trip to the zoo

We had a great time last week. Dave, Evelyn and I spent the entire week together! It was such a treat not having to work. We went to a snowboarding convention in Schaumburg with some friends. Dave and I went downtown for Marissa's 30th birthday celebration. We also enjoyed the Halloween parade at Gram's and joined her one night for dinner. All of these pictures are of our super fun adventure at Brookfield Zoo. Dave started his new job on Monday. He remains at HSBC, but is now doing forecasting. Still accounting, but more finance. (that's what he tells me anyway) He's now working for 2 guys he worked with at Wamu, which is nice. So far, so good. But with a promotion, he will be traveling to Buffalo at least once a month.

Two,Two...

Happy Golden Birthday to Gavin!!! It looks like you had a fantastic time at your party. Wish we could have joined you...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all!!! I have spent the entire morning attempting to upload a video of Evelyn and her pumpkin, but have been unsuccessful. I will keep trying... We are going to Mundelein to Colleen's to trick or treat, then to my parents neighborhood. (Colleen made Evelyn's Raggedy Ann costume.Too cute, huh? The woman is 7 1/2 months pregnant and insisted she make her costume. I told her to surprise us and am very pleased with the design.) Any plans for any other families?

Not as good as a garage but better than a weedy mud puddle.... right?

We somehow got inspired to have some asphalt laid where we park our cars. Not exactly in line with my tree-hugger sensibilities, but it'll make snow removal easier and it will cut down on the amount of mud that gets tracked into the house.... right?

The old folks have some fun. Mom and Pop celebrate October Fest with friends at the Edelweiss restaurant in Norridge, IL. Lots of singing and shunkling. Hard to believe that mom only had two beers.

Headin' South

Hello, family! This morning we are heading south to Bluff, UT to meet up with some friends and float for a few days. This will be Stella's (our raft's) first multi-day voyage as a Chard and Gavin's second multi-day trip. We (~20 of us including 2 toddlers) are floating the San Juan River from Sand Island (near Bluff, UT) to Mexican Hat, UT. This is the same stretch we did last year with Mom and Pop. It will take us 3 days from put-in to take-out. As you might imagine we won't have cell service down there, so don't be alarmed if we don't answer our phones for a few days. Tootles!

fun-filled fall day...

Yesterday was a great day!! Not only did I turn 13 months old, Mommy and Daddy and I went to Goebbert's. It's an animal farm and pumpkin patch in South Barrington. We went on a pony and a hay ride, watched pig races, pet lots of soft fuzzy animals and picked out pumpkins. They even had camel rides, but I wasn't big enough.