Weekend in Downtown Chicago

Last weekend, we had a visit from our first cousins, Tim and Heather Ryan, and their two little children, Henry and Gracie. We had a wonderful weekend, and Shen really enjoyed meeting his little cousins.
We picked them up at the airport on Friday and went to the Shedd Aquarium for the afternoon. Then, on Saturday, we went to the Lego Store (Connor and Shen LOVED the Lego store) and got some fun lego "stuff." And, then it was off to Navy Pier for lunch and short afternoon on the Ferris Wheel and watching some of the entertainment. Combine all that with a little swimming at the hotel, dinner Saturday night at the Cheesecake Factory, and watching the Navy Pier Fireworks from our hotel room, it was an INCREDIBLE weekend. In fact, Shen has said many times this past week, "I miss Chicago!"
Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Some Vacation Pictures

Well, the family is still in recovery mode from our vacation. You know the routine...we have to recover from all the fun we had on vacation. However, it's all good. Jodie's sunburn is totally healed, Connor is on vacation this week with his dad in Wisconsin, Jack is back to traveling quite a bit, and Shen is having fun playing with Armin next door and has gotten very attached to the television show, Transformers. It is so funny to hear him mimic the TV characters.
I am attaching some pictures of Shen (and some of his new friends) from our vacation at Beaches. You will see Shen learning from GROVER at Camp Sesame, then helping ERNIE find all his rubber duckies, and finally getting a hug from ELMO. It was an awesome trip and we have already discussed that it would be go back again sometime soon. I'll send more pictures from the vacation on the next blog.
Enjoy the photos!!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Returning from Vacation

We arrived yesterday from our week vacation at Beaches! It was truly incredible. Jodie felt it was the best vacation she had ever had, Connor loved the snorkeling and parasailing, Shen was amazed by all the Sesame Street characters, and Jack had a wonderful time just being with family!!
We will post some pictures from the vacation over the next few weeks (as we get them downloaded from the new camera). In the meantime, we thought you would like to see the two boys leading the two adults through the Miami airport on our layover. You will note that they are oblivious to anyone behind them; they are just on the move!
The other picture we just loved....where Shen "seems" to be reading the emergency information from the seat pocket in front of him.
We will blog soon with more of the vacation and more pictures!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen