Windy City

We just HAD to make a visit to Chi-town during our Midwestern stay. We drove for a few hours to get to East Chicago, IN, then took a 40 minute train ride to Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, IL.

First stop: American Girl Place at Water Tower Place. AG recently relocated its Chicago store to the Magnificent Mile. It is a little girl wonderland! Millie used some of her money (with just a wee bit of $ help from Mom & Dad) to adopt the newest historical doll, Rebecca. She's beautiful!

Sisters!

We then headed for the Russian Pointe Dance Boutique at the other end of Michigan Avenue. This proved to be a dancer's delight! Liesey had an appointment to be fitted in pointe shoes, so she received very personalized attention. She tried on too many shoes to count, but finally found the right ones. Fits can be fun... Our ballerina purchased a few other "must-have" items & left with a big smile on her face.
The tutus in the window start at $1300 & go UP, depending on how it is embellished. No, we didn't buy one. (Click on the photo to see a larger image.)

One happy customer...

Last (and tastiest) stop: Pizzeria Uno on Ohio Street for Chicago style pizza. We had to wait for 45 minutes until our deep dish 'za arrived at our table; however, it was well worth the wait. This culinary treat was for the Smith boys who so patiently endured the shopping at AG and RP and all other shopping stops in between.


Back to the train, back in the car, and over the river & through the woods to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's) house we go... By the time we got on the train, we had walked over 4.5 miles in downtown Chicago. It's a good thing we all wore comfy shoes. It rained so hard on the drive back to my parents' that Mr. Smith couldn't see the road at times -- it was a real toad strangler. Or perhaps a gullywasher?

Independence Day

When we woke up this morning, the bonfire was still smoldering, despite the rain showers. Our Fourth was soggy outdoors, but fun & festive indoors. Mom & Dad hosted a get together of 30 people -- relatives & friends from near & far.

I am going to post a few photos of the day's events. There were no fireworks & no fire dept., just a few streaks of lightning & a boom or two of thunder. Awesome...

Red, white, and PINK? hats!

The Thompson fam.

The Smithlings & their maternal grandparents

G-pa & Molly

Cousins!

Dress-up with old (yet still stylish!) hats
Aren't they cute?

She said, "Yes!"

UJ proposed to RJ. They made the BIG announcement in Indiana. Yeah!!!! :-) We are all so "lucky" (No, actually we are blessed!) to have Robin join our fam. See the pics for more details!

Next stop -- Hoosierland! Fire & Fireworks

Arsonists?
Who dropped that match? I don't know about you, but I'm seeing two young ladies near the scene of the crime. Yes, it was an intentional action. Burn, baby burn...

With a little push from the tractor, the entire brush pile soon ignited.

The flames were REALLY high -- perhaps too high. A well-intentioned neighbor called the fire dept., so that added a little more interest to the night's events. Sirens wailed, lights flashed, & several volunteer firemen arrived on the scene along with a few lookie-loos. Excitement prevailed. Thankfully, the fire was not extinguished... We think that the cookies that the firemen were given helped to convince them that this was an acceptable sized fire. No citations, no reprimands. :-)

'Smores, anyone?

As if having the fire dept. make a visit wasn't enough "fun" for one evening, we had to shoot off a few fireworks. Oooh... Ahhh... And it's not even Independence Day. What will we do for an encore?

OK Tour

It was 105 degrees when we landed in Tulsa. Now that's HOT! Despite the heat, we enjoyed a laid back visit in Enid, Oklahoma. (Enid = dinE backwards. Dine we did.) We also visited with family & friends, drank lots of water to keep cool, & we ate a little pie -- every day.

In honor of our visit, my dear mother-in-law made:

2 coconut creme pies

2 blueberry pies

1 peanut butter pie

2 blackberry pies

There was no shortage of dessert, and no, we didn't eat all of the pie during our four-day visit. We gave it our best shot... :-) Sorry, no photos of Mrs. Smith's pie buffet. Trust me, they were beautiful & tasty.

I'm sure that this lawn chair has seen many hot, humid summers. And I am sure that a few folks have even been served pie as they were seated in this chair. I really liked this photo, so I had to share it...

Grandma Florence is surrounded!

G-ma & Liesey

On Sunday afternoon, we took a drive to Lahoma to the Krueger family farm to visit with the Okie-cousins.

Look out! That's Millie behind the wheel!

The Smithlings' 2nd cousins Suzanna, Rebecca, Weston, and Maverick have all grown so much since we last saw them last year. You know me... I just had to get a group photo. It was rather difficult getting everyone to hold still long enough to take this picture, but I finally did it!

Mr. Smith got to see his ol' buddy Steve. They are being silly here. "Suck/tuck." Don't ask.

After we left Enid, we spent one night in T-town. Nathan, M., & Liesey went to see the Transformers movie at the Imax theatre, while Mr. Smith, Millie, and I did a little shopping. We then ate at Zio's. YUM!!!

Our road trip from Tulsa to Indiana began on the morning of July 1st. No, we didn't stop at the "World's Largest McDonald's" affectionately known within our fam. as McWeeWee, but I had to snap a photo as we approached this turnpike treasure.

After a stop in Joplin, MO, to purchase lots of "really-cool-aerial-fireworks-that-you-cannot-buy-in-California," we met up with UJ as he was driving from AZ to IN. The Smithlings all decided to ride with their uncle, so Mr. Smith & I enjoyed uninterrupted conversation for hours on end as we drove across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. We didn't listen to the radio at all. We just enjoyed 440 miles of talk.

Raleigh Court's Got Talent

Sydney & Millie planned a neighborhood talent show for Friday, June 19th. It was a BIG success, despite the sweltering heat. There was a matinee performance at 1 p.m., which was more of a dress rehearsal for the 7 p.m. show. There were about 30 people present at the evening production, with 11 of the 15 Raleigh Court households being represented. What a great turnout! We are blessed by living in such a great neighborhood -- and who knew we had so many gifted people on one street!

Emcee Sydney greeted the audience by saying," Welcome to the 2nd Annual Raleigh Court Talent Show! From dancing to pure music artistry, we have much in store for you. The acts will be performed by your friends on the court."

I loved her introduction! Priceless!

Millie added that there would be dessert following the performance. The girls saved the yummiest talent for last -- brownies, pie, and other goodies added a tasty finish to a GREAT evening.

You won't see me in the slideshow -- I was snapping pics with my new Canon. My new camera is a Rebel XSi, and it's an early b-day present. It takes great photos, but I have a lot of learning to do. I did play my flute for my entry. Jericho & Cody (two canine residents of the court) one-upped me by howling & barking as I played. Wow. I didn't think my playing was THAT bad! HA!

"Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show..."

Spring 2009 Recital

You can never be too old to play dress-up. Right?!

The costumes have arrived, and the dress rehearsals have been underway this week in preparation for Saturday's dance recital. There are two performance times, so it'll be a full day.

My Silly Millie!
Millie's skirt can double as a ceremonial Indian headdress.

These talented tappers could show you how to pull off a cramproll & a shuffle ball change. They'll even throw in some pullbacks, a buffalo, & wings (NOT buffalo wings); however, this adorable pose will have to do for now.

Millie & her cellmates, I mean classmates, get to display some fancy footwork in their dance to Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock."

Megan & Millie

Ballet Levels 5-7 are teaming up to do several pieces

choreographed to George Gershwin's compositions.

Liesey & her friends are dancing to "Somebody Loves Me."

It's a fun & sorta flirty piece -- perfect for people

in the audience who do not like stodgy classical ballet. :-)

The advanced tappers are dancing to Barry Manilow's "Bandstand Boogie."

Sienna, Kira, Kyra, Kelcey, and Liesey Lou

Last, but not least, the tap class also gets to pay homage to 1970's fashion in their funky version of "Workin' Day & Night." I actually have clothing from that era that I kept just in case it might come in handy someday. You never know -- bell bottoms might come back into vogue, but I don't think I'd be able to squeeze into a size 7 again! HA!

Sacramento KING?

Although things didn't quite go according to plan, the king-sized welcome that Mr. Smith received at the airport was still royally funny. :-)

The Arkansas Traveler was returning from a few day's visit to Little Rock, so the kids decided we'd ALL go meet him at 10:45 last night. The Smithlings had learned about the free root beer float night at Sonic that ended at midnight, so we agreed to take Daddy there after we picked him up. Sounds innocent enough so far, right? Ah... but we forgot to add in the Greg-factor. M's Bible study buddy decided he'd join us -- mostly for the free float part of the equation. Things turned very silly & somewhat boisterous (rather quickly) with Greg along for the ride.  :-) What fun!

The boys decided they'd make a sign to hold up so Doug wouldn't have any trouble finding us -- just to be funny. When they couldn't get the printer to properly print the name on one sheet of paper in landscape mode, they opted for individual letters on a single sheet of paper. Is it possible for a sign to LOOK loud?

As the sign was printing out, Greg spied M's old crown, and his SILLY creative juices began to flow. He soon had an old costume & cape to complete the look. Off to the 'port "the King & I" went... oh, and the 3 Smithlings were in the mix. (As an added note, we enjoyed a WONDERFUL thunderstorm light show along the way. It never rains in CA in June, does it?!)

We had to stop for gasoline, so that delay caused us to be a little too late to implement the original plan of dropping the guys out on the curb so they could "lie in wait" for the frequent flier to exit the terminal. When Mr. Smith called to tell us he was on the ground, he was already getting near the curbside pick-up point, which was at the very far end of the terminal. We were just nearing the baggage claim area when he called. This called for a change in the plan because Doug was already outside the building. Greg hopped out of the car at the mid-way section of the drop-off/pick-up zone, and began running toward a very unsuspecting (and weary) traveler. Greg was yelling, "I'm looking for Doug Smith!" as he was holding the huge sign up. There were many people from Doug's flight waiting for rides, so they all were laughing at the scene. When Greg finally reached Doug, he turned to all the other people & exclaimed, "I found Doug Smith! I found him! I found him! He's right here! I found Doug Smith!" Our car finally made its way through the traffic to reached the king and the travelin' man. There is still a look of shock & awe on Mr. Smith's face, even if it was a few seconds after his initial reaction. I don't think anybody has ever had a welcome quite like this one...

Our next stop: Sonic @ 11:30 p.m.

The floats were free indeed. Although free ice cream is good, the best part of stopping at the drive-in restaurant was that we were treated to another incredible lightning display as we waited on the carhop to deliver our order. God's free stuff is better than anything Sonic can dish up.