Summer Chicago Photo Shoot

We were overdue for family pictures, and we really wanted to get some Chicago-themed pictures.  Our friend Liz Hansen took the pictures for us, and she did an amazing job!

 

 

 This is Liz in action!  She seriously made the whole family picture process much easier than anything we have ever experienced!  She was silly and creative and perfect with the kids.

The Molly's cupcake bribe probably helped a little too... :)

The Chicago Toy and Game Fair 2015

I think we have a budding board game geek in our family.  His name is Henry.  And, we couldn't be more pleased because we love board games!

So, when Henry learned that there was a Young Inventor Challenge where kids could invent their own games and enter them at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, he was all over that.  (Bonus: it counted for a major Cub Scout requirement as well!)  And when I say, "all over that," I mean it.  I'm not sure I've seen Henry work this hard on anything in his life.  He just loves to create and dream, and he's detail-oriented enough to really think through the process well.

I won't give you all of the details, but the game he came up with is a multi-player strategy game called "Cursed Pyramids."  The basic idea is that during the building phase you build pyramids, using workers and carts and hopefully avoiding sandstorms along the way.  Then, in the next phase of the game you try to take over other player's pyramids while not getting cursed.  It's actually a super fun game, and Henry came up with the whole thing himself.  You may not be able to tell, but I was kind of a proud dad at seeing this all come together (with a lot of help from Jenn, of course!).  Here are some pictures:

Carts and blocks

Constructed pyramid

The board

The quarry.

The actual Toy and Game Fair was super fun.  Henry had to stick to his booth for the morning while the judges and other random people walked through the displays.  With over 100 entrants, there were all sorts of games and toys there.

Henry did a great job of latching on to anyone who was nearby and giving them the blow-by-blow of how Cursed Pyramids works.

He didn't win the competition, but just putting the game together was tons of fun and I think he learned a lot in the process.

Meanwhile, Sam and Ellis wandered the fair with me, trying out game after game after game.  It was a total blast!

Catan Van!

And custom-made Catan tables!

One of the coolest parts of the fair was the Star Wars booth.  There were about 10 different people in full Star Wars costumes like this clone trooper, and they had all sorts of light sabers, Jedi training tools, and even a mind-reading game.  Our Star-Wars-obsessed boys ate it up.

I loved this game of blow-up soccer, where running into the other players full-force is encouraged!  Super fun.

We ended up being at the fair the entire day and we loved it!  Well, except for Archer, because somehow his parents forgot to pack a binkie for him, which was a MAJOR oversight.  We found a store nearby that sold them, but it was the wrong brand and so he just cried and cried until he finally fell asleep.  Poor kid.  That's what happens when you're the youngest!  But the rest of us totally had a blast.  

And Henry?  Well, he's already scheming up his game for next year!

Beach Summer 2015

We love living near the beach!  We can get to any of the Evanston beaches in 8-15 minutes, where we get to enjoy sunshine, time with friends, and lovely Lake Michigan.  At the beach, the boys are pretty much happy and self-entertaining.  Henry hardly gets in the water, but he could spend all day building castles and other structures in the sand.  Here are a few pictures of our summer beach adventures this year!

With the Severson boys

With Eli Larsen

New friends

New friends

The Cannons: Sadie, Grant, and little Henry

Tenille and I (in all my glory) catching up when the Cannons came to visit from Pennsylvania.