Bear Mountain State Park

Bear Mountain is about 45 minute drive from our house in Connecticut.

a view of the lake

walking to the paddle boats

Caitlyn had fun

we found a great walking stick for hiking up one of the paths

at the end of the hike

the whole family

Happy Father's Day

Carl, Sara, Mom

Dad, Brett, Natassha, me

Jared, Caitlyn, Josh

Photo Booth

It's become a tradition that we try to take pictures in a photo booth while on vacation...

Unfortunately, it's also a tradition that it takes forever to upload them!  This is from back in May (6 months ago!) when we were in Disney.

Aquarium!

Jared took a day off from work and we went downtown (on an actually slow day) to visit the Shedd Aquarium.

waiting to get in

Divers cleaning the tanks

they have a cool glass floor, below which sting rays swim around. Caitlyn wasn't really aware that anything was below her!

I know this is hard to see, but this was a dolphin; they named the new baby that morning!

Caitlyn and Josh loved watching the dolphins

One of the few interactive exhibits was the penguins...Josh could put on a costume...

and waddle around like a penguin.

Caitlyn enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror!

Of course the interactive submarine was the most favorite part.  

It was a bit windier than last time, but still a lovely day!

Family Portrait

We had these pictures taken in Florida while on vacation.  Since they weren't digital, we had to scan them in, and we had some technical difficulties.  But finally they are here.

Thanksgiving

With the Texas Silvers in town for Thanksgiving, we bucked our Black Friday shopping tradition (sort of)** and checked out the Wonderland Express at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

Josh checking out the Gingerbread house village

The Chicago river and buildings - all made out of wood and other natural materials.

**we still took advantage of one deal each at Staples and Kohls. but that was it - no getting up at 5am to buy the newest electronics this year~

Day Downtown

we spent the day at the Shedd Aquarium. We checked out the fish, but this was a great view of the Chicago skyline that we had to share with you.

Family Picture

we caught this family picture this week

Emily and Jim came to visit us from Indianapolis, so we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens

and they caught this family pic for us

New skills

like pouring from the water pitcher

and taking pictures of Dada nice family photo to start off the holiday weekend

Happy Holidays Part 2

Happy Holidays from the Silvers! A Few more pictures

Visiting with Poppa Harvey and Gramma Dorothy

playing on the Seasame Stree Truck from Gramma Carolyn and Grampa Robert

playing with the Duplos from Aunt Sara when her suitcase arrived Christmas morning, quite the miracle!

with Grandpa Francis

Hamming it up for the impromptu photo shoot at the hotel

Settled in for the car trip home from Highland