Babies and more Babies

I am a great-aunt.  No seriously I don't mean I'm GREAT,  I have nieces and nephews who are having their first and second children.  We have Lina, Violet, Cody and Miss Baby Simon will be here very very soon.  These little ones are such a joy to me.  They look like the moms and dads when they were little and it brings back many good memories.  My niece Laura will be having her baby, as I said, very shortly.  She has gone through a lot of heartache to have this little one so this will be a special one for her.  Laura's sister-in-laws threw her a really nice shower, and now all she has to do is wait... and wait....

Mama

The aunts

Grandma

Some of the Cousins

Graduation

Since I am writing this in July, I guess by now you have figured out that I have been incredibly busy.  So in this blog post, I am going to attempt to catch up so I can talk about the great vacation I just took.  So here goes...

Erin Graduated from 8th grade on May 27, 2011.  She was Valdictorian of her class and I couldn't have been prouder.  She gave a remarkable speech, and my hope is that she remembers what she spoke about her whole life.  Anyway,  here are the pictures.  Enjoy!!

Opening her gift  -- a heart necklace

Giving her speech

Getting her Diploma

Proud moment

Yummy Cake

The whole gang

Erin and Mr. M

Chicago -- Last and Final Fun Day

Today I am writing about the last day of the Chicago trip.  It was a very long and busy day, but we left there with a lot of memories. 

After getting up and getting a decent breakfast, our first stop was to The Museum of Science and Industry.  There are a lot of really cool things to see.  We went on a "Coal Mine" trip with the whole class, and then everyone split up into groups and saw what they wanted.  We saw some of the human body stuff, although I didn't want to see everything they had to offer.  Spent some time looking at tornados, just a really neat place to visit.  Here are some pictures to show you:

Space Man Erin

Tornado

Erin in "The Big Green Tractor" tire

Climbing the Wall of Success

Wall of Jelly Beans

After that it was lunch time and off to Ed Debevicks.  Ed's is quite a different place.  The waiters and waitresses dress up in costume, and love to hurl insults at you.  The food was good, and everyone had a great time.  The inside also looked like a fifties diner...

Our Waiter

How the tables were set up

Crazy Girl

After that the last thing we did was go to the Willis Tower.  Willis Tower used to be called Sears Tower, but some person bought it and renamed it.  Now being a person who hates heights, I really can live my life and never go to this, but since I didn't want to be the odd man out, I went.  It really is neat, but all I could think of was what if there is an earthquake or some other natural disaster.  I know,  I'm a worrier.  Anyway, here are some pictures.  The one thing they did to the top was build a clear walk out.  It really creeped me out, but I got my picture taken anyway.  I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN  I promise :)

The city of Chicago

Skyline

This makes me shudder

Mr. Marolf  A really great teacher

Anyway...  that was our trip.  A lot of fun, a lot of memories, and a lot of really good times.  I will always remember my last 8th grade trip.  Thanks for the memories.

Chicago Day 2

Okay well the next morning we all got up (way to early), and went to have breakfast.  The poor guy at the cafeteria we went to wasn't aware that we, or another school, were coming and he had absolutely nothing ready.  The guy finally was able to rustle us up some food, and off we went.  (I left my bag of food at the dorm meeting area, and when I came back it was gone. So no snacks for the rest of the trip).  Anyway, we started the day by going to the Shedd Aquarium.  It is a really neat place to visit and I highly recommend it the next time you are in Chicago.  Anyway, during part of the visit, the class got to dissect a squid.  It was really interesting and Erin really liked doing it.  She wasn't skiddish AT ALL!!!  I was very proud of my up and coming scientist.  Take a look :)

A Baluga Whale  -- Very cute!!!

Emily and Erin sliding down "ice"

 

Erin and her Squid

After the aquarium, we went shopping along Michigan Avenue. It was a very beautiful day and everyone had a good time.
 

There was a lot of construction and this sign fascinated me.  Why not just have a straight up arrow

Bloomingdales.  We didn't go here, but I thought the sign was neat

Emily underneath "her"sign

Proof I really was on Michigan Avenue

We then met up with everyone at Millenium Park home of the world famous Bean sculpture.  It is really neat as it is like a mirror and you can get some really cool reflections...

Facing the Bean...

...Away from the bean

Odd Reflections

Erin and me

After that, we went back to the University, had an hour or two rest, and then got ready to go to Medieval Times in Schaumberg.  They have this dinner theatre that have kings, queens, knights and real horses.  You get a meal -- we had dead bird (chicken), spine of rat (bbq ribs) and vegetables.  Everything was eaten without utensils and then they put on a show about someone taking over a kingdom.  The horses were beautiful and some of the knights weren't too shabby either ;)  Each section had a color and ours was blue.  Erin was chosen Queen of Love and Beauty for our section.  We had a lot of fun, as you can see ...

All of the Knights and pretty horses

The Queen of Love and Beauty

Then it was off to a very peaceful night's sleep ... shh tomorrow comes with a vengance !!!!