Summer Highlights

Although we did not take a "big" family vacation this summer, we did many outings that I wanted to note. We started off the summer with a camping trip with 3 other families from Church. We all had a blast. There were 8 adults and 10 kids running around. We all went fishing, went for a boat ride (the kids even got boat-driving lessons), went to the beach, had a campfire, etc......In June, we went to Donley's Wild West Town and the Train Museum with our long-time friends the Kracinskis and my sister Kelly's family. At the Wild West Town- the kids were able to "lasso" a horse, "mine" for gold, take a canoe ride, ride a pony, see a wild west show, shoot bow and arrows and go into a petting zoo. We stayed over night in a hotel and had the hotel pool all to ourselves! (we don't know why no-one else was in there, but it was nice). The kids had a blast swimming. The next day we went to the train museum up in Union. It was a bit pricey to get in, luckily, it was Father's Day and Mike was free! We saw lots and lots of trains, old ones. But it was neat to see how things have changed. We even saw an old train that was like a snow plow for train tracks (didn't know there was such a thing).

We accompanied Mike to one of his races up in Levitrow, Wisconsin. The kids were so excited to go. It was a bit of a drive, almost 5 hours to get there and we had BOTH dogs with us. Mike had "racing shirts" made for all of the kids to match the guys shirts. Again, we camped. Good for us, the kids really enjoy camping. I just wonder if they realize how much work and prepartion is involved for us parents????? Mike races in a mountain bike series that is based out of Wisconsin. On the team are my 2 brother-in-laws, Mike and Ken. So both of my sisters and their families were present at this race, so the boys were able to hang out with their cousins. Both Parker and Jackson competed in their first ever race and finished 1st and 2nd place. In the last picture here, the kids are waiting for one of the guys to come in form their lap and are dancing to music.

Parker and Jackson had the priviledge of going to a British Soccer camp put on by the park district. The deal is--you pay big $ for them to bring in coaches from somewhere out east and your kids are supposed to learn new neat soccer skills. It was a hot week, but they both really enjoyed it. Where any new skills learned?? We shall see once the first game of soccer comes on Sept. 6. Following is a picture from"crazy hair day" of soccer camp. We also visited the Morton Arboretum for the first time since I have had kids. We were scheduled to go on July 12 to see Ralph's World in concert. However, when we got there (after driving an hour), we were told the concert was cancelled due to rain. Now the rain had stopped, but they said the equipment was in water so it was un-safe. They did let us in for the day to visit the grounds. It is such a beautiful (but tiring) place. And we were lucky enough to see "Ralph" make an appearance and the kids were able to hear him sing. We also got a group photo shot with him and posters signed by him. AND we were able to walk around and enjoy the grounds. An insect exhibit was going on. These were large wooden structures of 8 different insects. There was a pond with stepping stones, a fountain and stream to play in, tree mazes to go through....hours of FUN!

We went blueberry picking with a group of our neighbors. We have been to this place called Tammen farms before. I think we picked about 9 pounds of blueberries, many of which I froze. Mason was content to pick the blueberries off the bush and eat them right away.

Mike and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on August 16th. We went and spent the day in Naperville at the Riverwalk (thanks to my sister Kelly for watching the kids). We went and rented a paddleboat, walked around, shopped, had ice cream, went to the bookstore and best of all RELAXED! We finished the evening off with dinner out to BD Mongoloians BBQ. The food was good, but I am not so sure I liked the atmosphere. There was a very loud and obnoxious cook who was , in my opinion, quite irritating. And lastly- Mike's friend Dustin got married August 23rd. Mike stood up in the wedding. It was a beautiful (but hot) day with an outside wedding at the Wayside Chapel. We had a great time at the reception (no kids--thanks Mom and Dad!). (Mason wanted to know when he could "go night night" there again).

Learning to ride a bike

The latest achievement in the Laney household is that Mason has learned to ride a two-wheeled bike, with training wheels of course. Mike has been trying to get him to ride it. Before--He only wanted to sit on it and be pushed OR stand next to it and push it around himself. He said he wanted to ride the bike but needed some help to figure out the pedaling. Mike helped him a bit...and now he is a pro! He can ride fast, I even have to do a jog to keep up.

Back To School

So Mike actually wrote the first entry to get this started. I have pestered him to help me set this up and he finally did. Like my friend Lisa, I feel a bit dumb writing in here and wonder who will actually read it. Maybe this will help me to keep everyone up to date on the happenings with the boys.

School started last week, August 19th to be exact. Jackson is in 1st grade, Parker in 3rd......I feel really old to think I have a 3rd grader.........All went well on the first day of school...no tears, even from mom...I am getting to be a pro at sending them off to school....yeah right. Jackson is having a difficult time adjusting to getting up early in the morning. I swear he could sleep until 9 am if I left him. I had to set up a rewards/bribery system with him. It was taking him 55 minutes just to get dressed and eat breakfast. So I told both boys, once they are done with getting dressed, breakfast , teeth brushed and bed made (yes, bed made), they can watch cartoons until it is time to go out to the bus. and you know what?? it worked, he was dressed with 12 minutes to spare. And, I didn't have to yell at all. What a great morning. I added some pictures form the 1st day of school. One of them has Mason, as he wanted to be included.

1st pic post

the husband and i at a wedding

My First Blog

Ive been wanting to do a blog for awhile. Figured it would be a good way for family and friends to be kept up to date on our busy Laney lives. So tune in for the craziness of the Laney's.