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Recently, Eloise has been very interested in taking photos using our phones. It’s one of her favorite games to play. I get the biggest kick out of flipping through her images after she’s done. Most of them are rapid-fire repetitions of the same “artistic” frame, colorful and out-of-focus snaps of the world around her. But Ellie takes her art very seriously, and she’s recently managed to get a few shots of me and her daddy that I absolutely love. Yep…she’s a natural. I’m a proud mama over here, and totally day-dreaming about her working with me at JSP as she grows up. Watch out, Mike…she’s gunning for your second-shooter gig!

* “Pilates Photography.” That’s what Ellie said she’d name her business. Because no matter how many times I explain my photography business to her, she still thinks my job is going to Pilates classes. Sigh.

* “Come on guys…let’s take a selfie!” I’ll never get enough of that.

*St. Joseph, MI. Last Sunday, Mike, Eloise, and I met up with our good friends, Lachelle and Mike, in St. Joseph, MI. We enjoyed a few fun meals together, and spent the day exploring the cute beach town. Silver Beach is awesome. It’s huge, and you don’t have to squint to imagine you’re in Florida instead of on a Great Lake. We spent the better part of the afternoon lounging, people-watching, and building a big sandcastle with Ellie. Then, while Ellie enjoyed a big, beach-side playground, we explored St. Joseph’s abundance of cute boutiques. My only regret is that Ellie melted-down before we had the chance to try some of the yummy looking ice-cream scattered all up and down State Street! Thanks so much for meeting us, Lach and Mike. We are loving this new tradition of having adventures with you every few months!

*Summertime. I know it’s already August, and the start of school is just weeks away. But it feels like summer JUST started here in Chicago! We’ve resumed our family tradition of taking walks through the park or the neighborhood every evening before dinner. Ellie’s really getting the hang of her new balance bike (thanks again, Auntie Becky and Uncle Adam!), and Dorey is learning to steer out of her path! I can’t help soaking in the moment when we take these walks. The sweet summer air, the soft, golden sunlight, Mike and I trailing slightly behind Ellie as she glides down the sidewalk in her over-sized bike helmet, singing or chatting away, Dorey bopping along beside us, sniffing all of the neighborhood smells. Summer has always been Mike’s favorite season. I’m starting to understand why.

What a great week! It started with Ellie’s birthday party last Sunday, and progressed to fun around Chicago with Auntie Becky and Uncle Adam and my parents while everyone was still in town. It’s not often we all get the chance to hang out like this, and we had a lot of laughs. Each day when we parted, Eloise would cry. “But I miss them! They are my best friends!” Mine too, Eloise. Mine too. Thank you SO MUCH, Mom, Dad, Becky, and Adam for not only making Eloise’s third birthday party so special, but also for such a great time this week. I’m already looking forward to Christmas when we can all be together again!

*Ellie’s Third Birthday Party. What a great day! We had a very small, relaxed, giraffe-themed party at our house, complete with an abundance of balloons, and all of Ellie’s favorite breakfast foods. We pigged out, laughed a lot, leisurely opened and played with all of Ellie’s new toys, played pin-the-tail-on-the-giraffe, watched Ellie pull a piñata for the first time, “sang” happy birthday a la kazoo, took a long walk as Ellie tried out her cool new balance bike from Auntie Becky and Uncle Adam, and watched Ellie’s favorite movie together when our sugar highs wore off. It. Was. Just. Perfect. Or, as Ellie said before bed that night, “That party was GREAT! It was a rockin’ and a boppin’!” Can’t get higher praise than that!

*Family Photos. I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot while everyone was in town. The last time we took pictures of the entire gang was at Becky and Adam’s wedding several years ago! Although family photos will always be bittersweet for me…there will always be that glaring hole where Hannah should be…I will treasure these images for years to come. I’m not going to steal my parents’ thunder and post them now…I’ll save them for their holiday card!

*Time with Sue. Of course, we had to take Auntie Becky and Uncle Adam to one of Ellie’s favorite places in the city…The Field Museum…to meet her buddy, Sue the T-Rex. Ellie walks around the museum like she owns the place, pointing out her favorite dinosaurs and stuffed animals. She also insisted on wearing her new giraffe backpack the entire day.

*And at the Zoo! Another one of Ellie’s favorite places in Chicago is the Lincoln Park Zoo. So, of course, we had to introduce Auntie Becky and Uncle Adam to the new baby monkey there and Ellie’s other favorite animals. Again, Ellie’s new backpack made a prominent appearance!