Junior Ultimate Trainer for a Day

Alex spent part of one day in the Junior Ultimate Trainer program. He got to see all sorts of marine animals, learn about how they are cared for and fed, and even had a behind the scenes tour of the facility. He had a lot of fun and made some new friends.

Family Vacation!

For the second half of Alex's Spring Break, we had our first big family vacation with just the three of us. We went to the super-mega-crazy-water park Atlantis in the Bahamas. The days were non-stop, and Dave and I are exhausted, but we had a fantastic time despite a bit too much sun and some river rapids wipe outs.

We were largely unplugged, so didn't get a ton of pictures, but I brought the digital camera out a few days. In addition, Alex spent part of one day as a Junior Ultimate Trainer for a Day, and they took pictures of the experience for us. I'll get to those in another post, but here are some pictures to get started.

This was Alex's first opportunity to be in the ocean. I was very happy to finally have the chance to introduce him to the Atlantic. He kept finding large rocks in the water and would bring these "ocean rocks" up to our towels. He was a bit disappointed when I explained that they would not be coming back with us.

Happy New Year!

We broke our streak of staying in on New Year's Eve and went to a family New Year's party. They time-shifted midnight to 8:00 and had sparking cider for the kids to toast with. A fun way to ring in the new year, and we still got to be in bed at a reasonable hour!

Alex had far more fun than this picture conveys

Our goofy boy hamming it up for the camera (note the clock in the background, reading 12:00)

A New Year's toast with his buddy Ella 

More Christmas Fun

We spent Christmas in Mt. Carmel with my Dad and my brothers and their families. Many traditions were upheld: the ravioli Christmas dinner, nut roll for breakfast, yummy sweets, gifts distributed by the youngest family member there (Alex, much to Forrest's relief), lots of card playing, and fun family time.

Click here to see one of the (many) multiple solitaire games in action.

Books are always a welcome gift

Funny minion shirt

Figuring out the cool, new art project with Aunt Jane

Extreme silliness (Even though it's blurry, I had to include this because they were having so much fun)

Everyone had fun putting together the puzzle from Anna

Bonus picture of Alex's face when we arrived home, and he saw a present from Santa under the tree

Chicago Christmas

Before heading to Mt. Carmel for Christmas, we had a celebration over at Laura's and our own family Christmas. Some pics below.

Willow and Grandma opening a gift

Alex had lots of fun inspecting the ornaments on their tree

Reading time with Willow

Time to open stocking presents

I got lots of handmade gifts from Alex this year

Alex was super excited to get a big box of Pokemon cards

Flashing back a few weeks, Alex put all the decorations on the tree himself

Instead of one gingerbread house, this year we did a whole village

Alex came up with the idea of adding a fire pit in front of the chalet

Thanksgiving with a side dish of Hanukkah

As is our tradition, we spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family, and, since we are all together, we have our Hanukkah celebration then too. Shawn's family joined in this year as well, so we had a couple of very full tables, plates and plates of yummy food, and lots of good company.

Mindy ran the Chocolate Turkey race with me (a new holiday tradition). Here we are modeling our aprons. 

Alex and his buddy, Reggie

Cousins having more fun than that chair can hold

Diamond family photo

And, the silly version of the family photo

Chicago Park Outing

We finally took advantage of our proximity to the Metra to head downtown for a few hours this afternoon. The main goal was to check out the open parts of the new Maggie Daley Park, but we had to pass through Millennium Park to get there, which always requires a stop at the bean. 

Despite being a little chilly and rainy, we had a great time and can't wait to go back. Come visit, and we'll plan a fun outing!

Bean picture #1

Bean picture #2 -- family selfie

Alex really likes the Frank Gehry bandstand and wanted a picture with it in the background

Only part of the fun at the new park

Our little ninja warrior

Enjoying the train ride home after a fun day