IN THE WILD WILD (MID)WEST!

We "roughed" it for a whole night in the Kankakee State Park, and had a lot of fun! This place draws a lot of fishermen, large spiders, camp trailers, and of course us! We borrowed a tent from the Thompsons, grabbed a LOT of blankets for padding, and made an adventure out of it! What a great wife I have--she's a hoot. :)
Tin foil magic: hamburger, potatoes, carrots, onions, seasoning, and some hot coals. Turned out perfect!
It was fun to just sit and talk by the fire. No magic scout liquid needed to start this baby!
See that bump? This is the official waterfall on the Kankakee river. It's on the maps, trail guides, road signs, etc. Not quite on par with Yellowstone or Yosemite, but this is Illinois. I miss my mountains. :(
America's Next Top Model. Watch out.
Don't be decieved. She looks good, but felt miserable. There were a lot of mosquitos and her allergies were going CRAZY. But even then, Barbie is still a lot of fun to be with.

SOMETHING ILLEGAL!!!

So Josh joined an intramural soccer team this fall! He was the only one on the team who wasn't a law student. They didn't win any games but they had fun and Josh even SCORED a goal!! Chelsey, Elise and I had fun "watching" the boys play!
This is Josh showing off that he uses my old highschool cheerleading bag for his soccer game!
This was Jared's battle wound...... You should have seen the other guys!

PS. We failed to mention that "something illegal" was the name of the soccer team. Sorry to all those who read this post expecting an exciting story or a funny joke....

Adorable Abigail

Here's to show we have some awesome dancers in the Family!! This is my niece Abigail. She is so dang cute and really knows how to work a crowd.

Green Green Green

The Saturday before St. Patrick's Day the city of Chicago turns into a violent green mess. I'm guessing there are a lot of Irish and Irish wannabe's here, and the parade and river are quite a marvelous site. Enjoy!

This one's for Chausse!

I have such a HOT husband! Dang I'm a lucky girl.

I know all you girls out there are wishing your husbands knew how to clog!

Bonfire!!!

Spring in Chicago is so fun! It's rainy, cold, snows occasionally, great bursts of wind that chill your bones--heck, it's almost utopia here! So we took advantage of all these great elements and decided to heat things up with a bonfire out on the point! For those who've never been, the point is a beautiful park in Hyde Park right on the lake with spectacular views of downtown. No weather could stop us, or the other couples who braved the fierce wind (and their kids!). In reality, I don't think a smore has tasted so good in a long time...mmmmmThe Bratt'sThe Meier'sThe Hall'sThe Robert's

Violet loved the sticky messy chocolaty smore!

The Madsen's!

And Barbie saw a rabbit. Two actually.

Mojito!!

What do all students have in common? We love FREE stuff! There's just something special about the word free when you don't have a job and are pinching and saving to get by. And what happens when you combine the word free with food? Something that reminds me of piranhas!

The business school host a Liquidity Preference Function (LPF, aka Happy Hour) every Friday, and this last one was held at the restaurant Carnival. The appetizers were oh so yummy, and it was just hilarious to see waiters running across the room and flocks of students chasing after the scrumptious food they carried!

One dedicated waiter really wanted to get us a drink, and when we informed him we don't drink alcohol, he made us a delicious concoction called a Mojito--YUMMY!

Ingredients:

• Rum (we skipped this part)
• Crushed mint leaves
• Sugar
• Soda Water
• Lime

Scrumpdiliumptious!!!