Riding on Two Wheels!

Our garage sale holy grail this summer was to find a small bike for Alex. A few weeks ago victory was ours! We found a small two-wheeler that was relatively free of embellishment.

Alex was excited to give it a try, but, in all honesty, the fact that it brakes when you turn the wheels backwards was a bit challenging for him to overcome. He managed to get a bit of forward motion going, so we had a fun short ride and will keep working on it so he gets the idea.

The bike

Getting ready for the first ride

Trying out my new wheels

Family Portrait

Alex recently brought this family picture home from school. He's just starting to draw faces and figures more regularly, so this is the first "real" family picture of the three of us that he's drawn.

Team Diamond

Impromptu Home Day

Chicago got hit with super heavy rains over the weekend, including the largest single day of rainfall since records starting being kept in 1871 -- around 7 inches. We were fortunate enough to not have any significant water at home, but Alex's day care was not so lucky. They had flooding in almost all of the classrooms and had to close today. So, just a couple of hours after he was dropped off, I picked Alex up and we had a Mommy/Alex day. We went and played at a park and had a picnic lunch. Per usual, he did not take much of a nap, and we spent the afternoon playing and watching Toy Story.

Dave brought his Legos home from Iowa after our last visit and spent much of last night sorting them out. Normally Alex isn't in the basement during the week, so Dave left them out to finish, which gave Alex a big surprise this afternoon. He was really excited to play with the Moon Landing set. I just felt bad that Dave wasn't here to play with him.

Picnicking in the park.

Hanging on the monkey bars.
This is a new skill for him.

Playing with Daddy's Legos.

Fresh Herbs, Anyone?

This morning, as we were leaving for the day, Alex and I gave our plants lots of water to help them survive this heat wave. Alex asked if we could have some of the basil with dinner. That was a perfect suggestion because I was already planning to have ravioli for dinner.

When we got home tonight, we gave the plants more water, picked a few leaves, and went inside. I chiffonaded the basil, Alex did a taste test, and I thought we were good to go. However, Alex wasn't too happy when I served the dinner because he wanted his basil on a plate and not on top of the ravioli. After some conversation, we discovered that he just wanted a basil leaf to eat. So, I went and cut off a leaf, which he enjoyed very much. I guess that's one way to get him to eat some greens!

Yum!

At the Beach

Almost every night as we drive by Lake Michigan, Alex asks if we can go to the beach. So, this weekend we did. Dave was out of town, but Sue suggested that we go, and we had a blast. Alex loved chasing birds, throwing shells/rocks into the water, and playing with his beach ball. He could have stayed all day, but we only had two hours on the parking meter. We'll be going back soon with Dave. Hopefully, next time, a bird won't steal his lunch. Alex left his sandwich unattended to play in the water, and an enterprising gull swooped in and took it!

Picking up shells.
(Rocks really, but the Casaleggi
beach combing instinct is strong.)

Beach balls are fun!

Dancing in the waves.

Belated Father's Day

I just found the Father's Day pictures on the camera and realized I never got them posted.

Dave got a special present from Alex and me, Alex took pictures, and we went on a fun outing to use the present. Pics below (all but the first one and last one were taken by Alex).

Giving Daddy his present

Gift opening

Surprise!

Posing with the discs

Alex had us pose with his friends
and requested that this picture be included in the blog.

Of course, we had to go out and play that afternoon.

Happy 50th!

Today is Grandma and Grandpa D's 50th wedding anniversary! What a fantastic milestone. We had a fun visit with the whole family to celebrate.