Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Road Trip

On Saturday, Jack and I got back from a week-long road trip. Our first stop was to visit my brother's family in Wisconsin. It is more than 450 miles away, and Jack and I managed to get there with just 2 stops. Here was our first stop in central Illinois. It was so warm outside that day (in the 60s)! I was in the middle of changing Jack's clothes and he wanted to play in the snow, so I let him. I thought it was such a funny sight--a shirtless boy playing with snow--that I had to grab the camera. Jack did a lot of playing with his three cousins. These two pictures were funny to me. They were taken seconds apart and involve Ryan, Adam, and the train set.

Patrick and Ingrid's basement is awesome! It is perfect for their three boys. Jack especially loved shooting baskets.
Patrick with Ryan, Adam, and Lukas:We played outside one day. It was in the 40s! That is practically summer in Wisconsin. Jack and Adam shot baskets outside, too! There is a video of Jack shooting baskets at the end of this entry.
He shoots, he scores! Adam raced down the sidewalk.
Jack loved playing in the huge mounds of snow!
Ryan threw snowballs at me. He used a "snowball maker" to form the balls. That is not something they sell a lot of in Missouri.
Jack helps Uncle Patrick by shoveling the driveway.
After Wisconsin, we went to Illinois to visit my friend Kristin and her family. We went from staying with a family with three little boys, to staying with a family with three little girls. Jack had lots of fun at both houses.
Evelyn and Emily slide in the living room.
Jack relaxes with his feet on the table. I bet his mother doesn't let him do that at home!
Our final stop was to visit my friend, Jenni, and her family. Jack is almost exactly 1 year older than their son, Julian. The boys had lots of fun together. Julian showed Jack how to rest on a dog.
Jack tried to carry all of Julian's green toys at once.
We went to a museum in town. Jack really liked the wall made of pins that you can press shapes into. I know that was a horrible description, but this picture will help.


After the museum, we stopped to see a horse that lives in the neighborhood!
Jack helped Jenni bake Valentine's Day cookies. Yummy!
Jenni had many Valentine's activities for Jack to do. He did a great job! We made a Valentine for Daddy, too!
Jack and Julian pose on the couch.
Here are a couple videos from our trip. In the first, Jack demonstrates his basketball skills. In the second, you can enjoy his dance moves.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

SNOW!

Last week we got about 6 inches of snow! We hadn't had much at all this season, so we gladly welcomed it. On Tuesday, after a couple inches of snow fell, my friend Shanna and I took Jack on a sled ride through the neighborhood for lunch at the coffee shop. That night, Jim and I took Jack for another ride on the sled as more snow was falling. It was so nice! It looked like Christmas. Here are some pictures from our trip to the coffee shop.
On Wedneday, Jack and I walked to the store to get him some snow boots. They were sold out. He just played in tennis shoes instead.
On Thursday, some neighbors came over for a snowball fight.


We went to the neighbor's for lunch. Jack kept his hat on during the meal.
Jim didn't have to work all weekend, so we got to relax and spend some time together. Jack came into our room to read stories with Daddy one morning. Too sweet!