Nog+Chog

Mom got inspired from an article in the most recent issue of Parents magazine. So off to the fabric store and Target with the help of Norah, we purchased everything that we needed for our Tye-Dye Extravaganza. It ended up to be a little expensive, and such a rainy day, but we didn’t let any of that spoil our FUN! Besides that, I never thought that this style would be back in fashion, but I see it everywhere now. Especially on the kids! Thank goodness I’m keeping up with the styles, cause I’d hate to be that mom, where people say, “What was she thinking by dressing her kids like that!!!!!” 😉

Norah prefers to pronounce it ‘Consin vs. Wisconsin. Regardless, We Had A Blast! We stayed at the Kalahari resort and had a real nice suite which we shared with Eric and Susan, Andy, Shawn and their 3 kids, Zoe, Jacks, and Finn. It worked out real well, and thank goodness we were on the first floor. We had a nice patio that led to a separate pool, which was simply what the kids needed, when we didn’t want to deal with all the madness with the waterpark. Trust me, it’s HUGE and crazy busy, but was soooo much fun. We also met up with John and Kristie, and their children, Zach and Rachel. Unfortunately, we have pix of them on our “other” camera, which we’re not as good about posting. We’ll try our best to include some video, as Norah went mini golfing for her very first time! It was a hoot!
We are going to try and make this an annual event, so the more the merrier! I guess that I should start planning/organizing NOW, for July 2009!

Almost forgot! Ryan’s older sister, Kelly got engaged a couple weeks ago to her long time beau, Jon. CONGRATS YOU 2! These pix are from the very first time that we met Jon, which was at the Chicago Marathon back in 2004. Norah was only 6 months old! Welcome to the family Jon. You know that you have your engagement to re-think about joining this crazy family. But we think that you know what you’re gettin’ yourself into….dontchya! 😉

Sorry for no posts lately. July has been a crazy month! We had a great 4th of July here in Chicago, and went to the Wisconsin Dells, and also spent last weekend up at Great America/Six Flags with some good friends of ours here from Chicago. (WARNING: Don’t waste your time on the new roller coaster; The Dark Knight. It was very disappointing.) I will try and get some pix up soon of all our fun adventures. We are heading off to Des Moines, IA (Minnie’s home town) for a week in early August, as my older brother, Ryan and his family will be home from Alaska. I haven’t seen my big bro in 7 yrs, so it will be fun to have all the “Gamble” kids/cousins together for the first time evah! That, and my grandmother turns 99 on August 3rd! HOORAY!

The past few days, Charlie has ran a fever, and kept both mom and dad up all night, as he had a little bug. But on a normal day, both my kids are usually the happiest kids in the world! And this is what they look like, when times aren’t so tough.

Norah makes her debut on youTube courtesy of Oreo. This was literally her FIRST oreo cookie.
www.youtube.com/oreo
There is also a still photo of both Norah and mom, displayed periodically in the fake camera. Check it out when you have time!

Yep…this is pathetic that I’m posting this so late.
Back in March, we had Ryan’s old roommates from our days at Iowa State over for some chili and beer. Joe and Tracee (on the right) have 3 kids, AJ, and their twin daughters, Marisa and Morgan. And Kevin and his fiance Tracey, (on the left) are getting married this SATURDAY! CONGRATS! And Ryan will be performing the ceremony, as he’s an ordained minister. We look forward to this weekend, and catching up with college friends!

Back in early May, we said a “temporary” farewell to the Long family. They lived in our sister bldg and have 2 young kids, Kaya and Ashwin. Eric’s job has sent them to live in Singapore for the next 2-4 yrs. We miss you all terribly and hope that you are settling into your new life there.
They had their last “hoorah” at the Garfield Park Conservatory. It was such a cold day outside (for May) but so beautiful inside. We highly recommend it, as it’s open all year, and FREE. There are a couple other photos of 2 other little boys that we knew there at the party. AJ is the son of our neighbor’s Kristen and Andy. Their blog is linked on the side under “The Holub Times” and AJ is about 6 wks older than Charlie. The other little boy is Louie, and he is the son of Sam and Kurt. The Long’s blog is also now linked over in the right column “squared e.”

Here is a small collaboration of photos from the past few months. Enjoy!