Mason goes to Comicon!

Mason is OBSESSED with anything superhero! He probably has over 25 superhero t-shirts and all of the toy guys...everything from Spiderman, to Superman, Ironman, Green Goblin, Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine, etc. - you name it, he loves it! So much so that his 3rd birthday party is going to be Avengers themed. Pinterest has some really great stuff! Anyways, a few weeks ago, Rob saw that a Comicon festival was coming to Chicago and he wanted to get tickets.

Today was the day! This wasn't really mine and Leah's type of thing, so they decided to make a father/son day out of it. Overall, Mason had a great time and in superhero heaven!

Ronald McDonald House Charities

At work we have a Social Responsibility Team and each year, one of their initiatives is a "Week of Giving," where essentially, it is one designated week with over 20 volunteer opportunities lined up, where all employees are encouraged to take time and volunteer. For the past few years, I've always done "Feed my Starving Children" in Aurora (which is a great organization). This year, I decided to sign up for RMHC preparing and serving lunch at their Comer Children's Hospital Location in the city.

This past Tuesday, me and about 10 of my co-workers all went to the house. I've never been to any of the Ronald McDonald Houses before and it was pretty amazing! Everything RMHC does is fantastic. We were able to get a tour of the house too. They had this huge, wonderful kitchen with 4 ovens, 2 large industrial size refrigerators and large granite working spaces. For our menu, we decided to make homemade pizzas, salad and fruit salad. It really was a lot of fun and everyone that was there was so nice and appreciative. We didn't have that many families come through for lunch. The house isn't super close to the hospital and they mentioned it is about a 30 minute shuttle to get there. Most of the families stay at the hospital all day and then will come back late for dinner and call it a night. We did meet a sweet little girl and her mom and they were so sweet. The mom said they've been there over 3 weeks and are just so appreciative of everything RMHC offers. I'll definitely be volunteering there again!

 

 

 

Spring Break & Easter

I wouldn't call it an actual 'spring break,' but I did take a few days off to be home with the kids because daycare was closed! I was off on Thursday and Friday and was looking forward to being able to sleep in and spend time with the kids. On Thursday, I took the kids to go see the movie "Home." We went to an early show and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Mason got a little antsy towards the end, but made it through! We came home and I boiled our eggs so we could color Easter eggs. (I had boiled eggs that morning, but they were a BUST! I didn't cook them long enough. I couldn't believe I messed them up). Leah and Mason had a great time doing eggs late in the day though!

Friday was a pretty low key day. We went to the mall and attempted to see the Easter Bunny, but holy cow - the line was insane! It had to be at least an hour long. We decided to take a pass and just wave to him from the sidelines. We grabbed lunch and decided to go bowling! We went to the Tivoli Bowl in downtown Downers Grove. It is an OLD bowling alley! Somehow, Mason managed to come out on top - not sure how that happened!

Saturday we went over to my Dad's and hung out for awhile since we weren't going to see him on Easter. On Sunday, we woke up to see if the Easter Bunny came. He did! The kids found their baskets and went on a hunt for all of the eggs! They had a good time.

 Leah found an egg as soon as she came downstairs!

 The Easter Bunny came! (Don't mind my sweet girls bed head)!

 

The Easter Bunny even brought me a basket of goodies. 

 I asked for a smile and this is what I got!

Hulk Smash playdoh is the best!

In the late morning, we had plans to meet my brother and family for Easter Brunch at Seven Bridges Golf Club.Of course we couldn't leave without taking pictures first!

 My sweet kids!! Love them!

 I love how much they love each other!

 Best Friends!

 My cool dude!

 Princess!

 My whole world!

 Cousins are the best!

Mase is styling!

After brunch, we hit the zoo! It has been our tradition for the past few years to go to the zoo on Easter. It was a perfect day - great weather and it wasn't crowded. We had a really good day!

 Of course we had to ride the carousel!

 Leah wanted to get her face painted!

 The finished product.

 Mason wanted his done too!

 Ahh - I love these two!!

 My beautiful girl!

 Fun with my little lady!

On the tram ride!

Look who we ran into at the zoo!! Leah's BFF. 

 Evan too!

After the zoo, we came home and decided to play outside. It was such a nice day! We had a fun few days off and fun celebrating Easter!