The Finished Product...Almost

Our summer project was to put in a fire pit and patio at the back of our yard. Now that summer is almost over we finally finished the project, except for the fact that I want to plant native flowers and such around the patio. I am delighted with how the patio turned out so I guess it was worth the wait. Here are a few pictures.

I forgot to take any "before" pictures but I found this one of the yard from May

The fire pit was put in first, then the grass was removed, the ground tilled, and a border set in place

Boy #2 and our friend helping to spread out the gravel

The end product

The Windy City and Other Adventures

We had a family reunion in Nauvoo, Illinois and since we were fairly close to Chicago we went there for a few days before flying home. I was born in the suburbs of Chicago, but we moved when I was three so I have few recollections from there. I love Chicago and think it is such a beautiful city. Everywhere you look there are cool buildings with fabulous details and architecture. The boys had a great time although we did half of what we planned to do, mainly because I had a terrible cold and we were all tired.

The boys helped make a rope in Nauvoo

The boys love all their cousins!

We found a frog at the cemetery in Iowa that boy #2 kept picking up

The very cool door on the house in Iowa where my great grandmother grew up

The "Bean" at Millennium Park

Eating cotton candy at the Cubs game

103 stories up at the Sears (now Willis) Tower and out on an enclosed ledge

Boy #1 loves Jackson Pollock and was very happy to see this at the Art Institute

Boy #2 reached out to touch this and the guards were quick to discourage him, boy #1 behaved more appropriately

What's a trip to Chicago without deep dish pizza?

We Went To Chicago and All We Got Was A Lousy Cold & Strep Throat

I'll post pictures of our trip to Illinois when I feel better.