Chicago

Over the weekend, we took a whirlwind family trip to Chicago. It was such a great getaway...from the fabulous weather we had, to the quality family time together, to reuniting with our college buddies. It was jam packed with events, but we definitely made the most of our 48 hours in the Windy City.

One of the highlights was going to the top of the Sears Tower, all 110 stories of it. Until 2004, it was the tallest building in the world. It was a clear day and we had a great view of Chicago. On a good day, you can see 4 states from the top (Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin).

There was a cool (but rather scary) glass bottomed observation deck...yikes! (see video at the end of the post).

We spent some time in Millennium Park wondering around and enjoying the city and water views. We came across this sculpture called Cloud Gate. It is a giant kidney bean shaped sculpture that reflects everything around it, including the city skyline. The boys got a kick out of it (see video at end).

We walked along Michigan Ave and then headed out to the end of Navy Pier, taking in the sights along Lake Michigan. The great lakes truly are great. It looked more like an ocean than a freshwater lake.

The boys took their first subway ride.

We were in Chicago for the wedding of a great college friend of ours. The wedding took place in the chapel at Northwestern University. Here we are outside the church.

It was a gorgeous chapel with amazing stained glass windows.

Chris with all of his college buddies

And my girl friends....a shout out to Marcia and Kristin, who are loyal readers of my blog. It was awesome hanging out with you two!

Videos (the first is at the top of the Sears Tower, and the second is Cloud Gate at Millennium Park)

High School Football

The boys have been asking us for months to take them to a 'real' football game, so last Friday we bundled up and headed to the Austin High v. West Lake game. It is always a huge rivalry. Austin High is my alma mater, but the boys wanted to root for West Lake, so I obliged and sat on the WHS side.

For those of you not from Texas, high school football here is taken as serious as many colleges take their football teams. There were foam hands and rally rags being passed out, shirtless guys with body painting, wild celebrations and loud raucous cheering. The atmosphere was great and it was a close game. We left at half time and the score was 21-21, and WHS ended up winning 49-42 in overtime.

There were a few activities for the kids before the game, and the boys were able to throw the football through the star for a prize.

Hunter has really taken to football this year, and Chris loves watching it with him and giving him the play by play.

Hunter saw several of his buddies at the game, and was even given a sweet, "Hiiiii, Hunter", from a cute 5th grade cheerleader that rides his bus! He played it cool though.

Carson fell asleep on his foam hand before the half was up. He said the cutest thing when the game started. He asked where the yellow line was (the one they use on TV to mark the distance to a first down)!

I'm sure this is the first of many more football games in our future.

Halloween Fun

We hope everyone had a spooky Halloween! Ours was lots of fun. The kids really enjoyed carving a jack-o-lantern this year, and we created the scariest face we could think of...Hunter is demonstrating.

I got to join Carson at his school party. He decided to paint his entire pumpkin blue!

The boys dressed in Star Wars gear again. This year, Hunter was Darth Vader and Carson was Luke Skywalker. They trick-or-treated with their friend, Meredith.

We lighted up our jack-o-lantern at nightfall before a fun night of trick-or-treating.

Checking out their loot at the end of the night

The Thus came in town for Halloween to celebrate all of the excitement with us. We have had a great visit and a fun Halloween weekend.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

On Friday, Carson and I headed to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls on a field trip with Hunter's class. It was a glorious day...70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It definitely reminded me of west coast weather. The area where we lived in Northern California had pumpkin patches everywhere, and I loved taking the boys to them several times each fall to play among the pumpkins. Our trip on Friday brought back some fun memories.

There were literally mounds of pumpkins everywhere. Carson helped me pick out the perfect one to carve for our jack-o-lantern this year.

The boys picked out a small pumpkin to paint as well.

Hunter's class did relay races where they had to get a pumpkin in the wagon and pass it off to the next person in line.

They also learned how to shuck corn...

...and then every boy in the class proceeded to turn their corn husk into a gun. BOYS!

Carson said his favorite part was feeding the horses. This one was so friendly and was eating right out of Carson's hand.

We also went on a hay ride with the class and had fun playing hide and seek in a huge hay maze at the farm. It was the perfect fall day!

New Orleans

Chris and I just got back from 4 nights in the Big Easy, and takin' it easy is what we did! Chris had a conference there, and I got to tag along with him for my birthday weekend. New Orleans is such a great city with lots of history and culture, and we had a fun time taking it all in.

The banks of the great Mississippi

Bourbon Street

Jackson Square

We took a historical carriage ride through the French Quarter of the city and learned lots of fun facts and history.

Dixie, our guide!

The best part of the trip was all of the fabulous meals. Our favorite place was Mr. B's, with NOLA and Bacco coming in a close second.

And, of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Yum!

Hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's

Mardi Gras, anyone?

We had a fabulous trip and are so thankful for the time away together. Many thanks goes out to my mom (Nana) for staying with the boys while we were gone. We so appreciate you!

2009 Family Photos

For the past few years, we have had our family pictures taken in the fall right around the boys' birthdays. My friend Tanya at Cozy Impressions Photography always does a fantastic job. Turn up your speakers and check out our slideshow.

http://cozyimpressionsphotography.com/Thu/

I need help in deciding which ones to order, so let me know your favorites!

Anyone Speak Vietnamese?

Me either! These are the types of things we routinely get in the mail. They always crack me up. Apparently, Thu is a very common Vietnamese name. Yes, we are victims of profiling. Somehow we get on these mailing lists in every city that we live in. At election time, we have even received phone calls in Vietnamese. Now if I can just learn to speak the language, I might be able to read the ads and find out about some good deals around town.

And what exactly is the true origin of our name....Norwegian!