A Crazy November!

November was almost a blur!
The kids have been busy with Swim Team, we had 2 competitions last month. They did really well, a bit nerve racking! Both of them had disqualifications in a couple of events. These meets are governed by USA Swimming, so all strokes must be performed correctly.
The last meet was held in the city at Chicago University...one of only a few 50 metre pools in Illinois. They are swimming in the Short Course Series, all events are raced in a 25 yard pool (they swam across the pool).
Shaina had her first band performance at school which coincided with her Grade 5 Sing. She has another performance next week at a local shopping centre. (I apologize to shoppers in advance!)
Spooks has very much settled into the Freeland house... He has quite the personality, rather like a dog than a cat!
Christmas is around the corner... Photos to come!

Halloween 2012

Another Halloween has come and gone! Fortunately hurricane Sandy did not put a damper on our Halloween tradition this year. The weather was cool but clear skies!
We did the usual walk of the neighborhood which takes roughly an hour and a half! I walk with the kids and Dave makes the annual home made pizza!
We have way too many lollies (candy)... I will be taking it to work, so I won't eat it all!

October photos

October is coming to a close!

Hunter won his flag football championship!
Shaina has one week left of soccer.
The kids first swim meet is approaching this coming weekend.
And my favourite day of the year is tomorrow! Halloween.... I've already had one party, the kids have a parade tomorrow at school and Trick or Treating after school!

It's getting cool out!

Autumn is definitely here. The temps have dropped... We've had some days in the single digits. I finally caved in the other day and turned the heater on for the first time this season.
All the Fall (Autumn) Festivals are here...
Today we ventured down to our local Scarecrow Fest in downtown St.Charles.
Every year the town hosts a scarecrow making competition, food vendors and of course rides and arts and crafts made by the locals to buy.
Shaina and Hunter had their faces painted, went on some rides and ate junk! Ugh!
Spooks the cat has made himself very at home now and is starting to become a little more adventurous around the house!
Halloween is just around the corner. I may be heading out to the shops tomorrow in search of costumes.... Can't wait!

October is here!

The hot summer days have left us, and Autumn has arrived!
But the Ryder Cup is here!
The city has been very lively and busy over the past week.
The restaurant where I work has been jam packed all week.
Dave and I went to the golf on Tuesday to watch the practice rounds and celebrity tournament.
The weather has been great. Tuesday was the warmest...around 26°C. I managed to get some autographs and a few photos....
The kids have been busy with Kyuki-do, soccer, gridiron and swimming! Dave has been getting back into Muay Thai, his shoulder is feeling better and healing well. He misses the Jui Jitsu, but is hoping to return in October!
I'm still moving along with my second degree Blackbelt, it's a two year road and I'm half way there.
I'll try to add some pictures of the kids in their sports...
Don't give up on me with this blog....I'm trying!

August and September!

Mum and dad were here for 12 days.
They packed in a lot of activities...
A day spent in the city (downtown Chicago). Went up the Sears Tower (now known as Willis Tower) went on a river architectural tour, visited Navy Pier and other city sights.
Another day was spent in the town of Joliet, following the history of Route 66.
We also made our way out to Galena. There we toured General Grant's home and the old historic township.
We also were able to visit our local police and fire station and get a personal tour from my friendly Police Chief, Chris!
My dad had a fun day at the pool with the kids... And the weather was great the whole time they were here.

Part 2

Travis and Samantha flew home on the 19th of August and mum, dad and their long time friends Clem and Marilyn arrived on August 22nd.
This was also Shaina and Hunter's first day of school.
Shaina is entering 5th grade and Hunter is entering 3rd...
All went well, they liked their teachers and caught up with friends that they hadn't really seen over the summer.

RV Trip Day 10

Back in Chicago after a 9 1/2 drive! Empty and clean out the RV and return it!
Travis and Sam will fly home on Sunday... Do some local sightseeing and of course shopping before they leave.

RV Trip Day 9

The RV Trip is closing down. There isn't much to report today....We are on the road back to Chicago. Driving 9 plus hours today, it's still hot out. We all had a great time and will be back at home tomorrow.

RV Trip Day 8

Today we headed out early and made our way to Alamos, Colorado. This area is very close to the southern border tip of the state.
In this area you'll find the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
These are the tallest dunes in the United States, they cover 3000sq miles....BIG!
It took us 2 hours to climb to the top! And 15 minutes to run back down! (the run was the best!)

RV Trip Day 7

Today we drove about 5.5hrs to Mancos, Colorado. Here we visited Mesa Verde National Park. This is an area where the Pueblo Indians resided for hundreds of years. For centuries the lived on the land, for an unknown reason they decided to move their homes and families to the sides of the cliffs. There they built homes and villages on the cliff faces.
This is a one night stay for us, tomorrow we head to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
The scenery in southern Colorado is pretty amazing...the photo's above include some of the sights along our drive today.

RV Trip Day 6

We are staying 2 nights in Gunnison, Colorado. So today we decided to rent a car and drive to The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was only an hour away and a very windy drive...the money was worth spending on the car, rather than driving a bus!
We had lunch at the canyon. Hiked about 5km's! We saw plenty of Black Hawks, some deer,a few chipmunks and lizards...but no bears.
Tomorrow we head to Mancos, Co.

RV Trip Day 5

This morning was our last day in the Rockies. It was ended with a horseback trail ride through some of the park.
We didn't see any wildlife but we have seen a lot of dead pine trees. 80% of the west side of the Rockies has been wiped out by a pine beetle! The damage is so severe that most of the birds have left (which explains why it's so quiet), it is moving it's way east and will eventually wipe out the rest of the park. The Log/Pencil Pine is the only one affected, the Blue Spruce is fine as other trees. It's quite devastating to see and the park has lost most of it's beauty. The Ranger told us at the Visitor Centre that it will be at least 100 years for the park to recover and re-grow.
After our horse ride we packed up and headed south 5 hours to Gunnison Canyon National Park. We will be here 2 nights.. Some rain in the distance but all good here.

RV Trip Day 4

Sorry everyone for the delay... But being out in the wilderness the mobile phone coverage is a bit sketchy, the phone service has been great, only the data has been an issue.
Anyway... Time to catch up!
Day 4 was great... We rode back into town and did some kayaking on Grand Lake and Shadow Lake. Hunter did a great job and had very good technique. Shaina on the other hand just enjoyed the ride!
We had lunch again in town, played some mini-golf, then rode back to camp. On the ride back we saw deer feeding off the side of the road, so we stopped for a few minutes and snapped some photos.
We had a couple of spare hours back at camp so we decided to do some laundry. In the meantime the skies opened and down it poured for a good hour.
This was our first encounter of rain and apparently the Rocky Mountain National Park has been in a 10 year drought... So the rain was much needed.
No barbeque that night or campfire, just some very loud UNO card games and then a movie.
We did have some major excitement...we saw 3 massive moose walk right through camp and came within 6 feet of the RV! We had front row seats... I took some photos with my camera. (I will try to upload some later)