Golf & a scholarship

E played in her first golf tournament of the summer today at Cog Hill. She shot a 98 (not great, not horrible). She learned last week that she was chosen to be the recipient of a scholarship given by one of the club's women's leagues. She met with the chairman of the scholarship committee after her round to receive the check and pose for a few pictures.

They wrote a nice message with her award.

Meanwhile, I spent the day with my favorite tween. We shopped and went out for lunch. This picture was taken back at the clubhouse while we were waiting for E to finish her round.

Peek-a-boo

Date night

Andy and I actually got out of the house by ourselves (!) last night to attend a friend's house concert. The duo played folksy-type music and told stories about the songs they wrote and performed so it was an interesting evening, with lots of snacks, drinks and conversation.

Our camper is home

It was so quiet without L at home this week. It was nice to hear her sing along with the radio the entire way home ... for about two hours straight.

Party time

Having a birthday in June means you never can count on the weather being good. Still, B has a history of planning an elaborate birthday scavenger hunt/"Amazing Race" type game for his friends and I think they've come to expect it ... rain or shine. Today, it was rain. And lots of it. His friends borrowed hooded sweatshirts from me, and off they went. Above, his friend S is on the playground at Irving trying to read the clue sheet in the rain. His friends B and IB are hidden by the tree to the left. I can't believe how much the boys have grown. Here's a pic from his 2012 party and, of course, in 2010 when the power went out.

Once they figured out that clue, they were headed south.

They came home and dried off and we ordered pizza. They took time out of their video-game playing to pose for a picture because I wouldn't cut the brownies without a picture and they wanted dessert. (I'm kind of surprised I can get 16-year-olds to pose for pictures!) I think they're all sleeping over so I'm sure the brownies (and leftover pizza) will be gone by morning.

And E's friend, F, from California is visiting. They went out shopping tonight.

Not a toy

E has been working downtown this summer in Andy's office and when she gets home, Muffles is always there to greet her. When she picks him up and cradles him, he likes to nip at the hair wrap she got in Disney.

Camp life

The counselors at L's camp take photos during the week to share with parents. L looks like she's having a good time.

Dorm decor

E cashed in on a deal from Target to order $100 worth of college items and receive a $20 gift card. She received one disappointing box over the weekend (hangers and the wipe-off board), but she recently got the big box - two sets of sheets, two towels, a blanket, throw and cover for her body pillow. And she's already used the gift card to buy a memory foam mattress topper. Someone is certainly ready for college.

Muffles, however, isn't ready to let her go. He jumped in the box once she had it cleared out and started rubbing her head. I think he wants to go to U of I.

B's 16!

B took time out of his video-game playing with his three friends (IB, L and B) to come upstairs and pose for some birthday pictures. OK, I wanted cake and he had to have his picture taken before I cut it. Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed I missed the "after" picture when B and his friends and E were all in a group birthday hug. Maybe they'll do that for me again later in the week, when B is planning to have an official b-day party.

Our happy camper

We dropped L off this afternoon for her annual week at church camp. I tried to get one decent picture of her going to camp, but she spotted her best camp friend from last year, R. They ran to each other and hugged and then they were running ahead of us to get to their cabin.

L has been moved up to the "older girls" cabin this year, meaning she shares a double room and has a bathroom across the hall. A little better than the huge room with bunk beds she's had in previous years. R moved L into her room so I'm sure they'll have a good time this week. Not sure how much sleeping will be happening.

We barey got to say good-bye to L before she and R were off and running. So excited to be back at camp.

Father's Day - then and now

Father's Day 2015 ...

and Father's Day 2005.

And here's a look at 2010.

Early birthday dinner

We got home late last night, so we decided to go out to eat. We picked up L from Grandma B's house and then picked up B at home. Since L leaves for camp tomorrow and won't be here for B's 16th birthday Monday, we had B choose the restaurant to celebrate early. He chose Gino's East downtown. We waited a long time to get a table, but once we were seated everything was great.

College orientation

Andy and I drove E to U of I today to register for her fall classes, get her school ID and go through her orientation. Above is the Illinois Street Residences, where she'll be staying. We toured a dorm room there. We left the house at 5:45 a.m. and arrived at U of I a little after 8 a.m. We thought that was pretty good timing since there was construction along the way and we stopped to fuel up. When we got on a bus to take us from the parking garage to the Union, where the students had to sign in, she met her roommate. Her roommate recognized her immediately and they talked the whole route. Once at the orientation, they met up with the other girls she's been talking with on Facebook.

Best part of the day for me was the free stuff we were given. It's hard to pass up a give-away. Worst part was that it was rainy and chilly and we were in shorts with no umbrella.

Time to celebrate!

What a day to be in downtown Chicago with the parade celebrating the third time in three years (2010, 2013 and this year!) that the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup! Andy opened his office to his coworkers and this was the view of the parade from his window. You can see the cup at the back of the bus. E was there too, working in Andy's office for the summer, so she got to catch a glimpse of the Blackhawks from 10 stories up too.

Friends

L had her friend, G, over for a sleepover last night and this afternoon they talked G's mom into taking them to Safari Land. While they were sitting on the front steps waiting for their ride, they were singing the "Bear Song" (The other day, I met a bear, Out in the woods, Oh way out there). I think L is gearing up for camp next week.

Ready for July

L decorated these shorts all by herself. She's hoping to add stars to the back pockets and take them to camp next week.

Patriotic shorts

L found a video on YouTube of designing patriotic shorts with fabric paint and decided to give it a try. She turned the kitchen floor into her art studio and started painting. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Enough Minecraft

August tries to get L's attention while she's playing Minecraft.

Headed home

Here we are waiting for the Magical Express to take us back to the airport.

And B gets a hug once we were on the bus.

Our plane had a layover in Altanta and because the flight was being delayed due to thunderstorms in Chicago, we were allowed to get off the plane and walk around the airport a bit. We finally got back on the plane and were taxiing down the runway when they had to abort the takeoff because some woman got out of her seat (who does that?!), saying she had to use the bathroom. We had to stop taxiing so the flight attendants could get everything back under control. We're not really sure what happened and I'm pretty sure we don't want to know. We were glad when we finally made it to Chicago around 10:30 p.m. - and that the Hawks won!

Disney candids

We don't spend time waiting in line for the character meet-and-greets, but when we walked past the China part of Epcot and saw that Mulan was going to be there in about five minutes, we had to wait around. L was a little disappointed Mulan wasn't in her warrior outfit.

Playing checkers in the Magic Kingdom when we needed some shade to cool off. Did I mention it's hot in Florida? I think it hit 90 every day we were there. Ugh.

Aww!

My dessert at Tony's Italian restaurant had The Lady and The Tramp drawn on it with caramel sauce.

Our Mousekeepers got pretty creative when Andy left his hat on the bed. They also had Mickey and Minnie sitting in the girls' bed with the TV remote in their hands.

We were a little early getting to Epcot one morning so we had to find some shade to sit in until it opened. This salamander (or whatever it is) kept the kids entertained.

I tried to get a picture of B "holding" the Japanese temple between his fingers, but it didn't quite work.

Family shots

Enjoying a peaceful moment in Epcot.

The graduate Disney-style

We weren't about to buy them, but we had to have E try on the Class of 2015 Disney ears. There are ears on top of the hat though you can't really see them in this photo.

Cool glasses, eh?

L's Disney silliness

If you're looking for a good time, take L on vacation. She'll do anything you ask her too and most of the time she's pretty silly on her own.

Here we were in the Germany part of Epcot when she spied these "beer glasses." I told her they were beer goggles, then I got to explain what that means. (Can't pass up a teaching moment!) She thought they were hilarious. They had wine googles too, but she thought the beer ones were funnier.

Then she went regal on us and tried on a bunch of beautiful tiaras.

And it's a L photo-bomb!

She already tried on tiaras so now it's time to dance around with a princess dress.

Disney is releasing the new "Star Wars" movie soon and they had a lot of "Star Wars" merchandise to sell. L had to try on the Princess Leia mouse ears ...

and the Ewok hat. It was way too hot to wear this around Disney.

L couldn't pass through the Magic Kingdom without trying to pull the sword out of the stone.

And she had to "pet" the grassy ears of The Lady at the Boardwalk resort.

A sure way to get attention - wear your "Dr. Who" tardis dress. She brought this dress from home and got a dalek dress at Epcot's English area. She was actually counting how many compliments she got on her dresses.