Ruby fell down a few steps this week and scraped her nose. As soon as she recovers from one injury, she gets another. She is so adventurous and active. She doesn't seem to mind the bumps and bruises, they don't slow her down at all.
This week the heat and humidity topped out. The sweltering weather was unbearable without a few trips to the beach and several hours of playing with the hose on the patio. We invested in some ice cream bars to help us keep our cool.
I really love Chicago summers. The heat is so much better than the inevitable bone-chilling cold of winter. There is so much going on here in the summer.
Other fun things we did this week:
We went to the baby shower of our friend Joy who is having triplet girls! Alli and Ruby had to come with me. They especially enjoyed the plentiful cupcakes and cookies. Good luck Joy!
Andy started a new diet. We all went shopping for diet-friendly food. Alli loves pushing the kid shopping carts at the grocery store, but she constantly runs into my ankles with her cart. I left the store with bruises around my ankles.
We had lunch with our friend Alison and her three little girls. Between the two of us there were five little wiggly girls... all under four. We were outnumbered! It was a short, eat-quickly-or-else lunch, but it was fun to get out with them.
Thanks Grandma! Alli and Ruby pose in their new hats. Adorable!
Would you want this girl in your class? She is bursting with excitement for school.
Here she is during closing with the big pink flower on her head. Temperatures were in the 100s and the humidity was choking. She was a bit warm with the knee-high socks and layers on. She looks like she is about to melt.
Saturday night I was preparing to teach Sunday School and Ruby came to help. She was so interested in what I was doing, and especially interested in my pen.
Ruby is such a sweetheart. She loves to be right by my side.
We had visitors this weekend! Erik and Lois and their family came to visit us for a few days. We kept them busy. We played at the neighborhood parks. We played catch, frisbee, soccer and paddleball. Ruby watched the action and chased after stray balls.
The kids ate outside on the patio for almost every meal. They really enjoyed sitting together at the little table with little chairs. So cute.
We spent a few hours at the beach. Kim helped a boy dig a deep hole. Josh, Aaron, Jared and Erik made several impressive sand structures. Alli and Kim waded out into the lake to practice swimming and splash around and collect little shells. Ruby loved playing in the waves, especially when Andy helped her jump over the incoming waves. The sun was warm, the water was refreshing, and the sand got everywhere!
We also went to the Lincoln Park zoo. We only made it through part of the zoo before most of us got really tired. 
I love this picture of Ruby! She is growing so quickly. Lately she has been saying new words almost on a daily basis. Her newest vocabulary: bottle ("bobble"), cheese, yea, no-no, down, grandma, more, uh-oh. She loves to sing. She tries to whistle (she puckers up and hums). Ruby loves to play peek-a-boo and chasing games, read books by herself, dress up, and climb as high as possible. She is a very active little girl. We love her so much!
Yes, Alli wore this outfit to the park. It is easy to keep an eye on her when she wears this outfit.
Ruby grew into some old shoes of Alli's, they were pink leather, and they were a little scuffed up. So I covered them with red sequin trim to freshen them up for Ruby. Everywhere we go people go nuts over Ruby's shoes. Not bad for leftovers.
