Summer so far...

Lilly's preschool Graduation

Mrs. Kuechler

Mrs. Clapp

At the beach!

Chillin with dad

Lilly and Jane

Danny, Lilly, Jane, Peter, Zach (crying for some reason), and Laura

Sprinkler Fun

More sprinkler fun

This summer has been great so far.  Above you'll see several pictures (I was trying to post them below this commentary, but I can't figure out the newest blogging set up).  Lilly graduated from Preschool in May and we will really miss her teachers- they are awesome!!  We've had great weather so far and have been able to go to the beach and also play in the sprinkler a few times.  Both kids LOVE the sprinkler, so it's great.  They both love drinking from it for some odd reason, but whatever keeps them occupied!  We also had Grandma/Grandpa camp this summer when Pete's sister and her 4 kids came to visit for a week.  The kids had a great time just hanging out and playing.  Look for another post coming about my fun time at Football 101! 

Easter

For Easter this year, we traveled to see my parents in Evansville, IN. It was a 6 hour drive and both kids did fabulous in the car. We stopped in Bloomington (slight detour) to show L and Z the wonderful IU campus! Easter was very fun and the kids had a great time hanging out with all the Jacksons in Evansville.

Gran and Papa Michael:


Easter egg hunt:


Playing cards:


Coloring eggs:




All dressed up for church:


At the Evansville zoo:


Helping Brigid feed the cats (Pete found Z one morning under the table, feeding the cat it's food one piece at a time):


Lilly, Fiona, and Mercy at the Children's museum:


Eating at Dagwood's at IU:


Future Phi Mu!


Sample Gates:

Spring

Here are a couple new pictures:

Finger painting:


Zach's first hair cut! (compare it to the finger painting pictures- his hair was super long)

Finger painting again:

The St. Patrick's Day parade with Grandma:

New hair cuts for both kids!

Allergies!

We took Lilly to the allergist yesterday since we think she may have a walnut allergy. Turns out she is allergic to all tree nuts (except peanuts). It was a prick test on her back and the nurse wiped the stuff off about 7 minutes into the testing- she was supposed to wait 15-30 minutes, but I guess her reaction was really positive, so they stopped it early). I'm bummed about the results since she does like almonds (this one only had a small reaction, but the doctor told us to stay away from them anyway). I didn't realize how many things are processed in a plant/bakery with tree nuts. Lilly has to stay away from granola bars and peanuts in a jar (processed with tree nuts). Now we have to have an epi pen for her! At least we now know why she avoided nuts for so long!

Florida!

We went to Florida last week! We were hoping to be able to get away from the cold for a bit- but today in south bend it's 64 and sunny! No winter here right now! Here are a few pictures from our trip. We spent most of the time at the beach. We went to Animal Kingdom for one day (thanks, Mark, for getting us in!!). Both kids ended up getting sick (Lilly with some weird fever thing that turned into an ear infection and Zach with a horrible cough/cold that is still lingering). We had a great time anyway!

Lilly and Goofy (her favorite part of the trip was meeting the characters)







At the zoo (so much fun here)







The beach!!

Updates

Here are some pictures from the last month or so:

Lilly and her snowman "fuzzy" (who melted about 2 days after being built):

Zach's first experience in the snow- he did great, but did not like his hands being so cold! I need to find some way to keep them more protected (or glue mittens on his hands so that he can't pull them off):

Zach, with one of his favorite activities (instruments with the mixing bowls) and wearing Lilly's hat:

Lilly showing off her first lost tooth (we lost the tooth- I think she swallowed it!). She has since lost another one and one of her top ones is loose too!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Zach!

Zach turned 1 on Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated in San Francisco, but I really wanted to make him his own cake also, so we had another celebration this past weekend. He's an amazing 1 year old. He's so interested in everything- he loves to try to put things together and tries to figure out how everything works. He is such a happy, smiling kid!

Zach and his "bu" (bus) cake

After eating the cake:

Celebrating in SF with Pete's mom's side of the family: