Cookie & Scuffles

Much to the infinite joy of Lia, Val and Meg, we recently got them two dwarf hamsters for pets. They're named Cookie and Scuffles. We bought them from an English family who has a daughter who hand-tames them. If they're hand-tamed, they're accustomed to being handled and are much less likely to bite - definitely a good thing.

We keep them separated as they will very likely kill each other to express their dominance. As such, it's not surprising that they're males. We wanted to avoid any reproduction since they have a gestation period of just 18 days. Really. Cookie and Scuffles are a part of their mother's fourth litter ... since April.

For glamorized rodents, they are pretty cute.

Chalk and Neighbors

It was fun to watch the girls interact with our younger neighbors. We have to get more chalk to encourage more of this!

These pictures were taken from our second floor kitchen window.





I like the little guy looking up at me. That evening, the girls gave him the English name Matt. The girls also gave Matt's older sister a name - Maggie - and his younger brother - Mike. Maggie, Matt and Mike are from one of the local minority groups so they can have more than one child without any fee or penalty.

En route

While Lori and Valerie are in the restroom, Lia and Megan get comfortable.

SpiderMeg

Lake House

We had a few wonderful days at a lake house of a friend - who lives two houses from this one. It was really relaxing and so nice to have fun and make memories with just the five of us.

Lori reading to the girls. We had every meal out at this table overlooking the lake. Loved it.



Dad 'n daughters morning canoe trip.


The lake was deep yet very clean - excellent for swimming. Val and Meg are doing some serious relaxing.




The dock at the end of a typical day.


Our friends had a nice boat perfect for pulling. And they were very generous with giving us opportunities to go with them on it. First step - tubeing. Our girls LOVED it!

First up ... Lia and Silas (our friend's son)


Next ... Val and Meg


Meg at joy's peak.


Lori cuts it up on slalom. (Yeah, she's good.)


Craig gets his fix on the wakeboard.


Val's confidence is growing as we head back to the dock.


Lia, Meg and Val try out the 'ski trainer.'




Heading out on the foot-powered kayak.


The girls enjoyed jumping off the neighbor's platform.

Meg


Lia


Val chose to opt out of this session of platform jumping and tried her hand at fishing. Bread was used to coax fish closer and closer to the net until we ...


Got one! The girl's named him Fred.


Our kids, friend's kids, and a neighbor having a blast in/around/under the boat. It was really fun for the girls to have others to pal around with. (And nice for us.)


Tranquility. Such a blessing. Hope to return!

Father's Day

Returning from the north, we made it just in time to the stadium of the Kane County Cougars to catch a game and spend some time with family. For Father's Day, they had some special activities. One of them was the chance to go out on the field before the game to play catch.

Meg and her Uncle Brad toss the ball to each other.


Ball players in skirts = Very cute


Lia shows some good form.


Family picture!


The girls, their second cousins, and Ozzie.


Lia and Papa


After the game, fans could run the bases. Among our group, there was a bit of trash talking beforehand about who could run them the fastest. Cruising around the bases was an excellent way to end a really memorable time at the ballpark.

Heading North

During a short trip up to Minneapolis-St. Paul to see some good friends, we made a couple stops to make some family memories.

The first stop was the Wisconsin Dells where we stayed at a hotel with some fun pools and a waterpark. We all had a crazy good time.

As there were very few people there, we could have a pretty intense game of dad attempting to chase down and capture the girls. High-pitched squeals and screams reverberated throughout the waterpark area, and in the end, dad was completely exhausted.


We couldn't pass on the opportunity to check out the Mall of America. We had no idea the amusement area was so large. And the girls loved the Nickelodeon themed rides. Besides the occasional scream of a rider, the park was fairly - and strangely - quiet. And clean. We could have stayed longer.