Merry Christmas!

Think he was excited to get a DS?

Christmas morning with our favorite little cousin

Merry Christmas

She was thrilled to get her very own set of Harry Potter books

Our attempt at Grinchy Claus fruit

Happy Halloween

May the Force be with you

Happy Birthday, Andrew (and Kathryn)!

 Party day!

We headed out of town the day before Andrew's birthday to meet this sweet little girl

 Birthday morning at Mamaw's house...it felt a lot like Christmas!

Andrew's birthday request from Papaw Rick was to take a plane ride over Smokies stadium

 Getting ready for takeoff

 Smokies baseball stadium from above

Meeting his new cousin on his birthday

We are so thrilled to be Uncle Phil and Aunt Janet

Evie and Kathryn

Chicago: Wrigley Field

All four of us were so excited to go see a Cubs game while in Chicago!  The kids have really enjoyed Smokies games this summer, and all those games prepared them for their first major league game.  The Cubs didn't get a W, but we had so much fun anyway.  On a side note, it struck me as odd to see protesters at Chick fil A one day and thousands of people in the same city standing respectfully for the singing of "God Bless America" the next.

Harry Carey, made famous in our house by the Zooperstar's Harry Canary

Waiting for the gates to open

Build a bears and run the bases wristbands in hand

First pitch from Brooks Raley in his Wrigley Field debut!  We cheered him on earlier in the summer when he played for the Smokies.

Running the bases after the game

Chicago: Museum Campus

 Possibly the coolest fish ever

 We loved the dolphin and whale show

 The kids fell in love with the penguins

 Evie was excited about everything in this giant museum...even fossilized dino poo

 Sue

 Andrew kept talking about a bug exhibit, and sure enough we found it downstairs

Adler Planetarium

 Ready for launch

 They thought the astronaut potty was hilarious

Back to School

 Back to school on a stormy morning

 Ready for 1st grade in Mrs. Davis' class

Mr. Elliott's third grade class

Chicago: The Landmarks

 Formerly known as the Sears Tower

 View from the 103rd floor

 Skydeck

 Looking down on the city

 Officially the Cloud Gate but known to the world as the Bean

 The kids had so much fun

Pritzker Pavilion

I understand the acoustics here are amazing, but it is also beautiful!

 We loved the John Hancock Building!  This was our view every morning when we woke up

 View from 94 floors up

 The history wall at JHO.  Andrew is standing with Mrs. O'Leary's cow who took the blame for the Chicago Fire.

 Buckingham Fountain

We discovered on a sunny morning the sun coming up over Lake Michigan will create a rainbow in the fountain.

 Navy Pier

 Navy Pier fireworks viewed from the John Hancock Observatory.  Such a different perspective to see them from above.

Navy Pier is very commercial.  The ferris wheel, shops, and vendors everywhere.  Then we got to the middle of the buildings and found gorgeous stained glass.  There was an amazing, huge stained glass museum in the middle of Navy Pier.