Dress for a Mess for Evie's 7th Birthday

Whew!  What a day! The girls were excited to celebrate Evie's 7th birthday with an art-themed bash - and not only art, but MESSY art. Here is the "before" picture of the girls, wait till you see the "after". 

Evie really got into the kitchen helping this year, and one of her masterpieces was a giant rice krispie treat splattered with chocolate to recreate Jackson Pollock's Convergence. It was as delicious as it looked!  In the background you can also see our grape dogs that were supposed to imitate Jeff Koons' balloon dog sculptures.

Mom had a little fun recreating Magritte's "Son of Man" picture. Pretty funny, eh? 

The decorations too were a group effort, with Evie and Ellie drawing some real-size people to greet the guests. 

The funfetti cake incorporated the styles of two of Evie's favorite artists: Pollock and Matisse! 

As all the guests arrived, the kids started on their first project - ice chalk painting!  Ellie literally got into it, and had chalk-covered legs!

Evie, Freya, and Ava sit back and look at the swirl of colors, before shooting vinegar at the chalk and see it "explode" (well, really just foam up and make some beautiful bubbles). 

Next up, egg SPLAT painting!  Unfortunately we had some very "thick-skinned" egg shells that were a little challenging to actually get to break, which was kind of funny.  Typically it took a couple of tries. 

Dylan gets into the action with a big smile as everyone waits their turn.  

The kids slowly inched closer and closer to get the biggest splat from their eggs.  Of course, some of the eggs splattered back which was part of the fun! 

Next up, bubble painting with waterpaints! The girls used straws to make the biggest bubbles they could and then placed a paper over the overflowing bubbles to make prints. 

Looks like Ellie is getting ready to BLOW - purple bubbles that is! 

Rubber band splatter painting can be a blast too!  Depending on how you paint your rubber bands, you can sometimes get more on your face than on your painting!  Ellie prepares herself for the next "splat". 

It was a team effort between Ella and Evie to make their paint-covered marbles roll all over to create a masterpiece! 

After eating some snacks, including painting (and eating) popcorn with edible paint, we gathered around for the cake!  Everyone is all smiles as they're thinking of digging into that work of art and the delicious funfetti cake inside! 

Now that she's turning 7, Evie has learned to take the biggest breath possible in order to blow out all her candles at once.  It's only going to get harder as more candles are added to the cake! 

And for the finale: a giant Jackson Pollock painting!  The kids donned their bathing suits and flung that paint like pros! 

Evie proudly displays her paint-splattered hair - messy hair and body splattered with paint  Mission accomplished!

Ella masters her flinging technique! 

After some fun on the "slip n' slide," the kids pose in front of their group masterpiece.  Happy Birthday, Evie, our little artiste! 

I got that summertime... summertime sadness...

Snapshots from a wonderful summer as we enjoy the last days in August...

The girls and Daddy in 3D glasses watch a 4D movie at the Newseum. 

Evie is working up to be a star swimmer at SwimKids with many graduations under her belt.

Ellie is no slouch in the pool either, as she proudly models her goggles and rings the bell as she graduates. 

Ellie and Daddy at the playground.

Ellie doing a slow dance with Daddy at the Kennedy Center's Vietnamese "Night of the Lotus" event with Ba and Opa .

The girls take a break on an artistic stone bench at the National Gallery after watching the film program "Hilarious Hounds", which the girls loved.

Then it was off through the galleries for a scavenger hunt for man's best friend, portrayed throughout the centuries. 

Our little mermaid with a Ernst sculpture, proudly holding up her "Matisse" sketchbook. 

Our trip with Ava and Dylan to the Watermine park is a lovely summer tradition!  Off to the lazy river! 

Evie learned some great cooking skills at Cupcake Wars Tiny Chef camp this year, as her palette cookies demonstrate! 

August is one long party that begins with...

It's Evie's birthday month! The fun starts up at Bebe and Popi's in New Jersey.  FA morning trip to the beach was a great way to start the day. Evie spent her time playing in the sand and flying her boogie board in the wind while Ellie took a nice long nap.

Next it was time to celebrate Evie's birthday with her cousins (and friendly neighbor) and her favorite homemade dessert -- yellow cake with chocolate frosting. 

Looks like she was able to blow out all the candles in one breath. Maybe her wish will come true!

I think Evie is thinking about her Lego Friends gifts from Bebe and Popi. She's dying to put them together! Thanks Bebe and Popi for a wonderful weekend!

Our Last Goonies Weekend!

We had an exciting weekend that started with Jazz in the Sculpture Garden with the Kallaur family, Emily, Paul, Sam and little Lara. The girls enjoyed a little salsa dancing, bubble blowing, and a delicious picnic before heading over to our first (if you can believe it) trip to Dairy Godmother this summer for frozen custard.

On Saturday night, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Katrina's favorite childhood movie - the Goonies - for our annual outdoor movie night!  In honor of the hunt for pirate treasure, the kids were led through a hunt for clues throughout the house to find treasure of their own (no booby traps - that's what I said! - though).  The kids were great at working as a team to decipher the clues. 

What starts with 't', ends with 't', and has 't' in it?  No, not a toilet Jack! A teapot - as Evie guessed correctly to find the next clue! 

Once all the clues were found, the kids got right to work putting together the pieces to form the treasure map.  X marks the spot!  Note the singed sides of the map - mom had an interesting time with the lighter this morning - luckily the whole map did not catch on fire! 

Ellie is having a blast on the hunt - or maybe it was all the gummy worms and gummy bears for our ice cream sundaes?!? After the hunt the kids went to town with multiple flavors - no rocky road though - whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and candy galore to make the most sugary sundaes you could imagine.  

The kids proudly hold up the treasure map and bags of their bounty of jewels and gold blocks (of candy)! Well done, treasure hunters! 

Then it was time to sit down and watch the movie, which Mom has seen so many times can practically quote every line. The kids particularly liked the scene where Chunk confessed all his misdeeds through the years. 

There were some scary parts, but amazingly Evie actually sat through most of the movie.  It must have helped to have Ella nearby.  Ellie, however, did NOT like the scenes with the Fratellis.  In the end, everyone seemed to have grown to love Sloth!  HEY YOU GUYS! 

Daddy provided comfort to his two girls during the scary parts.  It was an awesome night with our lovely neighbors and we are already planning our next movie, which if the girls get to choose, will be "Annie" of course.  

Chick in a car and the car won't go, that's how you spell CHICAGO!

It was off to the Windy City this weekend as we celebrated Mom's friend Jen's wedding and took the opportunity to introduce the girls to Chi-town. Mommy and Daddy showed the girls their ol' stomping grounds... actually, we ended up going places we never had been in our 2 years in Chicago, so it was quite an adventure for all. On Thursday we started the weekend with a dinner at Giordano's and ate our first deep dish pizza.  By the end of the trip, the family was experts at public transportation, via the L and the bus. 

The next morning, it was off to the Lincoln Park Zoo - what an oasis in the middle of the city, with what a view of the skyline! 

Our first animal sighting was a beautiful zebra, but we also saw sea lions, roaring lions, giraffes, gorillas, flamingos, birds, and the girls' favorite spot: the gift shop. 

There was also many sculptures around the park and this was one of Evie's favorites.

Ellie meanwhile wanted to pose by a telescope for some reason.

The girls and Daddy enjoyed riding their panda, tiger, and tree frog.  Luckily Daddy did not break the frog!

That afternoon, it was off to the church to see Jen and Ryan get married! The girls were well-behaved for the most part, and liked watching the flower girls go down the aisle.

After the wedding the girls were rewarded with Happy Meals at the biggest McDonalds they had ever been in!

On Saturday, Evie checked out the fountain outside the Art Institute before it opened its doors.  

Happy Fourth of July, America! 

Next, Evie takes over the camera to take some family pictures of the family, fashionably attired in red, white and blue!

About this time, Evie and Ellie started fighting over the stroller.  Unfortunately Mommy had a hard time getting them to sit still and appreciate the blue glow of Chagall's masterpiece, "America's Windows." The girls cheered up when they saw the miniature rooms exhibit, their favorite spot (besides the gift shop). 

Then it was off to Millennium Park where the girls were thrilled to play in the Crown Fountain.  The city was their playground!

Here's looking at one happy kid!

By the time we had a cheese picnic and made it to the "bean" though, the kids were ready for the REAL playground.

So off we went to one of the most amazing playgrounds we've ever seen!  The girls ran around the sea, a Brooklyn Bridge structure, and enchanted forest... while Mommy and Daddy just tried to keep track of them!  They took some brave plunges down some tall slides together, before hitting the spray park and getting completely soaked again!  That night, we ate at Eately and were so konked out that everyone slept through the fireworks!  Sounds like a typical Fourth for this family!

Finally, on Sunday we walked to Navy Pier to check out the children's museum, which was delightful.  The girls spent the most time at the Waterworks station - and it was a good thing they were wearing some rain coats! 

Daddy, Evie and Ellie push the lever to make the water shoot up and hit the bell!  It was a group effort that ended with laughs and splashes!

Ellie works on her portrait of Mommy, which apparently included a beard.

Here is Dad's super artistic guy!

In the tinkering lab, Evie creates a tower of blocks that would rival any Jenga structure.  The most fun part was at the end when she knocked it over with the help of Ellie of course.

The girls learned about fire safety and got to go down the fireman's pole.  This was the coolest museum ever!!! After a delicious brunch, we packed up and headed back to home, sweet, home!