Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Family Reunion

It all started with the 'Great Eight'! My Mom is the youngest of 8. There are 4 girls and 4 boys. And they are close very close. I could make this one of the longest blogs ever if I were to go back into my childhood and describe how close this family is. There are 27 first cousins 25 second cousins (2 of those are still in the belly waiting to join us) and 3 third cousins. And I can tell you every single one of their names.

Jason and I are both form the Danville area so we try and go home twice a year. Once in the summer so I can make it to our family get together. We all get together at my Uncle Carl's house. Which is pretty much a cabin out in the Illinois farm lands. Lot's of space for all of us to get together. Of course not every single one of us can make it but we get a pretty decent turn out.

Here is some high lights of the event. I just can't share all of them :) Believe me you just can't handle that much :)

We get to play some basketball.

Get to eat fabulous food. Remember Miss Erin? She made this pretty thing. No one would eat it at first and she couldn't understand why. I told her 'It's to pretty!' so she was the first to cut it and in no time it was all gone!!!

We get to swim!

And what do these ladies do in between meals? Plan the next meal of course!
Ah the 'Porch People' they rotate out every hour or so :)
Random people sitting in clumps and chit chatting!
Proof that I actually attend these things!!!

Cameron wanting to go home!!


The swapping of the 'Porch People'!


A heated game of Bocce Ball. I can't begin to tell you the amount of blood and tears that have been shed on this field!!
Do you recognize any of the same 'Porch People'? They rotate around pretty fast!!
I am not sure how this pretty thing snuck in but this is my cousin Miss Natalie. Not that I didn't want to share her pretty face but I also wanted to show off the Pinata. Thanks to my cousins David and Laurie. The kids had a blast knocking it around but it was to dark when they did it and none of our pictures turned out. Does anyone remember the scene with Steve Martin in 'Parenthood' where he had to saw the Pinata in half? That almost happened here. The bugger was sturdy!!!
This is Miss Laurie and that beautiful bump in front of her is Molly who will be here soon to meet and greet all of us. But we enjoy this picture greatly because it appears she was climbing out early to be apart of the festivities!! That is actually Levi's hand waving 'hi' :)



Once again a big thanks to my cousin David who takes the time and effort to put together a small but fabulous fireworks show for everyone!! Cameron actually loved it!! All the kids old, young tall and short loved it!

Next Day-

Had to get a picture of these two boys hugging. 'You wanna hug it out?' is what Jason's shirt says. Jeff bought it for him while he was in Iraq.

And of course cards! There are always cards at our gatherings. They are playing Euchre right now. My favorite game. You know the one Jeff wouldn't let me play while visiting him? It wasn't much longer after this that Jeff and I were partners against our Uncle Larry and Uncle Carl. It doesn't matter that Jeff and I are in our 30's our Uncles were kind enough to remind us we were still just kids sitting at the adult table. We got spanked.

Well there it is high lights of this year Family Reunion at my Uncle Carl's. I sit here waiting with excitement to go next year!!!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Last Day of School!

Last Day of School YEAH!!! I am sorry I have no pictures of Miss Hannah to share. Obviously her school was much farther away. And the poor thing came home from school sick and went straight to bed. But I did go to Josie and Cameron's school with my camera. Actually this morning we headed out the door and I ran back to get my camera. Made them a few minutes late. Oops! But I wanted to capture this shot below. Josie walking Cameron up to the school. I got to see it every morning but next year Josie will be going to James Island Middle School with Hannah. So this is the last time she will do this. Definitely worth making them late to go back and get my camera!

The teachers just loved how sweet she was with him when she dropped him off with his class in the mornings. She was definitely a big helper!


Cameron outside at recess.


OK this was so sweet. Mrs. Olney had made awards for each of her students. Cameron got the 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' award because he knew the alphabet better then anyone else :) She put it that way cause he was always bringing that book to class with him.

Oh this is our sweet sweet Mrs Williams. She won't be back next year and we are so heart broken. Cameron loved her and so did we. I got a hug from her almost everyday!! I guess I will be hugging random teachers in the hallway til someone tells me to stop!!

Here is Mrs Olney again. She will be Cameron's teacher again next year. She is very excited because she is going to teach Cam how to read. Her favorite thing to do she said. Goodness knows she will have a great student in Cameron!! His obsession with letters and words will come in handy :) Cmaeron did so well under her in just these short few months so I am excited to see what progress he will make in a whole school year with her!!

Josie and Mrs Wilson. Such a patient woman who definitely did some amazing things with my stubborn little girl. Josie must of scared her cause she is no longer teaching 5th grade she is going to 3rd grade :) Josie is a big girl now next year she goes to Middle School!! Hannah will be so thrilled.........well maybe.

Chicago-In Conclusion

I have heard a few people ask why we didn't do much on my visit to Chicago. Because I didn't want to. This visit with my brother was all about relaxing and enjoying each others company and being that we are Young's I knew it was going to be about allot of food. I didn't go to Chicago as a tourist I went to Chicago as a sister. And I got exactly what I wanted out of it. I left Chicago feeling refreshed and relaxed and abnormally stuffed!!! Jeff and Erin were a set of fabulous hosts!! And if they will have me I look forward to doing this again real soon!!!!






I am surprised no one asked but to let everyone in on my secret it was-
Zwie is German for 2
Tatu is Swahili for 3
Quatre is French for 4
and Vijf is Dutch for 5
Yeah I had to look all that up ;)

Thank You Jeff and Erin I love you both more then liver!!!


The End!!!

Saturday, June 2, 2007

How I survived Chicago. Part Vijf !

Here it is the blog I have been talking about forever!!! Jeff and I's visit to Shedd Aquarium! Ooh let me find a website for you loverlies.


I love Aquariums. Jeff had asked me what I wanted to do in Chicago and I told him either the Zoo or the Aquarium. Sorry but I wanted to know the leisurely pace of going through one of them without kiddos. And I was watching Food Network one day and Giada De Laurentiis was at Shedd so that is where I got the idea!!

Be prepared I am sharing quite a few pics. You have no idea how many I wanted to share and what I managed to boil it down to. It was hard!!!



You are not allowed to use a flash in Aquariums which makes allot of pics hard to do. Jeff said these would be perfect screen savers ;)










OK here comes the best part of this Aquarium. Beluga Whales!! They have a rather huge tank here at Shedd. Jeff and I spent allot of time here watching them. How could you not!?!? There was a baby!!!


Bella the Baby Beluga Whale!!! And!! As I was getting that link for you guys I saw that another one of the ladies is pregnant so there will be another whale there this coming fall!! Here is a link for the kiddies!
They can keep up with the progress!




Look at the Mommy and her baby!! So sweet!

I like to pretend she was smiling for the camera ;)

OK I want everyone to be honest with me. Does this whales butt look bigger then mine!?! Never mind never mind. Stay in your happy place Kara no need to go down this path again!! Jeff was just teasing you.

Back to pretty pictures!!


This picture of the penguins was actually taken through glass! None to shabby!

OK so Jeff and I both have already seen Dolphin Shows. So we decided to go under and watch it from a different angle. Granted the pictures didn't come out as great but it was really pretty to watch them come back into the water. And really neat to watch themselves gear up to come flying out of the water. They give themselves a pretty decent running head start.

Another picture I took through glass. I am actually on the stairwell coming back up because the show is over.
The trainers were out talking to the kids and she came over and asked if we had any questions. She told us that one of the trainers came up with a good comparison for dolphins and whales. The dolphins were like cats. They came up for attention when they were ready for it. But the Belugas were like dogs that followed them around wanted constant lovin's. I knew I liked the Belugas better :)
The dolphin spit at Jeff :P
Back to my favorite!! The Beluga Whales!!! You can definitely tell the trainers love being with these guys.
Look at her posing for us!!!
See her fin! She is waving at us!!!
Baby Bella came up for a snack. I loved listening to the trainer talk to her. So sweet and very loving.
Komodo Dragon in there!


Jeff getting eaten by a Komodo Dragon!

What a great visit! I wish we had more time. We had to actually get out of there cause I have a plane to catch!!

I thought this would be the last of Chicago but it isn't. I have some great skyline pics to share and some of Jeff and I. I kind of thought this entry had plenty of rockin' pictures for you guys to enjoy!

Yeah more Jeff!!!!