back at the beach

sunset on lake michigan.

(wherein the children promised me they would not get more than just their tiny feet wet and came home--predictably--drenched.)

mere and me.

and for our last day on the water in michigan city, bryan rented a new-to-us, never-before-seen, everyone-must-try toy: the maui mat. 

providing much loved floating, lounging, jumping, "surfing," and splashing fun for all.

well, for all except my brother ken, who does not love the beach and who was nigh forced onto the maui mat at point of sibling peer pressure and lured with promises of "having fun." tell us how you really feel there, ken :)

ps, i will hopefully be wrapping up our summer vacation on the blog this week (in the nick of time to move on to fall!) stay tuned for our final installments: opa d boot camp! the chicago air and water show! and museum madness!

girlfriend really knows how to draw things out, now, doesn't she?

back at the bean

cloud gate, millennium park, chicago.

but first! a breakfast of champions for our inaugural morning in chicago brought to you by do-rite donuts and chicken:

do-rite's famous fried chicken sandwich on a glazed donut. my official assessment is that the fried chicken is amazing!, but i would have preferred it on a regular bun. The donut is too sticky sweet for me, and i just didn't love the combo (insert shrug emoji here).

the kids scarfed down their delicious donuts (maple bacon and birthday cake shown here) but still declared top pot in seattle their favorite. (in do-rite's defense, totally different kinds of donuts.)

bryan and his fried chicken sandwich on a regular bun. smart man.

view from the top

we waited in line for three and a half hours for this:

our sixty seconds on the ledge at skydeck chicago, willis tower, the second tallest building in the united states.

#worthit

emily's favorite burger of all time

i still have so, so much to get to from our midwest adventures, and i'm hoping to sneak it in here and there as we continue to rock and roll (by which i really mean "bump and slide" slash "trip and fall") our way through a new school year.

of the more important and blog worthy aspects of our trip is this: the ultimate burger.

the world's best burger.

emily's favorite burger of all time.

if you have eaten out with me in some capacity, then you know the burger/fries/milkshake trifecta is pretty much my culinary ride or die. it is *the* perfect meal. combining all three critical food groups--sugar, salt, and fat--in only the best, most delicious, and most satisfying of ways.

so! i've tried a lot of burgers in my day (and A LOT of fries). it is always the first thing i yelp for when we travel.

but this one, well, this one is going to be hard to beat.

behold: small cheval.

little baby bro to au cheval, but serving only (you guessed it) burgers, fries, and milkshakes.

major shout out to my sister-in-law anna for introducing us.

i kid you not, THE best burger and THE best fries (narrowly beating out the garlic aioli fries from goldfinch tavern in seattle) i've ever had. the milkshake was also amazing, though i can't give it my top prize (which honor is still held by the company burger in new orleans and their lemon icebox pie milkshake).

so if you are an omnivore and ever find yourself in chicago: seek it out and eat it up. no regrets.

bonus track: and then we really stuffed ourselves with jeni's ice cream for dessert.
#stillnoregrets

little big man

started his super-senior year of preschool today.

he says, "one more preschool and then...KINDERGARTEN!"

of course, it's one more year of preschool, but he somehow got it into his head that he's only attending one more day of preschool, so my money is on having this same conversation a lot for the next little bit.

wish us luck.

ICYMI

summer's first first day and last first day of elementary school.

be cool, stay in school

so, we're not even halfway through recapping our summer mischief, and then this happens:

the first day of school!

(not pictured: baby dallin, who is desperately lonely without his three big buddies and who will start preschool in two long weeks.)

the first day singles:

summer, fifth grade

afton, fourth grade

caleb, first grade

and they're off!

this should have been a fairly uneventful school year as far as transitions go: none of the big grade shifts happening and what not. however, afton started her first year in a program at a different elementary school in the district, and so she's on a different bus (going much farther) than summer and caleb, and she's in a class with pretty much all new (to her) kids. i've been super impressed with her bravery and openness to taking risks, despite her naturally reserved disposition. this is going to be a great year for afton.

summer never met a school year she didn't power high five and utterly own and drop-kick with kindness into next week. she's totally down with fifth grade and is off to make sure no one in her blast radius feels left out or overlooked.

this is caleb. he was born ready. for all of it. but mostly for recess. and if this kid's confidence has bounds, well, we haven't run into them yet. slay, son.

cheers to the school year.

go, cubs, go!

hey chicago, whaddya say? the cubs are gonna win today.

when my father was five, his oldest sister moved to chicago. he went to his first cubs game at wrigley field at around eight years old, and he's been a huge fan ever since. 

we grew up on cubs baseball, so it was cool to be able to fit in a game as an (almost) entire family during our midwest adventures (missing bryan, matto, and beka). 

the cubs beat the brewers 8-4 in a great game. 

summer, dallin, emily, caleb, and afton: first timers at wrigley.

special bonus: this is the foul ball that my dad nearly caught. just an inch or two from his full-on grasp, he slowed its roll with his fingers. it landed in the empty seat behind him, and the guy who picked it up gave it to danton (seen here in the white hat sitting next to ken).