A Week with Breanna

Two weeks ago our niece Breanna came to stay with us for the week. We invited her to come and explore Chicago with us, and we had a super fun time with her here. Oliver loved having her around and Bre was a good big cousin to him. The weather was HOT that week, but we still managed to get out and do some fun things.

One day we went and had lunch with Brian at Northwestern. When we walked into his building Breanna announced, "This is just how I imagined a University to be." She says the cutest things sometimes.

Judith and Bre at the Nature Center

Our friend Judith works at The Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in one of the Southwest suburbs of Chicago. We thought we'd go and visit her and see what the Nature Center was like. Judith took us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the center and we got to see owls, turtles, fish, and an old crow named Whiskey. Ollie loved watching the turtles swim and Breanna had fun in the creative play area.

The teeth-brushing duo

Oliver followed Bre's every move and wanted to do everything she did. That came in handy when it was time to brush teeth!

Outside McDonald's

We drove into Chicago one day and had lunch at the big McDonald's. Breanna thought it was so cool for a McDonald's to have an escalator in it!

Bre at the gate of Lincoln Park Zoo

We hit the Lincoln Park Zoo on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. We stayed cool with lots of water and breaks in the shade. That day also turned out to be the start of the Air and Water show, and we got to see the Blue Angels flying in their formations over the zoo. They were LOUD and I am sure the animals wondered what was going on, but they sure were fun to watch! We ended a great day at the zoo with a ride on the carousel.

Riding the Carousel

We spent an evening at Mystic Waters water park where we splashed around in the water and floated down the lazy river. We read a lot of books and spent some time just hanging out together at home. We are so glad she could spend a week with us and we look forward to her visiting again sometime soon!

For more photos of Breanna's visit click here.

To see a super cute video of Oliver laughing, click here.