Georgia Trip 2017

We all made the trip to Georgia in July! I think the kids look forward to this week all year long! We got lots of good time with Mimi, Paka, Aunt Amanda, Uncle David, Noah, Gavin, Levi & Asher!! 

Here is Lila meeting Asher. She was smitten:)

Nate was pretty smitten too...he liked the idea of the oldest and the youngest being together. Sweet Nate is 11 years older than Asher. It's a scary thought to think when Asher is 11, Nate will be 22. Ahhhhh....

Our annual picture for Mimi...the kids all cooperated so well. No, for real. They did. Anything for Mimi!

Oh my gosh. They are sitting next to each other and are not fighting. This situation does not happen very often. For real.

Well. This is a lot of people to get together. But they did it! There was only a minor catastrophe in between takes. Lila hit her head somehow. I don't even remember how now. But she survived...

Annual tradition of going to Stone Mountain! How are they all this big?!?!

Sweet morning cuddles with Asher.

One day, we decided at breakfast to head to Athens to the UGA campus and to eat at the Grill. On a whim. Totally unplanned. With 6 kids. Who are we???? But it was totally the BEST day! Eating at the grill...feta and fries...YUM YUM. Notice Nate and his button their shirt all the way up posse. Ahem.

I'm so proud of this picture! Amanda & Scott & their kiddos under the Arch! I absolutely love it.

While on campus, we visited the fountain where Scott proposed to me almost 17 years ago...December 18, 1999. I was so happy to be back there. The kids? Eh. They weren't super impressed. But oh well, they can say they've been there.

A bit older now...and wiser!

Lila & Gavin...sweet kiddos.

We also went to the Atlanta Zoo when we were there. The Pandas were so exciting! I love them. We were there when Nate was little, maybe 2008. This is him now.

And back then...whaaaaaa....where did my baby go??

I know Mimi feels the same way. Here they are now. He's almost as tall as her!! Very soon, very soon. Tears.  

I love this boy. He is growing into being such a fine young man. And a wonderful cousin/friend for Nate. I wish we lived closer to them. Truly. I wish that all the time. They have such a special friendship. All the cousins do. Warms my heart.

All the hooligans at the Zoo! Love all of them SO much!

Nate & Levi...Levi is such a sweet big brother. And is growing up toooooo fast!!

On our last night there, we met Patrick, Nicole & Ellie at a restaurant that had an outdoor space. Kids? Outdoor place? We're there.

They were playing football. With tables around them. Yes. Yes, I was a very nervous mother.

Yes, that's Nate about to tackle somebody. He doesn't get it from me:)

And to end this wonderful post, Scott meeting his newest nephew...so sweet!

Summer Things

Nate did a camp at Fontbonne University in July, so Lila and I had a couple of days to ourselves. She had been asking to go to Flying Spider, which is an indoor trampoline park that also has ball pits and an obstacle course. She LOVED it! 

Lila & Scott also spent the night at the Zoo in July. Yes, in the zoo. In the sea lion tunnel to be more exact. They had a wonderful time!! Lila with her friends G & N, who are also our neighbors!

Nate & I went to the Post for dinner while they were at the Zoo. It was nice to eat with my oldest baby.

I think Nate & Scott were at the Muny on this night and Lila had gymnastics. So we hit up CFA afterwards. We are so proud of her gymnastics! She started at a new gym this month and loves it!

This was one of our library days. In the children's library, there was a cup challenge. Nate stacked these up in no time and the librarian even took a picture for her wall! Bonus points that he matches the cups:)

We had many MANY many pool days this summer. One day I came back to my chair and this is what I found. Stylin' and Profilin'!

Lila got a big idea this summer that I should start making her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in "fun" shapes. This is a soda/straw with bubbles coming out. Very creative right?!? Well, I've never claimed to be creative. Ha!

I texted this picture to my mom one Sunday morning after we got to church. I titled it "Fatigued by Motherhood." I mean. Tie dye t-shirt, jean shorts and pearls. To church. Because of course. I was too tired to argue about it, so off she went!

Baby Boys

We added two very special boys to our family over the summer!! 

Asher William Odom was born on May 29, 2017. Congratulations to David, Amanda, Noah, Gavin & Levi on their new baby boy. We go to meet Asher in July and think he is so very sweet! 

 Wilder Corse Collins was born on July 10, 2017. Congratulations to Ben, Emily, Bluet & Ilona!! 

We have not met him yet in person, but we get to in a few weeks! So excited! 

Back to Blogging & Swim Team

Sigh. I was a terrible blogger over the summer. But just when I was ready to give it up all together, I decided to press forward, as I do love reading other blogs and mostly having a record of our happenings around here. So I'll attempt to catch up. And then I may go silent again for another few months. Ha! 

Swim team seemed quick this year because we were gone to Switzerland for 2 weeks of it and then also the season was a week shorter than normal. We enjoyed it while it lasted! 

Oh Lila...always the jokester!

Nate, after a race, telling me not to yell. He does strongly dislike it when I support him in any way at a sporting event. I'm trying. Sort of:)

Lila doesn't mind if I yell, so there's that. Give it a few years though!

Proud of our swimmers and their hard work this summer!

Zurich: Part 2

We arrived back in Zurich late on Sunday night and it was back to school for Bluet on Monday (bless her heart!) Emily & Ben both had some work to do, so we hung out with Ilona...who was trying to tie the swings together with a paper towel here. Ha! 

Later in the afternoon, we went to the River Limmat (the river that runs through Zurich) to cool off! You can swim in the river and they also have a kiddie pool area plus a playground. The swim was super refreshing and we enjoyed having a picnic to finish up the day.

 I love this picture of the Four Amigos.

On Tuesday, Scott, Nate, Lila & I went exploring around Zurich. This is Lake Zurich and it is so lovely and picturesque. The swans were out that day and there was a little grey baby with its mom and we couldn't get enough!  

Back home, we played outside...

played Play-doh...

and played in the pool. I love these kiddos:)

On Wednesday, we got ready to head back to the U.S. and soaked up all the time we could with Emily, Ben, Bluet & Ilona. We appreciate their hospitality so much and I can't say enough how much we enjoyed our trip. So many memories!

On Thursday morning, we made our way to the airport and back to Chicago. The trip was uneventful if you don't count Lila shouting "MOM, This plane smells like SWEAT!" when we got on the plane and Nate getting air sick...TWICE. Sigh.

I'll be remembering to pack multiple changes of clothing and our own supply of air sick bags on our next international trip!

Please visit Emily & Ben's blog for more pictures of our trip!

Paris: Day 2

We got up early on Day 2 in Paris because we had some paintings to see! We hopped on the Metro and headed towards the Louvre. But first, breakfast at Le Pan Quotidien. It was yummy and I recently heard it was one of Nate's favorite parts of our trip...because it was near one of the places where Thomas Jefferson lived when he was Minister to France. I had briefly mentioned this when we were there but I didn't even know he was listening! 

After breakfast, Emily, Scott, Nate, Lila & I went to the Louvre. We thought Sunday morning would be a good time to go in order to avoid the crowds and it was! Of course, we could have spent hours upon hours here, but we had Lila in tow and all the paintings start to look the same to her after a while. Nate loved it all and it makes my heart so happy that he appreciates art. He asked so many questions and it is always a highlight for me as a parent to get to share part of the world with him.

We had really been talking up the Mona Lisa to Lila...before the trip, on the trip, up and down all of the days. When we finally found it (it is quite hard to find in the museum, even with a map!), she looks up and says, "That's it?? It's so small." Then she proceeded to have a string of questions about Who SHE was? Why was SHE famous? Why don't they know who SHE is?  To say that she didn't get it is an understatement. Ha! I told her she'll have lots to write about in her first grade journal this next year.

Nate & I in front of the Mona Lisa? Priceless. This picture of me? Not priceless.

We toured as much of the museum as we could, seeing the Roman sculptures was a highlight.

Lila was really so funny the whole time we were there. In the sculptures, she kept asking "Why is EVERYONE NAKED??" Sigh. I didn't prep myself for how to handle 6-year old questions in the Louvre. Thankfully I won't have to do it again. Ha!

After the Louvre, we met back up with Ben, Bluet & Ilona for lunch. My oh my, I love these nieces of mine. It was so special to get to be in France (and Switzerland!) with them.

This crepe place was on a corner near the apartments where we stayed. They had a small dining room, but it was warm that day, so they just pulled the tables out in the street (it was somewhat of a dead end for cars). We loved it! Lila had a Nutella crepe (this is after she had chocolate spread on bread for breakfast...all the chocolate!)

The crew! Such an amazing day with amazing people!

It was Father's Day, so we had to get a picture of Scott & the kids. Pretty spectacular Father's Day if I do say so myself!

Before we left for the train, we had one more stop, the Sacre-Coeur (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris). It was in our neighborhood and was simply gorgeous (and was also approximately 9,456 steps up to the hill where it sits...working off that Nutella!) We were glad we made the time to check it out. 

One more picture before heading to the train, this was the door to our cute little apartment. Bye Paris! We can't wait to go back!