Look Mom, No Cavities!

A Visit to the Dentist Off to the dentist I nervously go Wondering what My x-rays will show The nurse calls my name And I follow her in She smiles at me With a big toothy grin I climb in the chair Open my mouth up wide Hoping and praying No cavities hide The dentist looks in And says, "It's easy to see, You've done so well brushing You're cavity free." Baby G and Isabella went to the dentist over the weekend and both were cavity free! Wahoo!!! Cheers to another great 6 months of brushing, rinsing and flossing. Eyes are the first thing noticed by individuals followed by smile/teeth (so why not wear sunglasses when you get your teeth cleaned?), keep up the good work maintaining a healthy smile!

Strawberry Pickin

Isabella just finished pickin strawberries out of the backyard and is super happy! It is one of her favorite fruits, next to cantaloupe. BIG SMILES.

4th of July 2013

A long weekend shared with family and friends to celebrate independence day. Where do we start? Well on the 3rd, Daddy took Bella to work for the day and boy did she have fun in the big city where she was born. She got to take the train downtown and later, we were able to meet up for lunch and were treated to the Rainforest Café experience. Lots of animals, waterfalls and ACTION! Later that evening, we got together with friends in which we took the girls to the fireworks in town. Isabella LOVED the action, however Baby G did NOT like the fireworks and vomited all over everyone in fear. I am thinking that by the time she turns 3 years old, she will love it. Or maybe not. On the 4th, we packed up the car and joined our friends at Michigan City Beach where we barbequed, played volleyball and shared lots of SMILES. The girls had such a great time playing in the sand. On the 5th, the boys went fishing while the girls stayed back and the kids played by the pool. By evening, we enjoyed the fresh catches of the day. On Saturday, we had a fish fry in which friends and family got together and ate some yummy food. Grandpa Dale and Grandma Chug know how to make mouths happy with their yummy treats! On Sunday, (whew) it was time to relax and refresh. I was out of commission for a couple of days and didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked, however here are a few pictures from the weekend...until I went down for the count. Bob bought some fireworks for the weekend and we never did get a chance to light them off, but maybe soon. Until next time....

They Go BANANAS over Tristan!

Over the weekend, the girls got a chance to get together with their cousin and they go BANANAS over Tristan! Sunday funday with the family. Smiles, Laughs, Food, Swimming, Sunshine and Love! What more can you ask for in LIFE?

Two Brothers Festival

This Sunday funday we took the kiddos to Two Brothers Festival. Two Brothers Brewing Company is the largest independently owned and operated craft brewer in Chicagoland. For those that love craft beer (Mr. Vail), it's a big hit. Today was family fun day where they had live bands, face painting, tattoos, a mini zoo and balloon art. So we packed up our chairs and off we went on this 90 degree day. Once we got there, we scored a spot in the shade and shortly thereafter Aunt Jenny, Uncle Mike and Tristan joined us. The cousins enjoyed receiving a tattoo, playing with one another, seeing an eagle, a turtle, a snake and fire trucks! We all tried to stay cool and enjoy the live band. Here are some pictures from the day. Iz and I took a dip in the pool just to cool off once we got home. Baby G was so tired after her bath, she went to bed.

But My Tractor Works Mommy....

A little Vail family humor for you....After dinner tonight, I decided it would be a good idea to go outside and mow the grass before it rains for the next few days.  At 8 p.m., Isabella and I went outside and she jumped on her John Deere and I jumped on mine.  She has a little battery operated John Deere tractor with a trailer and she pretends to mow the grass as I am actually mowing it.  When she gets tired, she hops on with me and steers the way.

As I am making my last two rows and finishing up for the night, all of a sudden, my John Deere won't move either forward or backward.  And it just happens to be all the way at the back of the property.  Isabella comes up to me and says "What is wrong mommy?"  And I say, "Isabella, my tractor won't move either forward or backward, something is WRONG."  And with that innocent look, at a time that I am feeling sad that something is wrong with my tractor, she looks up at me with those green eyes and says..."But my tractor works mommy, you can use it if you want."
I smile at her and say THANK YOU HONEY!!!  I walk off to find Bob.  I tell him the news and muttering a few words under his breath, he says ADD IT TO THE LIST!  Just call John Deere tomorrow and have them come and pick it up.  I watch him try to get the tractor to work for about 10 minutes and then I walk away.  If I call John Deere, that means we are like 2 weeks without a tractor, which would feel like an eternity.  Not happening.  Nothing smelled like it was burning.  I knew I had not done anything wrong.  It had to be something simple.  Bummed.  It's like not having a wash machine or vacuum cleaner.  The lawn mower ranks right up there with them.

I put Isabella to bed and think to myself....I don't want to go to bed thinking about this tractor all night.  I don't want to have to call service in the morning.  What should I do?  GOOGLE it.  So I DO.   I am not so smart about changing oil, or sharpening blades, or lawn mower problems for that matter, but someone out there knows.....right??!!

So I RUN OUTSIDE (Bob really MAD at this point) and I say BOB...I think it might be a transmission lockout, is there some sort of lever on the back of the tractor that you can just push in and I can try it again??  He goes to the back of the tractor, pushes a lever in, I jump on and WA LAAAAAAAA the john deere works again.

CHEERS TO ISABELLA for making me SMILE in a frantic moment and THANK YOU to google for helping fix our John Deere!!

Mother's & Father's Day

Gheesh.....just realized that I am slacking in the posting blogs department.  So let me take you back a month and then fast forward a month.  Did you catch that?
Last month for mother's day, Bob and I both got to have a nice visit with our mother's.  For father's day, we both got to have a nice visit with our fathers.  Each day, we ended back at the house where we relaxed and spent time with our girls.  Here are a few pictures from each day along with a picture of Baby G in the pool.  Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather!  She is becoming quite the little swimmer.