The Rest of June

June was certainly a busy month for the Freihauts.  Derek traveled a ton for work and even went to Vienna, Austria for four days.  He also went to Florida, San Diego, and Kansas.  June was certainly a big travel month for him!  When Derek is out of town I do my best to plan tons of activities to keep us busy so the time without Daddy seems to pass quickly.  Here is an overview of some of the fun things we did throughout the month:

• Father's Day--We celebrated Father's Day by heading to a Peoria Chiefs game.  Derek wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but decided at the last minute that he wanted to head to Peoria to see a game. Our seats started out in the sun, so it was a bit toasty.  Eventually the shade covered our seats and it was much more comfortable to watch the game.  Ironically my friend J.T. and his family had seats right behind ours.  I taught with J.T. at Rochester and he and his family made the trip up from Springfield.  J.T. is a die hard Cubs fan and I'm sorry to say that the baseball he saw in Peoria on Father's Day was as good or better than that being played at Wrigley Field.  The Peoria Chiefs are a  single A farm team of the Cubs, so at least they have something to look forward to. 

One proud Daddy

Getting ready to run the bases after the game

The next few pictures were Derek's Father's Day gift.  I took these pictures if the kids while Derek was in San Diego and we were visiting in Indiana.  With Derek's mom's help, we got a few shots of them on the UE campus.  We framed the letter pictures in a 3 opening frame for Derek to hang in his office.

Vienna or Bust--The Wednesday after Father's Day Derek and his boss headed to Vienna for a board meeting for a client.  They flew out on Wednesday, flew through the nights (20 hours of travel) and arrived in Vienna on Thursday afternoon.  They attended a dinner that evening and a meeting on Friday and then got to see the Vienna Boy's Choir perform on Friday evening.  On Saturday Derek and Joe had the day for sightseeing.  They toured the city on foot and went to the Military History Museum, which the highlight of the trip to Derek.  He was so excited that he got to see the clothes that Arch Duke Ferdinand was wearing and the car he was riding in when he was assassinated.  We all got a brief history lesson when he returned:)  On Sunday they headed to the airport to do the 20 hours of traveling all over again.  Derek came home Sunday evening to two kids (and a wife) that were so excited to see him.  Carter and Addy were also excited to see what souvenirs Daddy had brought home for them!

Derek in front of a tank

This part of the museum was called the "Tank Garden" 

• 8th Anniversary--On June 26th Derek and I celebrated our 8th anniversary.  Derek had to fly out of Chicago to Kansas on the 27th for a one day meeting, so I went up with him on the 26th so that we could celebrate with a dinner and day in Chicago when he got back from Topeka. We were so thankful that  Derek's mom was in town and volunteered to watch the kids.  While Derek flew to Kansas, I took full advantage of some alone time by hitting up my favorite shopping area in the suburbs, Schaumburg.  I went to all of my favorite stores (Ikea, Homegoods, Garden Ridge, The Container Store, Crate and Barrel, etc.) and Woodfield Mall all in one day!  I came back to the hotel with my SUV full of goodies and it was a great day!!  When Derek got back into town we went to Gibson's Steakhouse for our anniversary meal.  On Thursday we braved the 100 degree temperatures and headed downtown for a bit of shopping and to take in the Cirque Shanghai show on Navy Pier.  We had great seat for the show.  Although Derek would say that they were "too good" because he was chosen to be part of an act!  He was the juggler's assistant and was even asked wear  a stunning sequined vest for the act.  It was pretty funny.  Before the show they announced that no photography was allowed, although many people in the audience were snapping away during the acts.  I refrained from breaking the rules until Derek was called up, then caution was thrown to the wind and the camera came out!  Derek was a really good sport about being on stage and received lots of applause from the fans.  We definitely enjoyed our trip away and it was nice celebrating in a fun way on Thursday!

OK, so that is June in a nutshell.  I'm sure I left out some notable events, but this is the gist of our month.  Hopefully we'll be up to date very soon! ;)

Early Summer Visit to Indiana

After the kids had recuperated from their bout of sickness we headed to Indiana for a week long visit with family.  Derek had to head out on a business trip to San Diego and flew into Evansville in the middle of the week to join us on our visit.  Addy actually headed back with Grandma Freihaut early because we weren't quite sure how long Carter would be sick and we decided that she would have a better time in Indiana then she would have in Illinois since Carter was feeling so crummy and we couldn't so much of anything.  Carter and I set out for home on Saturday, June 2nd and arrived at my parents' house around noon.  While in Indiana we took full advantage of the time and got to spend a lot of time with family and friends.  The kids and I visited my Grandma Heilers for the better part of Monday and the grandparents got lots of grandchild time in as well. 

Carter exploring Grandma and Grandpa's yard

We headed to Grandma Freihaut's house midweek and got to send a fun few days with her in Evansville.  We picked up Derek from the airport on Wednesday evening.  The kids were so excited about the Evansville Airport because it has a playground inside.   We spent one more day in Evansville and then got up early on Friday to head to Holiday World where we met up with Aunt Ashley and Uncle Brian.   We had a great time at Holiday World.  The weather was beautiful and the kids really enjoyed the rides and Splashin' Safari.  Addy rode several rides with her Aunt Ashley and Carter managed to get Brian to go down the water slides in the kiddie area with him.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me in the water park and missed a royal opportunity of a great picture of them going down the slides together. Addy also enjoyed going on the the "big kid" water slides and was excited about the Wildebeest, which is a water coaster.  She really wanted to ride on the new water coaster, The Mammoth, but her Mom wasn't too keen on the two hour wait.

Addy and Holidog

Carter was very bashful with Santa and Holidag which was surprising since he loved the Disney characters.

Riding the Holidog Coaster....It was clear that one of our children enjoyed it much more than the other!

High fives on the fish ride

They rode the canoes four times in a row!

Carter lovesd Salmon Run!

Ashley and Addy on the Spakler

Riding the same rides their parents rode many years ago!

Thunder Bumpers!

On Saturday we got meet up with a good fried from high school, her mom, and her two kids at a park and then I went with my mom and Ashley to my cousin's bridal shower.  It was great to catch up with relatives that I don't get to see very often.  Saturday evening we went to dinner with my parents and then headed to the Dairy Barn for some yummy ice cream.  The Dairy Barn is a local ice cream place that serves giant ice cream cones. It was a great way to end a wonderful visit to Indiana.  We headed back to Bloomington on Sunday, but dropped Addy off at Grandma Freihaut's house on the way.  She stayed in Evansville to attend vacation bible school at her Grandma's church.  Adalyn loved the one on one time she got with Grandma and really enjoyed VBS.  Carter also enjoyed his time as being the only child in the house for a few days:)

Carter turns two!

Carter's birthday fell on Memorial Day weekend once again this year.  We had planned to have his birthday party on his actual birthday which was Sunday, May 27th.  My parents, sister, Derek's mom, and Derek's brother and his family, and a few of our close friends were all planning to come up for the celebration.  Carter's party was a Mickey theme since he loves Mickey and we had just returned from Disney World.  Mom, Dad, and Ashley came up Friday and everyone else was coming on Sunday.  Well, Addy came down with a fever Saturday morning and was feeling pretty crummy.  We took her to the doctor that morning and it was determined that it was a virus which meant no meds and that it was contagious.  So we let everyone know that Addy was sick and it was best to not bring kids up for the party.  Derek's mom still made the trip after the HHHS graduation and got here Sunday morning.  We had a small family party and Carter still had a blast celebrating with his family, eating cake, and opening  his gifts.  Although it didn't go quite as planned, due to sickness, he still had a wonderful birthday. 

Playing on Carter's birthday gift

Breaking in his new drill

Carter ended up getting the bug on Tuesday, only he also had spots all over his torso and feet.  It turns out that the virus Addy had was hand, foot, and mouth disease.   She didn't get the rash or sores in her mouth, but when she passed it on to her brother...he did.  What a great birthday present from a sister:)  He was pretty miserable for a few days but was feeling better by the end of the week, just in time to head home for a long visit to Indiana.

We originally had a birthday party play date scheduled with my Mom's group for the Wednesday after Carter's birthday, but had to reschedule it to June 26th because of the sickness.  We ended up having it outside with the sand/water table, bounce house, and outside toys.  Carter got to celebrate with ten of his friends and he was very excited to be celebrating his birthday all over again. 

I can't believe our baby boy is already two.  Time sure has flown by. It seems like we brought him home yesterday.  Well, fast forward two years and he is one spunky little boy.  He loves to run and play and is learning new things everyday.  He idolizes his big sister and wants to do EVERYTHING she does.  He is Addy's shadow and has learned so many things from her--both good and bad:)  Carter loves sports. He is always shooting a ball, swinging a bat shaped object, or talking about playing sports.

We just love him to pieces.  He makes our lives a lot happier and certainly a lot more interesting:)  He is such a happy little boy and loves to love others.  We love you very much Carter Daniel!  Happy birthday little guy!


Two Year Check-Up
Carter has his two year check-up with Dr. Boe on June 12th.  He measured to be 35.75 inches tall and weighed in at 31.6 pounds.  Dr. Boe said is developing wonderfully and noted that he was very verbal, which is something that we already observed first hand:)