cool too. We finished off the day out to dinner with everyone. What a lovely day!

Derek was brave enough to go in the cave, Sean stayed outside with me.

Out to dinner with everyone...too bad Abuelito was hiding in this pic

Apple picking in Boston

My father and I drove out to Boston and spent a week visiting Abuelita, Abuelito and the Alvarado family. My boys have been having a great time playing with Monica, Jessica and Matt. Today we went to a farm to pick some apples. It was just a perfect day. The farm was GIGANTIC. We walked and walked, I don't even think we made it around half of it. Everyone filled up on apples, peaches, blueberries, and rasberries straight from the plant. Matt even ate an ear of corn right off the stalk. Couldn't have asked for a better day.

First started the day with a hay maze

Matt in an apple tree

The boys in the wagon eating their apples...on to the peaches!!!

Derek in a peach tree


Sean in a peach tree

Derek, Sean, Jessica, and Monica with some pumpkins

All of us in the orchard

A Hair cut

Derek has always done very well when he gets his hair cut. Sean isn't too terrible either, and has learned that at the end he does get a lollipop. Paul seems to want a hair cut every 2 weeks, although he probably only goes every 6 weeks. I on the other hand have usually only gotten a hair cut twice a year for most of my life. Two years ago my sister found a great hair stylist, Tony, in Oak Park and since then I am a bit more regular about getting my haircut. He has never given me a bad haircut. Today my mom and I had a girls morning that included a trip to Tony's salon, and here is the result.





Like I said he hasn't given a bad haircut yet. My mom was having trouble recognizing me for the rest of the day. Per her it's the shortest I have had my hair since I was a baby. I keep running my hands throughout, and love the cut!

Why is summer so long?

For the last couple of months Derek has asked a recurrent question, "Mom, why is summer so long?" He also was very curious why school needed a break. I gave up trying to explain it to him. Needless to say, we have been counting down the days until school starts. Finally, Wednesday morning, Derek woke up and I could tell him today was the day. He was super excited, although we had to beg him to pose for a picture or too. Sean, however, was more than happy to oblige. Derek eventually decided he couldn't let his little brother be the only one wearing his Power Ranger back pack in pictures. Derek had no reserve when we got to the classroom, he barely said good bye to us before he was off playing with some of his friends from last year and a couple of new ones. Hopefully he continues to be so enthusiastic about school.

Labor Day Weekend

We got back to Chicago late Thurs night, just in time for Labor Day weekend. I worked the whole weekend, and there has been a lot going on. We went to Schaumburgfest on Sunday and on Monday was at the free family fest at River Trails park district. The kids had a blast riding rides, getting their faces painted, and swimming. Unfortunately, we have also spent quite some time at the hospital visiting Grandpa Jack. On Friday he had some issues swallowing and slurring his words. It turns out he had a small stroke, luckily it is not affecting anything other than his speech. He has had numerous CAT scans and MRIs. They've changed a medicine on him, and want to do another scan in the morning just to make sure there is no change from the last one. We are hoping for discharge later tomorrow. Yesterday the kids were having fun entertaining grandpa and we made sure to bring him a piece of chocolate cake from Portillo's. Enjoy the pictures from the weekend!


The boys riding the tea cups

and driving a truck.



The boys playing in Grandpa's room


Grandpa and his chocolate cake....look at that smile!

BIG Fish

The other evening there was quite the thunderstorm here in Florida, afterwards we noticed a rather large item on the beach. It kind of looked like a fish, we went across the street to investigate and sure enough it was an almost 4 foot fish washed up on shore. The kids and Daddy thought it was very cool, they even took a scale as a souvenier, we'll see if I remember to pack it on our way back.