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| The twins had another great summer. There was plenty to do both in Evanston and beyond! |
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| We made several trips up the street to the Wilmette Library this year... |
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| ...and a lot of summer reading took place (under the watchful eye of Howie!). |
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| Luke took tennis lessons at ETHS... |
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| ...and ended up loving the sport... |
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| ...and hopes to continue again next year! |
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| We made our annual walk around the beautiful Baha'i Temple... |
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| ..and found many spots for... |
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| ...some fun photos. |
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| They've been looking at these fountains every summer for 5 years now! |
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| (Here's a fun throwback to our first temple visit in 2018!) |
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| Luke got a little goofy this year...almost falling into the fountain, and then doing his best impersonation of Atlas! |
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| Papa was along for this temple trek... |
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| ...so we were both able to get... |
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| ...some great pics with the twins. |
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| This year, the twins did something new...a full week of summer camp! |
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| In late June, we dropped the twins off in Bloomingdale, MI, for a whole week! |
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| Luke's favorite part about camp was archery, dance class (wow!), playing sharks and minnows, and the cafeteria's meatloaf (double wow!) |
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| Clare enjoyed making new friends, swimming in the lake, dance class, and eating lasagna and meatloaf (guess what's for dinner this winter?!?) |
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| It was pretty obvious when we picked them up that they had an amazing week! |
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| This Evanston crew will likely back for another week (or two) of camp next summer! |
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| For the 4th of July holiday, we headed down to Eureka... |
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| ...where the twins shot off their first Roman candles (and bottle rockets!). |
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| Grandma had a turn too!! |
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| The Eureka 4th of July parade brought in a 'great haul' for the twins to sort with their cousin, Keira. |
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| In the middle of July, the twins turned 9! We didn't take a lot of photos but did manage to squeeze in our annual tree photos in front of our 100+ year old silver maple. |
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| We can't believe they are already 9!! |
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| Where did the time go?!? |
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| From 2018 to 2023, these two sure have grown! |
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| In late July, we drove north to the Wisconsin Dells for a short family reunion/adventure. We had fun riding water slides at Noah's Ark... |
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| ...and then had fun kayaking (Clare's first solo kayak!)... |
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| ...and tubing off the back of the pontoon! Luke enjoyed the ride with his cousin Nick... |
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| ...and Clare with her cousin Eli. |
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| Back home in Evanston, we put the kids to work,... |
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| ...but not so much time that we didn't have time for the beach with friends! |
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| It was a fantastic summer for visiting Lake Michigan... |
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| ...whether it was sitting with the tide coming in... |
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| ...or digging out a new fort! |
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| This summer we made a couple of trips into the city with friends. |
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| The first was to pick up racing gear for Daddy and Papa's 10k race. |
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| Willie Wildcat wasn't around but the Willie stand-in was still worth the pose. |
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| Everyone enjoyed a scoop of Baskin Robbins ice cream on a warm, summer day... |
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| ...and being entertained by the action at the skate park... |
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| ...and seeing the downtown skyscrapers in the distance. |
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| The Agora statues in Grant Park also were interesting to look at (and pose with)! |
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| For our annual city adventure trip into Chicago, this year we decided to ride the Navy Pier ferris wheel! |
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| For a sizeable sum of money ($$!!) we took a few revolutions around... |
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| ...and the views were pretty spectacular! |
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| Outside of the wheel, we found fun along Navy Pier... |
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| ...even if it was related to my favorite baseball team's arch nemesis! |
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| It was a hot day, but we managed to walk a fair distance with tall buildings in view... |
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| ...and everyone was rewarded with sprays from the Crown Fountain. |
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| Our last stop was at 'the Bean'... |
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| ...where it's always fun to take a pic from underneath... |
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| ...and another pic with the cityscape reflection. |
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| Now it's on to 4th grade at Kingsley...the twins are ready for another great school year!! |
