Warmer Days

We had a wonderful visit to see Grandma and Grandpa D. in Florida last month. The weather was glorious, and we spent a lot of time outside. Alex was quite the water bug. We went to the pool every day and had a couple of beach visits as well. He even got to experience his first boat ride.

Enjoy the pics. I hope some of the warmth comes through your computer screen!

Alex loved the boat ride!

On the beach with Grandma and Daddy.

We found a sea urchin. Alex kindly put it back in the water after checking it out.

Let's play ball!

Dave and Alex spent a lot of time building sand castles. I'm not sure who had more fun!

Three generations of Diamonds.

Alex loves his daddy! (This may be my new favorite picture.)

How fun is it to sleep in a fire engine bed?!

Snow Day (Part Four)

One of the fun indoor activities we did today was making, decorating, and eating cutout cookies.

Alex rolled out the dough, using his new rolling pin. (Thanks cousin Maria!)

He got a little messy, but that's part of the fun, right?! He asked if he could taste the flour, so I let him, thinking he wouldn't like it, but he did and kept taking little bites while we worked.

Adding the sprinkles.

We all decorated the cookies. Here's one of the trays, ready to go in the oven.

Enjoying the fruits of his labors.

Snow Day (Part Three)

Dave bundled Alex up and took him out to play in the snow this morning.

Flinging snow into the air (although some of the snow is also falling from the sky).

Dave dug a tunnel for Alex in the big pile in our front yard.

Alex hunting dinosaurs with this big stick he found.

Snow boy on his first snow day. (Thanks again for the boots Aunt Sue and Uncle Mark. They came in very handy today.)

Snow Day (Part Two)

The madness in the backyard, where we had the most drifting.

We were amazed at how much snow accumulated between the two garages.

Deep, deep snow.

This is what welcomed us when we opened the garage. Dave spent a couple of hours with several neighbors dealing with all the snow in the alley.

Snow Day (Part One)

We've just experienced the third worst snowstorm in Chicago's history. More than 20 inches of snow and winds up to 70 mph. Needless to say, all three schools closed and this was Alex's first snow day. Here's some pictures of the experience.

This snow got forced through some minuscule crack in the back door (and the back door is not really exposed because it's on the side of the house facing the neighbor's).

The beginning of the shoveling out front.

The gray swath is our neighbor's sidewalk first thing this morning. The sidewalk there is heated and dealt with the volume of snow pretty well, as you can see.

Our road. It still has not been plowed as of this afternoon.

Dave more than knee-deep in snow.

Dave makes lots of progress in the front. Photo by Alex.

A cross-section of our sidewalk.

Alex was excited that the snow day meant he could wear his pjs all morning.

Coming later, pics of the backyard snow and more of Alex's snow day activities.

Tired

For more than four months now Alex has been waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning. And most days at home he won't nap either. That's led to some very tired family members, as you can see below. At least it makes for a cute picture.

Christmas Part Two

Finally catching up on pictures from visiting Grandma and Grandpa C now that the computer seems to be cooperating.

Every year, Alex loves exploring the piano. Or as he's taken to calling it lately, the "pianio."

On an outdoor adventure in the snow. Of course, a stick is quite necessary.



First time sledding. Thanks for the push, Anna!

Having a blast with Aunt Sue on the sled.

Anna got in on the snowy fun too. Someone needed to clear the snow off this slide, right?! I love how the colorful park structures stand out in the snow.

Grandma and Grandpa got Alex the modern Tonka firetruck to go with his classic one. He loves having two fire trucks. Now he has enough trucks for his own fire station!



Maria demonstrating her stellar teacher skills.



Snuggling with Grandma.



It's Grandpa's turn.