The Life and Times of James, Chiara, Norah, Luke and Susannah Hemsley
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Exploring the CBG
Any side path was explored thoroughly by Norah and Luca. Here they are looking for fish (ishies, according to Luca) in the water!
No fear
Another lily
When we came back a couple days later, the flower that is budding on the left was open and it was HUGE! I like the seed pod or fruit these lilies produce.
Mini Me
This bonsai plum tree at the Chicago Botanic Garden is producing tiny plums! Pretty cool! The CBG has one of the most renowned bonsai collections in the world. It's spectacular!
Police Car!
Later in the evening, the Palatine Police showed up at the party to let the kids (and adults) see the police car! Once again, Luca was game, Norah made herself scarce, and James was silly!
Fairy Face Paint
Norah waited for a LONG time to have her face painted at the block party. A little girl of about 10 or 11 was painting everyone's faces. She was doing very elaborate designs, so it took her forever! But, I think it was worth the wait. Norah loved it!
Fire Truck
We had a block party and the firemen came by to let the kids see the firetruck. Luca actually was brave enough to get into the truck (Norah wanted nothing to do with it!).
House for Sale
Well, it's time to be official about it: We put our house up for sale after only 15 months of living there! We have some big news coming (stay posted)! Anyway, here's the house...doesn't the garden that Maria helped Chiara with look great?
Great Lakes
The Meijer Gardens have a great children's area--I am sure I have blogged about it before. Anyway, they have a model of the 5 Great Lakes that the kids can splash and play in. They love it!
Jail Birds
Don't Luca, Lucia, and Ivana look like prisoners loitering about their cell? They aren't in jail, they are in a corn storage house thingy (I can't remember the name for this!).
Big Hill
Next to Da VInci's Horse, there is a big hill. The kids love to climb it and then run down. Well, all but Luca. He scooted backwards down the hill--it took him about 10 minutes. I think he inherited my fear of heights!
What a group!
I didn't realize how many people we had with us until I looked at this photo! We must have looked like a tour group!
What a ham!
We went to the Meijer Gardens while we were in Michigan over Labor Day. Here's James being silly at Da Vinci's Horse...
Aunt Claire
Chiara's Aunt Claire came all the way from Madrid (via New York) to Michigan to visit and to meet lots of new babies, including Luca and Susannah. We had lots of fun catching up!
3 months!
Name: Susannah
Weight: probably 15 lbs or more!
Skills: I can sit up a while on the sofa, then I tip over. I can grab onto toys that are near me, and I love to put my hands in my mouth!
Things I like: Eating, sleeping, watching my big brother and big sister, being outside, watching the trees move, and taking walks.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Big Sister, Little Brother
Luca had to get into the first day of school action, too! He really wanted to get on the bus with her--I had to hold him back!
Iowa Friends!
We recently took a trip to Dixon, IL to meet with some old Iowa friends. In all, we had 10 adults, and 9 children. It got a little hectic. Here's some of the kiddos taking a minute to tolerate their mommies taking a photo of them! L to R: Cade, Norah, Luca, Drew, Eli, Cyrus