Peter's band

On Saturday night, we all went to a local restaurant to enjoy listening to one of the bands that Peter plays drums in. The kids LOVED dancing to the music!

Madison

We drove up to Madison on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend with my brother, Peter, and his family. They live near the arboretum and I was able to run each morning there which was a great start to the day. Grandma Sandy and Uncle Mark met us in Madison so it was a nice Johnston family reunion of sorts. We were only missing Grandpa Dave and Aunt Suzi. On Saturday we celebrated Ellen and her cousin, Raina's birthdays. The 3 girls got along very well and enjoyed spending time together. It was fun to see the next generation of Johnston "brats' together!

American Girl

Friday morning was spent at the American Girl store with Ghio, Papa, Aunt Susan, Kathryn and Shannon. Ellen picked out the doll Rebecca and Shannon picked out Felicity for their 6th birthdays. Thanks Papa and Ghio! It was a very exciting day for her!

The Kempas

Our summer vacation began in Chicago where we stayed downtown at the Sheraton. We spent Thursday with my dear friend, Tony and his beautiful family. Our kids are all close in age and it was fun to watch them play together. Tony is a drummer and has both an adult and kid-sized drum kit in his basement. Nicolas couldn't resist and kept sneaking down to play. I think we have a future BD snare in our midst :-) Meanwhile Dylan spent the day harassing Tony and Jen's oldest son, the much bigger 5 year old hockey playing Nico. Not sure where Dylan gets his nerve but he's definitely enjoying the role of menace. Unfortunately I was too busy catching up with Tony and Jen and failed to take a single photo of the day!

Up in the sky

We flew to O'Hare to kick off our summer vacation and I'm sure several fellow passengers panicked when they saw us boarding the plane with our pack of 4. Besides some moaning from ear pain on the descent, we survived without any glares from the rows in front and behind.

Dutch Wonderland Again

The kids took one last trip to Dutch Wonderland with Jessica, her sister and her niece. Another stellar day in the tourist crazed Amish Country!

The Barber Shop

In preparation for our trip back to the midwest, I took the boys to the local barber shop for Nic's 1st haircut and Dylan's 2nd. Nic gave the poor barber the Bratt Freeze but when all was said and done I think he was pleased with the result.