Beurskens' Family Reunion

After the baby shower we went over to Tim & Mindy's house for a family reunion/cook out. It was so great to have the whole family there and it had been 5 years (my wedding) since we were all together the last time. Since we were all there we decided to do family pictures at the Fine Arts Building at EIU. Thanks, Mindy for setting that up. Mindy and I had to round everyone up and we definitely had some people that were not excited about leaving the house and taking family pictures at EIU. In the end everyone was glad we forced them to do the pictures and I'm sure we will all appreciate it when we get the pictures back.

Thanks to Frank for bringing his potato shooter. I'm not exactly sure how it worked, but you spray hair spray in this plastic tube thing and then stick a potato in it and the potato shoots out. There were about 10 cousins in the outfield catching the potatoes. It was very loud and pretty fun to watch. Also, thanks to Frank and Jan for bringing the goodies for the kids (decorating tiarras and face paint). Julia helped Emma and Alli and they all had lots of fun. Julia decorated Emma's feet as well as hers. Craig painted Julia & Ethan's face and later it looked like Ethan had a black eye because he could not get all the paint off.

Here are the pictures (Click on each picture to make it bigger):

Beurskens' Family Reunion Cont...

Here are more pictures from the family reunion/cook out. (I can only put 4 collages in each post so that's why there are two). See original post: Beurskens' Family Reunion.

Sue's Baby Shower

My Mom and I threw a baby shower for Sue (and John) on Sat. They are having a boy and my Mom and I are so excited for his arrival. Sue and John will make wonderful parents. They are both amazing with kids. It's so great to have Sue as my sister-in-law, especially since I don't have any sisters. We all had a great time at the shower. The whole family came in town for the shower so the guys hung out outside while the ladies played shower games inside.

Here are some of the pictures from the shower (Click on the picture to make it bigger):

We played the dirty diaper game, baby word scramble, and the items on the tray game. I think the best game was the dirty diaper game. The diaper mess looked pretty realistic. Luckily I had my awesome cousin Mia there to help me. At first I put the chocolate in the diaper and put it in the microwave, but realized after it started to burn that diapers should not be put in the microwave. What was I thinking! Next, I tried to put the chocolate in a bowl and melt it that way, but the chocolate started to burn. Finally, I added a little water to the chocolate and Mia stepped in and helped me do all 5 chocolate bars. Thanks, Mia!

Pool Party at Pagliai's House

On Friday we (John, Bryan, Craig, Sue, Maria, Julia, and Ethan) drove to Charleston to see all of the family. My Mom and I are throwing Sue & John a baby shower this weekend. The Pagliai's had a pool party Friday night for the family and it was great to see everyone. Of course we had to have my favorite pizza - Pagliai's Pizza. I wish they would open one up in Chicago!

SIL & BFF preggo pictures

My sister-in-law Sue and brother John came in town from New Jersey on Thursday for the weekend. My Mom and I are throwing them a baby shower on Saturday in Charleston. My brother Bryan who also lives in Chicago came over Thurs night so we could leave early on Fri. We went to dinner at Boundry and as we were coming Scott & Allison were leaving so of course I took that opportunity to take some belly pictures. Allison told me earlier that day they were going to dinner in our area and I told her to go to Boundry so we could see each other, but I wasn't sure what time they were going and we happened to time it perfectly.

Sue is having a boy and is due Sept 20 and Allison is having a girl and is due Sept 22. Don't they both look SO CUTE! I'm so happy for both of them. I was hoping one would have a boy and one would have a girl and I got my wish. It's been fun shopping for both of them.

Minocqua Trip for 4th of July

We went to Minocqua, WI with my best friend Allison and her husband Scott for a long 4th of July weekend. Scott's parents own a house on the lake there and it is such a fun place to visit. We went boating, jet skiing, cooked out, played bean bags, threw the football, read books, ate nice dinners, had great coffee at Jorhay's Coffee Shop, relaxed, watched fireworks in their backyard, and the boys went fishing. It was such an amazing trip. We were there Thurs-Mon, but we all could have stayed longer. It's always so nice to hang out with Scott and Allison. I got to feel baby Ohlander kick lots and lots and she even had the hiccups and I was able to feel that as well. I can't wait for the little sweetie to arrive in September. Here are some of the pictures from our trip. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Taking pictures outside of the zoo. The kids were not happy with all the pictures, but I kept telling them if they smile good the first time I won't have to keep taking more pictures. :)

We had dinner at Francesca's on Taylor.