Pumpkin Soup

This is one of Lucy's favorite fall season books.  Apparently the repetition paid off.  Here's a video of her reading it all by herself.  Happy Halloween!

Lila Turns 2!

Last month Lila celebrated her second birthday.  It's hard to believe that it's been two years since she was born (see here for first Lila blog entry: http://lucyvg.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html).  Lila wanted a "piggy cake" for her birthday and Lucy loved helping to make it.  Lila is talking up a storm mostly to get what she wants.  These include "I do it", "a cow", "sippy, please", "guys, guys, guys!", and "a snack."  We love her so much and had a great time focusing on her for her big day.

Summer Fun

Wow, another jam-packed summer full of fun activities.  As it comes to a close, Kim and I recalled all the places we went a people we saw.  They included: blueberry picking, trips to beaches and cottages, camping in Michigan, visits from friends, and sits by the local pool.  Lila is growing up to be a vivacious young girl, and Lucy continues to grow into becoming a loving and serving sister and daughter.  Kim and I are so blessed to have such wonderful girls and to be by so many good friends and family. 

Happy Birthday Lucy!

In July we celebrated Lucy's 4th birthday.  As part of this we had a celebration with Kim's family in Wisconsin which included another trip to Beach Bay amusement park, trips to the beach, and of course another one of Kim's beautiful cake creations.  This year Lucy said she wanted a "Hello Kitty" cake and that she wanted to "smash it".  In contrast to earlier birthdays, "smashing" really meant just taking a little bit directly out of the cake without using a fork.  So apparently at four you grow out of the whole mess-making phase and now become concerned with being clean. 

Last week we had a joint celebration in Chicago with our friends where we celebrated Lucy and Lila's birthday with their friends.  We did this a Cosley Zoo in Wheaton and had a great turnout from our friends and family.  We all had a great time and the girls had so much fun with their friends and the animals. 

Catching Up....

Well, my apologies for neglecting the blog since Easter.  It certainly isn't for lack of photographic moments.  Most of our days are full of fun, family, and friends.  Here's a quick rundown and a smattering of pictures to go along with it:
1. Mother's Day - a great church service and a picnic in the park by the tulips. 
2. Lila bird growing into her own as a goofball and fearless explorer.  I think at least once a day we refer to her as a "nut".
3. Family excursions to botanical gardens among many, many other places
4. Two trips to the cottage in Kewaunee with Milo and company.  Included trips to Beach Bay kiddie amusement park in Green Bay.  As a Bears fan I don't like much about Green Bay, but rides for 25-cents is amazing.
5. Kewaunee also included a trip to a dairy farm, making S'Mores on the grill, trips to the beach, and Grammy's fun painting art projects. 
6. Kim and I celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary at a spa in Kohler, WI. 
7. BBQs with friends and concerts at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. 
8. A wonderful father's day with paintings from my girls and a princess dance party at a Oak Park concert.
9. Lucy continues to grow up too fast and is a kind and loving sister and daughter.  Her zest and zeal for life is contagious, and I love her curiosity of the world around her.

Next up - Lucy's birthday celebrations (yes, there were more than one...).   

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter to all of you. Our Easter weekend was filled with fun, candy, and worship. In all, we had 4 different Easter egg hunts put on by various neighbors, family, and park districts. Lila's favorite phrase all weekend (which she muttered over 100 times) was "open it", referring to any plastic egg she just found which would contain candy or toys. Lucy and Lila loved running around in their dresses and we had a wonderful family meal hosted by Kim's parents. Thanks to Kristin and Eric for some great pictures as well.

Happy Birthday Mama and Titi

So yesterday was Kim's birthday and so I was working on teaching Lila how to sing happy birthday.  There wasn't much success, but Kim captured this today:



A few notes of translation: Lila is currently obsessed with her aunt Titi and uncle Kunkle.  For some reason she thinks it's both Mama and Titi's birthday - hence "mama-titi".  Also, she always wants to watch the video while we're filming ("I see, I see").  I hope you all enjoy this as much as Kim and I did.