Chicago Pics

We went on two vacations this fall. The first was to Chicago on the week after Labor Day. Richard did some work in Schaumburg, IL and the kids and I went with him. We were able to visit with Marianne and her family while we were there. Then we spent the weekend with Angie in Chicago and did some touristy things.

Here is the list of what I wanted to do while on this trip...

1. visit Marianne

2. visit Angie

3. Lincoln Park Zoo

4. Natural History Museum to see dinosaur bones

5. Navy Pier

6. Boat Tour of Chicago

7. eat a Chicago Hot Dog

8. eat some real Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza

I knew I had high hopes and would be traveling with a preschooler and a toddler, but we were able to do all of that and more. It really was a great vacation! Here are some pictures...

Josh and Lucas hanging out in the hotel

Lucas developed a fear of shiny floors and wouldn't walk on any floor that was not carpeted

Josh at Legoland near a sculpture of Chicago's Navy Pier

Marianne and her kids - Elly (8) and Isaac (11)

Marianne and Ali at Rainforest Cafe

A couple of monkeys at the Lincoln Park Zoo


Josh checking the map - he wanted to go back and see the Naked Mole Rats

Angie and Lucas at a park in Oak Park

Ali and Josh - self portrait while riding the BIG ferris wheel on Navy Pier

Angie, Richard and Lucas stayed on the ground

Our brave boy enjoying the view

Boat tour on the Chicago River - totally worth the insanely high prices!

And finally, the Chicago Hot Dog!!!

Applebutter Fest

We went to the Applebutter Fest in Grand Rapids over the weekend. I went every year when I lived at home, but it has been awhile since the last time. I took Josh and Lucas for the first time and it was great to see this fun tradition through their eyes. Josh loved the magician in the children's area and couldn't wait to get some kettle corn. Lucas loved seeing the birds of prey from a nature rehab center.

We spent most of the time in the village park. It was the place to be... that's where they make the applebutter. Josh helped my dad stir and had his picture taken for The Blade. Check out the article and Josh and Dad's picture in Monday's paper.

little bean embroidery

Just wanted to let you all know about my friend's new business adventure. I am sure you all have heard me talk about Jen... she's the crafty one... Lilly's mom...the Jen who was so kind that she let me and Josh live with her for about 6 weeks when we moved and I was still teaching in Hilliard.

Well, her newest business adventure is an embroidery business called Little Bean Embroidery. Some of you may have already seen her work. I have given many of her items for gifts this year (hand towels for Brian and Heather's cottage at the lake, onesie and burb cloth when Elliott was born, and bath towels for Anna's graduation). Jen does a great job! Her specialty is custom made baby gifts. Check out her work and place an order! Click here to see her website.

Good luck Jen!

to wii or not to wii...

We are starting to make our Christmas lists here in the Boger house. We shop super early so that we can transport gifts to where they need to be while we aren't dragging 2 weeks worth of clothes (that is a whole other blog entry...) One of our family gift ideas is a Nintendo Wii. Josh is even able to play some of the games and I love making Wii people! We wondering if any of you boger blog readers have any advice for us...

Do you have a Wii? Do you like it?

If have have even played Wii games at a friend's house... What are great games to get? Any that our 4 year old can play?

We would love your input while we make this fun decision! Thanks!

what happened to the summer?!?!!!

It's the last day of July! Where have we been? Why no blogs? I really don't know myself! We have been camping a few times and have been around the state visiting friends and family.
Here are the highlights...


June -
Bradley turned 3 and we camped at East Harbor State Park
the water guns were a hit...so was t-ball
This is also when we became obsessed with getting a kid trailer for our bike. That is our newest family toy. We found a used Trek trailer on Craig's List for a great price the next week and went to Mason to pick it up. We have used it at least once a week since then. It is a great Saturday or late evening activity for the whole family.

We spent a weekend at Devils Lake with my whole family. My cousin, Brian, and his wife, Heather have a second home there and we enjoyed jet skiing, kayaking, and just hanging out with the family. Enjoy the many pictures from that weekend...

Cheri (Neil's girlfriend) and my sister, Leslie

Grandma and Papa Box with Lucas
Richard kayaking with Josh
Leah, Josh, Connor, and Ethan in the pool...playing with bubbles
I stayed up with Mom and Dad after the lake trip because Richard was scheduled to be out of town for work. He didn't end up going, but I had already promised Josh a week of play with his cousins, Tristan and Leah, so the boys and I had a week in Grand Rapids. We had a great time going on walks to see the cows. My brother has 20 cows and 2 more babies due this summer! It is an exciting field trip for my guys. Lucas especially LOVES them! He can say Moo! which is sooooo cute. Josh went to Vacation Bible School while we were there and Josh and Leah gave me daily concerts of the new songs they learned.

We were home for 2 nights and went to an outdoor wedding where it POURED!!!! The rain didn't start until the reception, but we listened to the wind pick up and the thunder start while we hoped and prayed that it would hold off until the ceremony was over. We were under a tent for the reception, but still got wet.


July -
We went camping in Indiana with my parents, Leslie, Leah, and Tristan. We canoed 2 days. Lucas even canoed for about an hour. He was fine, but really didn't like it when I had to get out of the canoe to pull us over a fallen tree. Richard was like a camp counselor there. He taught Leah, Tristan, and Josh how to collect and cut firewood, took them on a hike and played Capture the Flag with them.



Leah and Josh - canoeing buddies
(Richard was a brave man and took the kids in his canoe.)
Hot chocolate -YUMMY!!

We went to Cleveland for the 4th of July and went swimming in Lake Erie. While we were there a dead rat washed up on the shore and a little toddler girl started petting it! YUCK! It was so gross.

The next week I went to Lakeside with Kate, Liz and Tamara. We all brought our kids so there were 4 adults and 6 kids. Josh is the oldest of the bunch at just over 4. We took the golfcart around with all 10 of us and probably looked pretty crazy. While we were there we went to a puppet show which was Josh's favorite thing of the week. We also went to God Squad, got ice cream, and swam in Lake Erie again. It was great spending a few days with some of my best friends from college.

Josh is 4!!!

Josh turned 4 on May 18th!

We celebrated with 2 birthday parties. The first party was in Grand Rapids on Mother's Day and was shared with his cousin Tristan who turned 10 that week. We had chicken barbeque and some ice cream brownie cakes with M & Ms. Yummy! His most anticipated present was a scooter which he got from Great Gram Heitzman.

The next Saturday we had a Birthday Safari with the Boger side of the family. We met Grandma, Papa, Melissa and Bradley at The Wilds between Zanesville and Cambridge, Ohio for a picnic and a bus tour that afternoon. We saw many types of deer, Rhinos, Giraffes, Cheetas, African Wild Dogs, and Camels. Josh loved being on safari and having such a special event mark his 4th birthday. We looked forward to this day for a long time and I'm sure he will remember it for even longer.

Then, on his actual birthday we celebrated in Athens. Josh woke up to a house filled with birthday balloons, signs, and streamers. He loved all of the balloons! He feels that a birthday celebration isn't complete unless it has cake, presents, and party hats so he was very excited about all of the extra decorations. Grandma even bought him coordinating plates, cups, and party favors!

One of his favorite presents was the Splash Rocket from Grandma and Papa Boger.

I let Josh look through my cake book and pick out his own cake. He picked a rainbow cake (probably because it was covered with jelly beans...don't ask me how much I spent on those jelly beans)

Lucas's birthday - March 9

Lucas's 1st Birthday
happy birthday hug from Josh

all dressed up with Mom and Dad... ready for the party!!!
Mom made me a kitty cake - yummy!
I loved the cake!!! I ate 2 pieces and some ice cream too!
Thanks to Aunt Leslie for spoiling me! :) There was a blizzard the day before so after the party we went out to play in the snow.

Daddy put together my new car from Great Gram Heitzman! Thanks for all of my new toys!