We went to the Radio Disney Studio in downtown Chicago recently to fulfill a Cub Scout requirement; communication.  The kids got to see what Radio Disney was all about, how they make money and then the kids got to record their voices in the recording studio and then play them back.

Adam, DJ extraordinaire and all around great guy led the tour and the kids loved him.  After the tour, the kids got a great Radio Disney goody bag and got to have lunch and hang out downtown for awhile.

They enjoyed tossing coins into this fountain.  But want to know what they really thought was cool?

Riding the “el” to and from Chicago.  They were daring and tried to balance when the train started and stopped and loved being thrown off balance.  This was the best part of their great day!

It looks like July is the month when my garden is in it’s glory!  Most things are blooming now, although a few things are not.  I’ve yet to have my blueish and pink hydrangeas blooming but the plants themselves are getting big.

The Annabelle Hydrangeas have bloomed!

The veggie garden is growing day by day!

The herbs are coming along nicely (garlic chives, cilantro, rosemary, oregano, chives, Italian parsley).

The side garden has hostas in bloom.

This is a new section I added - in place of some of the hostas.  It has grasses, Lily’s, sedum, Canna and a Holly bush.  Looking forward to the holly bush in the winter as it is evergreen.

The butterfly bush has purple flowers (hard to see) and the Autumn Joy Sedum is huge!

The Daisys and the yellow Yarrow.  You can barely see the Ivory Halo Dogwood’s beautiful leaves - I need to do a little thinning here.

Pretty pink Phlox.

Beautiful Coneflowers!  To think, I yanked the one in front out of the garden because I though it was a weed! I’m guessing that’s what I did the previous 2 years and why I couldn’t get my Coneflowers to grow back!  Ha!  Good thing when I yanked it out - the soil that came with it came out looking like the shape from a pot of some sort so I stuck it back in the ground.

The long view to the left.

Long view to the right.

View as a lunch guest!

I need to figure out how to add some curve to this garden space!

Then.

Now.  In the corner by the fence (closest view) there is a Pieris bush that flowers, can’t see it in this picture.

Then.

Now.  The tall plants in the background are Annabelle Hydrangeas.

Then.

Now.

Closeup.  The ball type plants are Autumn Joy Sedum.  The smaller balls are from last year, the larger ones are 3 years old.  A butterfly bush is behind one of the large Sedums.

More closeup.  The yellow yarrow was added last year it is much larger in this photo - about 3x the size!  Behind the yarrow is an Ivory Halo Dogwood.  To the left of the dogwood is Spirea Little Princess - the picture is from 2 weeks ago, it has little pink flowers all over it now.  All the greenery behind, in front and to the side of the Yarrow are daisys - they’re starting to bloom as well.

Another closeup.  Dianthus in the forefront and Coneflower foilage beind in several locations.  No blooms yet, but soon.

I am loving the garden at this point in the Spring and there is still much to bloom.  I will need to thin out and remove some of the hostas as they are huge this year too.  I’ll update some more when more is in bloom!

With Kiddie Land closing this summer, I thought it would be nice to bring the kids there for a first and last visit.  We used to go to Kiddie Land when my older girls were little and I remember going with my parents as a child.  We had a fun time, although we were supposed to meet one of Ross’ friends and his family.  They got there about a half an hour after us and literally could not park.  It was that crowded.  Even with the crowds though, we didn’t have to wait too long to get on the rides.  The kids had a blast and went on many a spinning ride.  I snapped this picture of the kids on one of the spinning rides, Ross looks like he is going to throw up.  When I asked him if he felt sick, he said “no - I just like to hold my breath when spinning”.  Uh, okay.

It’s kind of sad that they are closing up the amusement park.  At least we got to experience it as a family and will have the memories and the photos.  They are still open on weekends through the end of this month I believe.  We may try for one last visit since the weather is so summery now.

A fun summer Saturday.

A loyal tee ball fan!

The “object” of her affections!

A spin around the track - not as much fun as the bouncy things but still a good time!

A sword for the Clone Trooper / Super Hero / Power Ranger.

And a flower painted on a sleeping princess.

Rossi

 I think Rossi enjoyed our trip to the conseratory as much as I did.  With all the gardening work we did this summer, he has learned  the names of many perennial and vegetable plants.  Whenever we are out and about he points out Hostas, Coneflowers, Hydrangeas (his favorite) and more.

A Water park visit for a cousins birthday party was a smashing success.  Francesca could stay in water all day long. It was as hard to tear her away from the water park as it is to get her out of the bath.

Francesca

Have a good weekend everyone, enjoy!