Please excuse the dearth of posts for the last few weeks – we have been quite busy adding ANOTHER (this time temporary) member of our family. Last week we welcomed Angelica, our new au pair from Colombia. She is settling in now at home and has spent lots of great quality time with Maggie and is getting to know the girls as well (they have been at school/camp). It’s going to be a great year!

On our last day in Chicago last week, we had a few hours to explore. We had a delicious lunch on Michigan Avenue (sorry forgot the name of the place) and then found the bean! It was much more interesting than expected. But unfortunately the girl that offered to take our picture for some reason held the camera at 45 degrees – Tommy and I were both so puzzled while she was taking the picture that neither of us spoke up. So here’s our crooked Bean picture!

Tommy flew home from Boston early yesterday and accompanied Kaya to the school’s daddy-daughter dance. Ain’t nothing sweeter!

We spent a lovely Memorial Day weekend in Tampa with Tommy’s grandmother (the kids’ great grandma GG). She got to meet Maggie, who instantly started smiling and cooing when placed in GG’s arms. The kids also got to play in the pool and go to the beach, and I got to eat some delicious breadsticks and bagels and lox. Plus we got to rent a brand new Chrysler Pacifica, which was pretty sweet and gives the Odyssey a run for its money. As always, lovely to see GG, plus we got a bonus visit with Uncle Ken and Gammy.

We took an overnight train to Tampa for Memorial Day weekend to visit Tommy’s grandmother. The train was more comfortable and cheaper than flying with our whole family down south, and we didn’t actually lose much time since we slept on the train in our “roomette.” My advice to anyone planning such a trip: Bring lots of snacks because train food sucks, and iPad required for child happiness.

(Edit by Tracy: BCAN stands for “Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network” and raises money for bladder cancer research and is a great support resource for patients. And we “ran” a 5K to do our part…you know, just in case my full-time job trying to cure bladder cancer isn’t enough)

Kaya has been trying to get Max to let her saddle up for the last 4 years. Alas, she has finally moved on to a dog who is a bit slower at running away.

Our photography skills grow with each baby. Look at this little pumpkin! (Photo now way out of date – taken when Maggie was maybe 6 days old)

We are! Or at least, we did! Highlights included: Seeing Kaya’s teacher Alicia and her family, the no-hands donut game (Laney was a champ), the treasure hunt, and meeting up with Kaya’s friend Zoe. Lowlights include Laney face planting when Kaya suggested they jump out together from the moving stroller. 4 days later and her nose is almost healed – wish I had her super healing powers. Although she should probably keep them if she’s going to keep jumping out of strollers.