July 4th

 We had a great 4th of July with Nanny & Papa!  On the 4th we visited the Chicago History Museum and enjoyed some time in the HOT temps by splashing in our little pool on the deck and eating cool watermelon.

Maggie in the Chicago hot dog at the Chicago History Museum

Tim & the kids at the Chicago History Museum- dressed in their red, white, and blue

Watermelon on the deck

Love the juice dripping off his chin!

Cheese!

Seriously adorable kids!

Summer Adventures

A random assortment of pictures of some of our summer adventures!

We took a trip to the Field Museum of Natural History.  The views from the museum campus are awesome!  Aaron declined the photo, but Maggie gladly posed!

We've had many play dates with our friends.  Here are Aaron & Connor enjoying a cool treat!

A day at the Brookfield Zoo- Sawyer, Asher, Aaron, Connor, & Maggie

My brother and his family came to visit and we spent some time at Millennium Park.  Here's a shot of Tim and the kids at the Crown Fountain.

Splashing around!

Our reflection in "the bean".  Notice Tony, Angie, Emma, Jacob, and Olivia in the left corner!  Too bad we didn't have the sense to take a photo all together!

Connor and Maggie rowing the canoe at the Children's Museum.   So cute!

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

Some of the best views of the city are from the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier! Here are some photos of the kids on our adventure.

Lego love

The Coenen family are really into Legos! Tim was a Lego kid and Aaron has definitely developed the love for Legos too. The first thing that Aaron asks in the morning is if he can go get his Legos!

Tim just celebrated his 35th birthday and asked for Lego sets for his birthday! :) Here are the two sets that he got- London's Tower Bridge and a VW camper van!

We became members at the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg, so we have been enjoying some great times there.  Here are some shots of our recent adventures at Legoland. One of the favorite activities is the area where you can build cars out of Legos and race them on the track.

Maggie with one of the explorers in Safari land

The monkey swings on the tree branch

Star Wars characters

Building a structure and then you turn the shaker on to see if it's structurally sound!

Maggie is building with the big blocks

Aaron is proud of his structure!

Aaron and his super fast racer!

Maggie is racing her creation

And of course, Tim's thoughtfully built race car!

Father's Day 2012

Aaron made an awesome (and hilarious) gift for Tim at Goddard.  He drew a wonderful picture of his family on one side of the paper and on the other side, Miss Rachel had the kids answer some questions about their dad. 

Here's what Aaron had to say:

My Dad's name is __Tim_.
My Dad is   44   years old. (Only one decade off!)
His hair is   brown   and his eyes are brown. (Right on)
My Dad likes to wear spider shirts. (Think he's talking about the Spider Man shirts that HE likes!)
He likes to eat chicken. (I guess!)
He is smart because he knows how to do karate. (Really?! We're not sure where this one came from!)
My Dad loves to play with legos at home.  (Yup)
It makes my Dad happy when he plays with me. (For sure!)
I really love it when me and my Dad go on vacation.(Glad to see that Aaron is valuing our vacations!)
If I could give my Dad anything it would be a lego set. (Done!)
I love my Dad just like I love my sister and my mama. (Awww... so sweet!)
I love you.  Love, Aaron

Aaron, Maggie, & I got Tim a huge lego set of London's Tower Bridge for his birthday/Father's Day.  He and our friend, Chris, spent a few hours working on it on Father's Day!

Sleeping with Daddy

Maggie loves to sleep in our bed. We do our best to keep her in her own bed, but she makes her way into ours many mornings. Here she is snoozing with her Daddy!

SO big!

Check these two out.... our babies are getting SO big!

May 7th, 2012

On Aaron's actual birthday we had our friends, Amy, Chris, & Asher over for cake and presents. We had a great time and got to celebrate them bringing home their new baby, Lucien, too! What a wonderful day it was!

 Aaron- you bring so much joy to our lives and we love you more every day!

Aaron loved his Lego cake!

Jake and the Neverland Pirates cd!

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Maggie got Aaron a Captain America mask and shield

Aaron gives Maggie a big hug for the awesome gifts!

Daddy has them all laughing when he poses as Captain America!

Aaron's 4th birthday party at Legoland Discovery Center

Aaron had his 4th birthday party at the Legoland Discovery Center on May 5th.  He had quite a few friends and family members come to join us.  The guest were:
Nanny & Papa
Amy, Brett, & Claire
Kate, Matt, Connor, & Sawyer
Amy, Chris, & Asher
Diana, Scott, Katelyn, & Emily
Eniko, Vince, Sam, Luci, & Max
Danielle, John, & Ruby

We all arrived at Legoland around 10 when they opened and spent the first couple of hours playing around the center.  The kids went to the theatre to see the movie, went on the ride, raced the cars that they made, ran around the play area, and spent time building at the lego tables.  At 12:30 we all went into the party room and the kids decorated their crowns with stickers and then had pizza, soda, and cake.  Aaron opened his birthday presents and much to his delight, got tons of new legos sets to play with!  The last activity for the party was the model builder session, where a master lego builder taught the kids how to build a dinosaur.

Aaron had an awesome birthday and it was definitely a day to remember!

Sawyer and Maggie playing in the play area

Connor & Sawyer in the lego pit

Tim was really proud of his racer!

Nanny & Claire getting ready to ride!

Aaron & Brett

They went on the ride over and over and over!

Maggie needs to get in on the fun too, even though she can't reach the pedals!

Ready, Set, Go!

Decorating their crowns

Aaron looks pretty excited about his finished product!

Tim, Brett, & Aaron pose for a picture

Sawyer didn't want the crown on his head, but he liked it on mine!

Aaron got a little shy when he was the center of attention!

4 candles in one breath!

Ruby, Brett, Aaron, & Asher

The birthday boy and his cake

He really liked the cake

BIG bite!

Max, Luci, & Claire

Katelyn

Sawyer & Connor

Connor

Maggie chowing down on her cake!

Emily

Model building session

Aaron in the Chicago city scape made all of legos!

The John Hancock building

Navy Pier