I.'s last day

Saturday was a very sad day in our house. I.'s time with us is over and he flew back to FL to start school on the 18th. He wanted to go back to Chicago one more time before he left, so on Friday we drove down there. We spent the day at the Field Museum of Natural History. The museum is NOT free, but if you look hard enough online, you can find 2 for 1 coupons. There were some really cool exhibits. They had dinosaurs, lots of animals, and even a special exhibit on mythical creatures. J really liked that. B loved the dragons and the girls liked the mermaids. They even had the famous P.T. Barnum mermaid.

We made a great find in the Museum Gift shop! Dinosaur sneakers! B and G both needed sneakers, so we got them each a pair. They are so cute! B's have dino's on them and G's have big Dino eyes on them. On the bottom there are dino footprints. Everytime B wears his he chases us roaring! Before you ask, S didn't like them. (weird, right?)

On Saturday we got up early and took I. to the airport. He asks me every time he leaves if I'm going to cry. He tells me not to, and I tell him I will try really hard not to, but I probably will. I always do. Well...I did, and so did the girls. We were just a mess. I wonder if he knows what kind of state his departure leaves us in. I know he was excited to get home to his friends, but we miss him already!

He starts his new school on the 18th and he's a little nervous. If ya'll have his e-mail, some encouraging words would be nice for him.

When we left the airport, J and I decided we would check out Madison. It's only an hour from the airport and 3 hours from home, so we figured we would go while were close. We toured the capital building and walked the downtown. We even found a used bookstore and I found a book I'd been trying to find for a while. J and I decided that we really like the feel of a college town and will probably settle in, if not near one. We're not much for big cities, but being close to one would be nice. Our ideal town is getting more and more specific, and hopefully by the time we do settle down, we'll have it narrowed down pretty good.

One last thing I wanted to tell you about:

The other day the kids and I were at the playground in the mall. We walked over to Shopko (it's like a Target) to get a couple of drinks. I let the kids pick out some flavored water. It wasn't until B was one his THIRD cup that I noticed the "ENERGY" on the side of the bottle!! Holy Cow!! 50Mg of Caffine plus Guarana and Ginsing!!! Well, needless to say he was wired the rest of the day!! I thought he was never going to go to sleep that night. J thought the whole thing was pretty funny.

Love to all!!!!

d

p.s. What do ya'll think of J's hair?!?! Everybody vote....maybe we can talk some sense into him!!!