Field Trip!

Spencer's Art Teacher took her students on a summer field trip last week, and I was lucky enough to be able to go along! We boarded the train in Joliet and rode into downtown Chicago (that was an adventure in and of itself as we had never taken the train before).
Once in Chicago we walked to the Art Institute for a tour. We didn't get to see a lot of the museum, but the tour guides did a nice job with the kids.
Spencer was especially excited to see this painting...

The tour guides had the kids work on some projects along the way...
And then at the end of the tour, they got to work on a special art project of their own. It was pretty cool.


And here is Spencer with his art teacher, Miss Dottie. She is so good to these kids!

We also went to a huge art store, and ate some yummy caramel popcorn! It was really fun to be able to spend the day with Spencer doing something that he loves!

Announcing...

...the fifth installment in the Gordon Family Saga, to be released January 2010!!
Stayed tuned to see how this exciting story continues!

And here's what the critics are saying...
Sam Gordon, "Yeah!!!"
Tyler Gordon, "I really hope it's a girl, Mom."
Spencer Gordon, "What do you think the baby's favorite food is?"
Sydney Gordon, "Baby? I wanna hold it!!!"

Happy Fourth of July!!!

I gotta tell ya, it did not seem like the Fourth of July around here! This is the first year in awhile that we haven't been in Utah, either in the mountains, or enjoying Provo's many festivities (but either way, surrounded by family). But the biggest problem was this: it was cold and rainy all day long!!! Isn't the Fourth supposed to be HOT? That's part of the holiday right? Well we made the most of it anyway.
The night before was great! We sat around our firepit, Steve played the guitar (should've taken a picture of that!) and we had S'mores. We decided to do the sparklers that night while we had a fire to light them, good thing since it was rainy the next day!
Here is my attempt at night-time photography, some turned out, others not quite. Here is Sam enjoying his sparkler, with evidence of S'mores still on his face...

My favorite thing about these pictures is the look on the kids's faces... Sydney had no problem with sparklers, she wasn't in the least bit scared of them.



Very fun night! The next morning we had a ward pancake breakfast, not much exciting to share about that...
When we came home we decided to pull out our 12-year-old ice cream maker and use it for the second time ever. The kids were excited to help.


Should've taken a picture of the product: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream! It was actually really easy and very yummy! I think maybe we will pull that ice cream maker out more often!
As for the rest of the Fourth, we went and saw the movie UP (kids were hilarious with the 3D! Sydney kept jumping in her seat and the boys kept trying to touch the pictures in front of them.) and then had a wet barbeque at home! We were going to go and see fireworks, but it was just too soggy by then! Turned out to be a fun day despite the rain!

Child Labor...

...that's why we have children, right? I am not sure the boys saw this job as labor, they thought it was pretty fun.

We still need to work on our summer tans...

I am sure if you ask nicely, they would do this for you too!!!