Children's Museum with Daddy

Since Pat was off work for President's Day we headed to Navy Pier to the Children's Museum. The girls and I had been there before but it was so fun to watch them show Pat around and have him be a part of their exploration.
We made planes to fly in the one area, pretended to fish, shopped at the store and spent a lot of time playing in the water.
The girls had fun building a structure with Pat - something I had not done with them on previous visits. And they pretended to be firefighters in the safety exhibit. They both had several turns sliding down the pole!
Reagan even overcame her fear of climbing the rope course and made it all the way to the top! Next time I am sure she will do it without any troubles!
We ended our visit with lunch and then a quiet trip home.

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas - lots of time with family and friends and watching the girls really get into the wonder of the season.
We spent Christmas Eve afternoon with Mulcrone's at our house for brunch followed by church at CCOB. It was a great service and fun to be celebrating with friends. We had Christmas Eve dinner at Scanlon's and then headed home before Santa Clause would arrive!
Christmas morning the girls were thrilled with their presents - both girls received scooters, an air mattress and a DVD player for the van. Reagan was excited with her vet kit and Nola was thrilled to open her very own Bye Bye Baby.
We then had a great day at the Scanlon's and a wonderful evening at the Mulcrone's. It was a busy two days but worth it to spend great time with our families. The day after Christmas was a nice, quiet day at home - enjoying each other and all the new stuff!

Live Nativity

Our church has a live Nativity for a few days before Christmas. This year we headed there after dinner to help the girls remember the true reason for the season.
Reagan was really into it, but Nola was ready to go quite quickly. Since I was freezing (as always) I volunteered to take her home.
Pat stayed with Reagan and I am so glad they did. Reagan was able to dress up (I think as Mary) and hang out for a while in the stable. She was so excited to be part of it with her friends Will & Finn - she couldn't wait to tell Nola and I all about it.
Once our kids are a little bigger I hope that we will be part of the Nativity each year.

Gingerbread Houses...another tradition

Another Christmas tradition was celebrated when we went to the Schmeltz's house to decorate Gingerbread houses. This year, thanks to Costco, the houses were already put together so all the kids had to do was decorate.
Reagan was very particular about how she decorated her house, while Nola was more interested in how much of the candy she could eat. And this year Cassidy joined us for the fun!
Reagan wanted to make sure we took a picture just like we did the first year of her and Will with their houses in front of the Schmeltz's tree - funny what she remembers!
Always a great time with great friends - a tradition we look forward to every year.

Annual Scanlon trip to the Walnut Room

As is tradition, we headed downtown before Christmas to have dinner by the tree in the Walnut Room. This year was especially fun because the girls (mainly Reagan) remembered going in the past and were excited to go again. After negotiating with the hostess we were seated at 2 tables close to the tree. All of the grandkids sat with grandma and grandpa (except for Nola) and the adult kids at the next table over.
It was fun to watch the kids enjoy their time by the tree and see the fairy princess - not sure how excited Anthony or Leo was about that, but they were good sports.
We got some pictures from the next story up and then headed outside to see the windows. Each year it gets more fun as the kids start forming their own memories and favorite parts of the visit.

Chicago Club Christmas Party

We were lucky to be invited by my boss to the Christmas Party at the Chicago Club downtown. The girls were dressed in their Christmas dresses and ready for a great party.
The party started with a clown making balloons - and the girls were excited with their choices. We then enjoyed a fabulous lunch - Pat & I couldn't get over all the choices and the girls were just thrilled with their hot chocolate and fancy dishes.
We waited to see Santa - Nola really didn't want to sit on his lap but Reagan was much more friendly. Hopefully next year we'll have better luck with a picture of Santa.
The highlight for Reagan came just as we were about to leave - the magician stopped by our table. He let her be his assistant and she was so excited! To watch her face light up with each trick was priceless.
We left the party with two happy girls and great memories of a fantastic party.

Dance Demonstration Day

We were able to visit Reagan's dance class in December to watch how much they have learned. She just loves going to class - it was fun to see her really working those tap shoes - the louder, the better.
Nola was very excited when she was able to get out on the dance floor and dance with Reagan. Not too much longer and she will be in class by herself!
We are so proud of all that Reagan has learned - and love to watch her show off her new moves!