Last day in CHI

David and I plus Josh and Alexa ~ visiting from Alaska
riding the escalator in the train station (before the security guard informed us that is illegal to take pictures in the station ~ oops!)

funky parents having fun with the funky wallpaper in the awesome hotel room

cute and freshly showered parents cuddling in the super comfy hotel bed

more fun with Josh and Alexa in the hotel lobby

pre-jump onto the bean in millenium park

~ the pirate exhibit at the Field Museum was so cool!

More Chicago....

Hi Noah, Nimuae, and Gita!
Daddy and I going out to breakfast and then to the Field Museum which has a Pirate Exhibit! Doesn't that sound neat? I hope you all are having fun~ Here are some quick photos of the last 2 days. We love you so much~see you tomorrow!

Julie and Bill just married~ Don't they look beautiful?

Dad at the Art Institute.
This is in my favorite room~the Neoclassical hall.
Dad's feet hurt so bad that he took his shoes off (put them in my purse) and walked around the whole museum in his white socks!

Bridge and structures at Millennium Park.
It was really hot walking along the bridge so I called it the Human Solar Cooker.

Uncle Micheal and daddy in Grant Park.

and your lovely parents....
having fun
and missing you
love love love love love
xoxoxoxox

Chicago Day 1

Dear Noah, Nimuae, and Gita~
Hi sweathearts! I sure do miss you! Daddy and I are having a super fun time. Yesterday, Daddys friend Julie picked us up at the airport and took us out to lunch. It was crazy to drive around with someone who knows this city - she pointed out some sites and took us to her apartment before dropping us of at our hotel. You would not believe how nice this hotel is! We take the elevator up to the 11th floor to get to our room. Afer we settled in, we walked around the city a bit. There are places that the sidewalk goes underneath train tracks and over the river and there are huge buildings all around. We took a train to the town that Daddy grew up in and walked from the train station to a coffee shop where we met Daddy's Uncle Boo Boo and Aunt Terry and your uncle Micheal...and guess who walked in? Gramps and Laurie! After coffee we went to another one of Daddy's uncle's house, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue, for pizza. Lots of Dad's family came over...it was really fun to see everyone. Aunt Lulu took us back to the train station so we could catch the 11:13pm train back to the city. We walked back to our hotel and had a great sleep. Now dad is walking back to the train station to meat Uncle Micheal so we can go out to celebrate his birthday over breakfast. I think I will have some french toast! What else will we do today? Maybe rent bikes to ride along the lake....maybe do some shopping.....and then Julie's wedding of course! We are having a great time and I hope you are too! We love you so much and we are excited to share some photos from our first day.... xoxoxoxox

Terry, Boo Boo, Laurie, Gramps, Micheal
meet me and dad in Elmhurst

a whole bunch of Carmonas!

Our awesome hotel is the building on the right. Isn't it pretty?

There's me and dad on the walk to the train station

and here's dad on the Elmhurst Police Department turtle

Love love love love love love love love love love you
miss miss miss miss miss miss you
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Kids and kitties

David and I leave first thing tomorrow morning to hop on a plane with no children in tow (and only my small purse to lug around the airport!) bound for Chicago, where a fancy hotel room with our names on it awaits. We are so very excited for ourselves and a little sad to say "see you soon" to the kids. But we know they will happy and safe in the loving hands of Alex, Kelcey, and Lilikoi.

I imagine we will not be posting anything for the next 5 days, so I will leave you with 2 super cute photos that highlight the two new fuzzy members of the family...

Fantasia

The kids homeschool collective wrote a new play called Fantasia. They practiced and practiced, wrote and rewrote. They preformed once one their home turf and then took the show on the road for 2 performances at the Lake Eden Arts Festival. Noah played the role of the staff fighting guard and Nimue played the hula hooping martian. From the LEAF website:

In Fantasia, science meets performance art and bravely asks the question: Can time travel help a struggling planet? A creative and colorful show of home-grown talent from the Forest Children Enrichment Program, Black Mountain, NC. Circus style skills and young creativity at it's best.

Introducing.....Penelope and Axel Carmona

yes yes yes.....the animal population around the homestead is definitely increasing!
With all the new farm animals entering the scene, we decided it was time to make the big jump and adopt some cats. After hours at the Asheville Humane Society with my support system, Kelcey and Lilikoi, we settled on Axel the 11 month old male and Penelope the 2 month old female. They were welcomed into their new home by 4 sets of loving arms (David is tolerant but not totally excited) and handfuls of neighbors stopping by to shower the new additions with love.

Happy 12th Birthday, Noah!