Summer in Chicago!

Well summer is over and we made sure that pack the last 3 months with as much fun as possible!  Here is a quick overview of how we spent it:

We love our back patio/deck and spent many hours just hanging out.  The dogs loved it as well :)

When we finished playing in the backyard in the sprinkler or pool we hung out inside.  Just a bear and monster, chillin' out.

We love love love our neighborhood parks, especially ones with seesaws for all 3 boys!

One of the many great things about Chicago in the summertime are all of the fantastic neighborhood festivals--great food, music, kids activities, and frosty beverages for the older folks.  What could be better??!?!

Even though we moved from Virginia Beach, we spent more time at the beach here in Chicago than we ever did back in Virginia.  Ironic, no?  The boys love it.  Jack swims so well now that he can keep himself busy for hours.  Will is fearless.  I mean seriously fearless.  He won't let us hold him in the water.  He wants to "swim" all by himself and goes completely underwater.  This in turn scares Mommy to death ;)  Swim lessons will definitely be on his agenda this winter. Henry on the other hand would prefer to watch the water from a safe distance and play in the sand. Usually within 30 minutes of getting ready to leave for the day, he will venture out a little bit.

The Lincoln Park Zoo is AMAZING and FREE.  That's right people, completely FREE!  We go at least once a week, mostly because Willie goes through train withdrawal if we wait any longer :)

We even played tourists in our own city one Sunday.  We used a Groupon and took an architectural river cruise through downtown.  Mommy and Daddy love going on them and the boys actually really enjoyed going under the bridges, seeing other boats, and learning about the city's amazing buildings.  Afterwards we enjoyed a Family Sunday Funday at Dick's Last Resort :)

 

During Jack's summer camp he took 2 field trips to a water park and became obsessed. He begged repeatedly to go back so before school started we took all 3 boths.  The twins had a blast and we were not able to capture any pictures of Jack because he repeatedly going down the big slides (perks of being a super tall 5 year old).  In true Will fashion he chose to go down head-first while in true Henry fashion he sat straight up :)

 

We really had a fantastic summer and can't wait for all the fun holiday stuff to do between now and New Years!