A Sampling of Kyle - Year One

Block Party

Saturday morning Kyle and I headed over to Buppa and Nana's block party while Chris attended a fancy shmancy bachelor party at the race track. It was a cool start to the day, but Kyle had fun watching all of the neighborhood kids get their faces painted by Nana (later on, Ky got his cheek painted with a cool CUBS logo). He also took his job as the Official Block Party Flag Waver very seriously and was happy to parade down the block with Buppa. After a quick nap, we met up with Chris and went to his cousin Mikey's college graduation party. Congrats, Mikey! Way to go! At the party, Kyle finally got to meet the other Kyle .. Mikey's 5-year-old cousin on the other side of the family. What a smart kid! He's going places for sure ;)

 

Kyle and Kyle (and Chris)

It's a Franklin Night!

Friday night, my good friends from forever - Lauren, Lindsay, and Steph - met up at Toby Keith's Bar in Rosemont. It's always great to get together with them.

Exploratorium

Friday Kyle and I were supposed to meet Grammy at the Wagner Farm in Glenview after Tot Rock (theme of the week = boats/bubbles/fishing). Unfortunately, a little rain got in our way. A last minute change of plans led us to the Exploratorium in Skokie. So cute! Kyle especially loved the life-sized lite-bright and fishing pond.

Pool Day

Thursday was absolutely beautiful, and in the summertime that means one thing only - POOL TIME! Kyle and I headed out to check out one of the Park Ridge wading pools. Both of us had a ball splashing around, twirling, sliding down the slide, sharing our toys with other toyless kids, etc. Ten minutes before the top of every hour, everyone is instructed to get out of the pool for a water/rest break. During that time, Kyle munched on a little lunch before heading right back in the pool. My little monkey and I will definitely be back!

Bottle and Bottega

For Mother's Day, Sarah and I got our moms gift certificates to the Bottle and Bottega (painting and wine studio) in Lakeview. We finally settled on a painting design we all liked and signed up for last Wednesday night's class. Aunt Karen's bestie Karen G tagged along for the fun. We snacked on fresh bread, goat cheese, sangria, white wine, guac and chips, grapes, spinach pizza, etc. All of the painting (minus mine ;( ) turned out very VERY well, and everyone (including me) had a great time. Can't wait to go again sometime!

Expedition Everest

Today Kyle and I went for a stroller to our favorite neighborhood park. Check out the video to see what our little monkey can do! Pretty impressive for a 13 month old ;)

Monday @ Millennium Park

Yesterday morning, Kyle learned all about the letter "L" ("L", Lamp/Leaf/Light, /l/). Then we headed out downtown to meet Sylvia and Olivia (11 months) for lunch at the French Market (yummy grilled cheeses!) and music/dancing/sightseeing at Millennium Park. Our little babes had a great play date, starring off into each other's eyes, dropping things on the ground, etc. Kyle and I tried this website parkwhiz.com. It allows you to prepay for parking lot tickets at a discounted price. We were able to park at Union Station for the entire afternoon for just $12. I'm pretty pumped I found this and plan to utilize it every time we go downtown ;)

Second Annual Family Photo Shoot (this time with Second Calling Photography)

This past Sunday we woke up early for an 8:30 am photo shoot with Second Calling Photography (Thanks for the recommendation Kara and Mark!). Our photographer - Beth - was super nice, laid back, and professional. We had a fun time exploring the little farm where our shoot was held, and doing everything we possibly could to try to get Kyle to smile (something he does all the time EXCEPT when the cameras are rolling ... little stinker!). After the shoot, we enjoyed some tasty cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather's in Andersonville and went to a few open houses. Nice little Sunday. Here is a sneak peek at the photos that are to come. Can't wait to see the rest ;)

A Couple of Beach Bums!

Saturday morning we packed our bags and headed to the beach. First time this year. The weather was still hot and sunny, but at 80/85 degrees it was noticeably cooler than the past few days had been. And much more bearable at that. With the help of his water shoes, Kyle was able to stroll along the stoney shore, splash in the waves, collect cool rocks, marvel at the wonder of sand, lounge in the sunshine, swing on the swing set, and take cover in the kiddie pirate ship. We were only there an hour an a half. Max. Due to the heat, but what a FUN hour and an half it was ;)