"Dixie, Dixie, We Need a Dixie!!!!!!"

Dear Joshua and Luke,

We spent a fun weekend in the windy city - or the noisy, windy city as we called it on Sunday. We had fun driving to Chicago because it was different than our usual route up north. We arrived in the middle of the day, but in perfect time for lunch at an organic Mexican grill and fun at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a dreary, cool day, but the Zoo was happening. You both loved the wolves in the children's zoo. It was so funny to hear you howling at the wolves, and they started howling back at you - and the sirens that just happened to be going off at the same time. There were only a handful of people at the zoo so we got to see so many things......bears up close and personal, jaguars, chimpanzees, apes - and they all seemed to be putting on a show for the small crowd. We definitely have to go back there! And did I mention that the zoo was free?????

We returned to the hotel room early, and had fun watching movies and eating dinner in the room. I have to tell you that I have never been more proud of either of you. This journey took us to Chicago to see a food allergist at Children's Hospital. The fact that Joshua was so willing to go in order to help others. I do believe that Joshua truly understood that this was more about helping other kids and families than for him personally. We even had a conversation that our family was "into helping others." We talked a lot about how we do things for others, and it felt like such grown up conversation. Our boy's hearts are growing bigger and bigger all the time.

One of the funniest moments of the trip as well as one of our highlights had to do with taking a taxi. We took a taxi several times from here to there since it was way easier than driving our van. You both loved riding in the taxi. The funniest thing was listening to Luke say, "Dixie, Dixie, we need a dixie," as we were walking down Michigan Avenue trying to catch a taxi. I tried to explain to Luke that it was a "taxi," and he just nodded and said, "yes, dixie." He continued to call for a dixe - and luckily one finally came - a nice yellow taxi cab!

I love you more today than yesterday.

Love,

Mama

Go Greyhounds & Mighty Shark Fish!!!!!! - Star Soccer Players

Dearest Joshua and Luke,

Yes, we have two star soccer players here! This is your third week of soccer, and mom and dad are proud of you both! To begin with, this is Luke's first time playing soccer. Luke was shy for about the first ten minutesof the game, hiding behind my leg and not saying anything. By the time you got your soccer socks and team shirt on, you were ready for action - with mom hobbling on the soccer field with you! After about five more minutes, you were out and playing hard! We were so proud of you! Meanwhile on the Greyhounds field, Joshua was scoring six goals! Yes, six goals! So much has changed since Joshua played soccer in the fall! We are proud of both of you for your effort. We are so glad you are playing something you enjoy and having fun!

You are both settling into our new house and our new routines! Last week we roasted marshmallows with some very nice families, and we all got to know some new friends. It was a very fun evening. I know we are going to like this neighborhood a lot. There are so many friends to play with and so many things to do.

This week we even had time to get together with our neighbors from our other house. You played and played together, then we all went to dinner at O'Charley's. It was so much fun to go out to eat with friends. You were both so worried that we would not get to see our "old" neighbors, but we will. They are wonderful friends! We are going to try and help them find a house closer to us. :)

I love you both more today than yesterday.

Love,

Mama

P.S. Be sure to check out the new pictures in the upper right hand corner. If you double click on the picture, the picture will be full size. Enjoy!