Sadie Meets Nastia!

Okay, so you all heard me say that Sadie won an essay contest and a chance to go shopping with Olympic Gymnast Nastia Luikin at a local JCPenney here in Illinois. The day was really fun. Sadie and most of her teammates here went to the mall together so that everyone could get autographs during the meet and greet with Nastia then Sadie and four other children got to do a mini-shopping experience with Nastia following the meet and greet. Nastia placed Supergirl capes on each of the essay winners and was extremely sweet (something I was really surprised about). Considering she's about two feel tall without her 16 inch pumps on, I would have squashed her like a bug (or cut the bit...nevermind, that's just Lafonda talking) had she NOT been kind.

The gang getting ready to go in....wait a minute....did Aubrey Winslow sneak in to this event?

Radio Disney was there and did a big pre-autograph radio show with entertainment, singing and dancing for the audience. Very fun for the girls to participate in.







The girls sang loud enough into the microphone that they all won free Nastia T-shirts.

Isaac opted out of the shopping experience to go play with dad. Something to the tune of, "I'd rather snort hot mustard through my nose then have to participate in this girly crap...."

Alas, Sadie has been informed that she is more than welcome to enter any future contest that she wishes but is NOT allowed to include her cancer story unless the sole purpose is to inspire and motivate or help others that may need to hear her story. Two Olympic gymnasts is enough for one parents, I mean, child's lifetime.

Oh Canada!

So my sister and her wonderful boyfriend, Joseph, came to visit for a week at the end of July. What a refreshing time for us to spend with people we know and love! It cured the lonely spell I was having, for sure. Amongst some of the fun things we did were a trip to Navy Pier, our first ever visit to the Museum of Science and Industry, a date to the local movie theatre/bar/restaurant which has become our favorite place to go and, of course, a trip to Giordanos Pizza, voted the #1 pizza in America. There's a reason for that. My butt will prove it.

We started the day with a trip to "Central Park" in Naperville

Walking downtown Chicago on our way to Navy Pier

Millenium Park downtown Chicago. One of our favorite places to visit. There are two structures hand made of glass bricks and they spit out water for kids and adults to play in.

Really? Are you joking me? Could we NOT take a picture at this now famous to the Shafers landmark?

Taking in Lake Michigan at Navy Pier. Fan-freakin-tastic.....

Wouldn't be a family trip without appropriately torturing the children.
We all walked a total of about 15 miles that day. Blisters on feet, dehydration......doesn't get better than that.

Auntie succombs to hair torture by Sadie





First trip to Museum of Science and Industry. These were taken in the Farm Tech area where we would soon get excited to bring Gianni!

Kristin and Joseph, we miss you so much already. For the rest of you, we can't wait to see you whenever we get a chance to. Come and visit! We promise not to throw you all into the Lake. We reserve that only for offspring.

BON JOVI TAKE......5

Okay, this is for all of you Bon Jovi luva's out there. Bon Jovi concert take 5 was in Soldier Field in Chicago with my sister, Kristin. 65,000 people in an open air football arena (does it GET any better than this for me?) and Kid Rock to open. Now, I will tell you that I initially felt like vomiting when I realized I had to watch Kid Rock but I was pleasantly surprised and absolutely LOVED his show. Very musically talented person though morally completely corrupt. :0)

A view of Chicago city skyline from Soldier Field. Fan-freakin-tastic.



Now THAT'S a smile we've never caught on camera before!

This one's for you, Kel!

Sing it to us, Jonny!

Acoustic version of "Diamond Ring"

And here ya have it.....Jon in a Chicago Blackhaws Jersey (Um....that's the professional Hockey team here for you ladies who don't know.....which I think is pretty much all of you). It's simply gorgeous to look at.

Anyways, ladies.....I snuck in this blog just for you. You won't hear from me again until late August.

Or if I get to meet Jon this evening during his second stint here in the windy city. Too bad it didn't rain on him during the concert.......yuuuuuumy.

Patriotic Adventures

Okay, last post for July, I promise! I told you I'd only do this once per month so this month was a doozie.

As any good patriotic American should do (ahem...insert joking laugh here), my friend Genesis and I took the kids to Williamsburg, Virginia for the 4th of July holiday this year. We spent one week in a lovely timeshare (insert embarrassment b/c it sounds as though I am a rich, snobby person now when, in reality, this was the last week of our timeshare we could use b/c we are too ghetto to keep paying on it). Although we had to dodge 109 degree weather on some days and assist Sadie in getting through a random illness while we were there, we had a grand old time. My personal favorite was Busch Gardens Europe where we got to watch Celtic Fyre, an Irish song and dance production inside what was called the Abbey Stone Theatre. It was like a free, mini broadway show and was amazing! Colonial Williamsburg was fantastic. We enjoyed learning about how people lived back in the 1700's. We also visited Jamestown Settlement where we got to see how the Powhatan Indians lived when they arrived in America in the 1600's. Isaac loved touring three ships that came over back then. Sadie enjoyed figuring out how to turn every sidewalk into a balance beam. Ah, well.....plenty of time to force history down her throat. I will leave you with pictures and favorite quotes from the trip:

1. While Genesis and Mariah take a bath in the pool sized bathtub in the bathroom, Sadie comes in to ask, "Did you guys turn the romance on?" b/c we had dim lighting so as to not see each other's t-shirted bodies. THAT wasn't uncomfortable.

2. While at the Cracker Barrel, Genesis showed Isaac a variety of T-shirts that all had one word on them such as "believe" and "spunky". When she asked Isaac which T-shirt he felt described him the best he replied by saying, "Um....I think Positive b/c I'm a pretty positive person.....well....cept' when I lie."

3. At the hotel in Ohio, on our way home, Isaac checked the air conditioning to see if it was on and when he noticed it wasn't he asked, "Where's that conthermonstane to help it get colder?" (thermostat)

4. Lastly, Isaac asked Genesis that night, while she was wearing her tye-dyed t-shirt if she had a casserole on her shirt. Um....we confirmed that he meant "swirly". But of course....casserole and swirly sound exactly the same.

Love to all!

The pool sized bathtub

The basketweavers at Colonial Williamsburg. Sadie was most interested in this. WHY did we EVER stop using this form of punishment???? Looks like it could win a Mariah parenting award. Quit laughing all of you who knew me back when I swore my child would NEVER own a weapon. This is what Isaac bought with his spending money. A wooden pistol. Good thing he's a peaceful hearted little twerp.Watching fireworks in the parking lot of Cracker Barrell. That's right....we couldn't last at Colonial Williamsburg so we chose the next best thing. The Powhatan Indian Village at Jamestown Settlement. Grinding corn.The "Susan Constant". This was the largest of the three ships that carried over the European Settlers that first settled Jamestown.Souvenir #2 (and the final souvenir of his choice)....the wooden sword. It's all out the window now.Waiting in line for the "Curse of the DarKastle" at Busch Gardens. Neither child kept their eyes open for the 3-D ride but Gen and I LOVED it! Sadie and Isaac have two mommies.....and our little family matches. Celtic Fyre Production. It was a re-enactment of an Irish wedding reception with AMAZING singing and dance. There were even a cage of live birds that were released to fly over the audience. Isaac thought that was the shiz.Some of the most amazing tap dancing duels I have ever seen. Well.....I've never seen tap dancing duels but I imagine this is one of the best out there.