family pics 2012

Heather snapped some GREAT shots near the DuPage River in Illinois. THANK YOU Heather!

cousinly love

The boys love their little cousins. I think that the feeling is mutual. 

Travis giving loves to Jake

Downtown Chicago

I thought that I would just include a few random snapshots from our day in Downtown Chicago.  We rode a double decker bus to see the Skydeck driving past places like the Old Water Tower for the Chicago Water Works. It was built in 1869 and survived the Chicago fire. It seriously looks like a tiny European castle plopped smack dab in the middle of the Magnificent Mile shopping area. 

Meet "the Bean" in Millennium Park. If you look really close, you can see Lander (wearing a green shirt) and Jake (wearing white shirts and shorts). Like everything else that day, we had to buck through crowds to see it but it is a cool site.

Josh captured this image on his phone.  

 And Heather shot this picture of the moon rising.

The kids did pretty well. We probably walked 8 miles that day! And by "kids" I mean all of the kids, big ones too.

Josh & Lander, Alan & Travis, Grandma Nala (in background), Jake

Oh Navy Pier. I'm wondering what all the hype is about? I must've missed something, because surely the crowds weren't there to fight for a seat at McDonald's like we were. We tried to go on a pirate cruise, but it was sold out.

Skydeck

Welcome to the Skydeck of Chicago (the new name for the Sears Tower), home of long lines, smothering numbers of people, and over priced souvenirs! Are we glad we could see it? Sure. Would we go again. Doubtful. 

Our family standing in front of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get a picture without strangers in it. Too, too many people!!!

 Grandma Nala, Dixie, Jake and Heather standing on "the Ledge"

Dixie and Jake standing on the Ledge. This is on the 103rd floor, 1353 feet up in the air. We thought it would be scary. It's not, but we did have one terrifying moment when we realized that Dixie and Jake now wear the same size of shoes. Crazy!

it's a small world

A very small world. When we flew out of Idaho Falls, I asked Josh who we would run into while on our trip. Turns out that his cousin, Steve Peterson was the first. We ran into his family at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Talk about random. Of course, me and photography didn't get along at the aquarium, so the pictures didn't turn out. Naturally.

Josh, Lander, Steve & Steve's son

Shedd Aquarium

The Shedd Aquarium is right next to the Field Museum, and entrance was included in our city passes so we stopped in for a quick visit. Our passes even let us walk past this line. Woo hoo!

We didn't get any decent pictures, but I still loved this one of the boys. I just wish that I had remembered to turn off the flash!!! Oh well. Such is life. 

Luckily, Heather got some cool shots of the wildlife. 

arachophobia

As we left the Field Museum, we noticed that a temporary bug exhibit had been set up with spiders, enormous cockroaches and all other creepy-crawlies. This is one of the spiders that we held.

Lander LOVED holding the spiders. Shocking considering that he usually runs from bugs. I think that he held every one of the tarantulas that they had.

I couldn't help but think, "Just don't move. Just don't move. Just don't move." I'm not sure if I was telling myself that or the spider.

 Jake did not care for the bugs. At all. This was as close as he got to the tarantulas.

Field Museum

Next adventure? The city! Our first stop was at the Field Museum of Chicago. This was Jake and Lander's favorite exhibit. It is Sue, the largest and best preserved T-Rex. 

hayride

While at the pumpkin farm, we took a hay ride with Travis, Tyler, Heather and Grandma Nala to go pick out our pumpkins. Heather snapped some fantastic photos of the excursion.

 

Siegel's Cottonwood Farm

All aboard!

First day in Illinois, Heather treated us all to a day at the local pumpkin patch. It is at an amazing farm that had all sorts of attractions for the kids. What a great way to start off our vacation. Thank you, Heather!!

Grandma Nala, Tyler, Jake, Travis, Lander in the playground

Lander, Grandma Nala, Jake, Tyler, Travis

Jake and Lander LOVED playing with their little cousins, and the feeling was mutual. It was so much fun to watch the cousins play, and they got along surprisingly well despite their age gap. 

Lander and Tyler

Look carefully, folks. Yes, Grandma Nala climbed the "rock" wall. Even with the little bit of coercion that it took, she was a great sport about it and made it to the top!

Dixie and her mom, Grandma Nala

Of course, we saw our fair share of farm animals.  

I just loved this picture of Grandma Nala while we walked through the straw maze. 

Again, in a mood of good humor, Grandma Nala joined us on the big blowup slide. The boys were THRILLED to have her join them!

Is Jake taller than Grandma Nala?

I remember growing up, being so excited the day that I outgrew my 5 foot tall mom.  Funny how this is really important to the grandkids too. Jake was really excited to see how he measured up. It was the first thing that he did when we got to Grandma Nala & Grandpa F's house in Plainfield, Illinois. Looks like Grandma Nala still has him beat.

Or does she?? Hmm....

 And the breadpan makes it official. Yes, Grandma Nala is taller, by a quarter of an inch!

Flight to Chicago

The vacation started out with a flight out of the Idaho Falls airport. This was indeed a highlight for the boys and a great way to start the vacation. The highlight lost some of it's savor when our final flight to Chicago was delayed. We did not get into Grandma Nala & Grandpa F's house until 3 am. 

Yes, I just said 3 am.

But before that, the boys were all grins and excitement.

spud harvest break + Jamisons = (family vacation)squared

Spud harvest break offered a unique opportunity this year. We were able to combine several trips that we've wanted to take into one for a multi-state tour of the midwest. Because this blog is used as a sort of journal, we'll leave it at that for now except to say that it was a wonderful trip.

family picture taken by Heather F at DuPage River Park in Shorewood, Illinois

Now let the blog barfing begin!

more artwork by Lander

We found this in the bathroom today. The note written on the toilet paper roll says "I'm to young to die" with a happy face. Lander is always coming up with creative artwork like this. We love his work!

it's Jake's Birfday

Jake seemed to have the never ending birthday. The birthday that just trickled on and on because we knew that we would be gone for his birthday. The festivities started off with a bang. 

Literally.

Jake gets a present from Papa, or at least part of it.

But wait! There's more. Can you see the disbelief in Jake's eyes. 

His mind is clearly wondering it if it is what he thinks it is.

 Yep. Apparently he guessed right.

 And it's starting to sink in.

 Thank you Papa for the present of all presents! 

For those of you wondering, this was the gun that Papa received when he turned 12 from his father.

Sounds like it's time for hunter safety!

Big Springs

We celebrated Papa's birthday by going to Big Springs, Idaho near Island Park. The river literally just pops out of the ground in a huge spring. You can see the river behind the boys, just a few hundred yards from the spring itself.

Brad aka Papa, Josh, Jake & Lander

 Dixie & Lander self portrait. Look! I totally have crazy eyes! I'm still not sure which eye I should look at.

 Papa decided that Lander needed a bath. 

And he was right!

Years ago when Dixie would travel alone with the boys, they started the tradition of doing self portraits. Today seemed like a nice day to renew that tradition.

 The boys adore their dad. It is something that their mom treasures.

There is a really cool cabin at the head of the spring. It was built by a man named Johnny Sack who was a staggering 4 feet 11 tall.  This is a carving to honor him.

 We hiked along the river. It was a beautiful site!

 the fam