No more milkshakes

Yep, this post is long overdue.  It's 59 degrees outside today.  I guess it's no longer milkshake weather.  Over the summer we visited 8 different ice cream places (well, we may have visited 1 place in particular multiple times)    in search of the best milkshake.  All in the name of science, of course.  See the following charts and graphs....
And, drumroll please, our winner is OBERWEIS.  Scoring a 26 out of 30.  It was the first place we visited, and no other could top it.  They've got lots of different flavors, you get a huge honkin' milkshake in a fancy stemmed glass, and their ice cream really is the best.    It's a tad pricey, about 5 bucks.  But ya get what ya pay fer.    Our least favorite place was Portillos, scoring 12/30.   They offer a chocolate cake shake.  While it sounds good, the boys were not fans.  It's basically a vanilla shake with a soggy piece of  cake in the bottom.  We will  continue our research next summer.  Ya know, for science.

scientific data usually involves crayons

           

We are back to our school year routine.  The boys are doing well in school, despite their complaining about homework and not having enough hours in the day to play.  Wren misses them.  But she also enjoys having me to herself.  More on her later...

Last days of August

This is Ryder.   He's 9 now.  NINE.  (Well, really he's some sort of middle-aged-man-kid hybrid.  He plays chess and reads big fat books.  I don't even know how to play chess. )

This is how we celebrated Ryder's birthday.  It was good times.

And now we have a giant slingshot in our backyard.

Ryder's birthday also happened to be the first day of school.  Lucky kid.

This was one nervous kid.  But he survived, and I think he might have even enjoyed it.

Catch up.....again

I'm super excited for school to start.  Like really excited.  Like counting the hours excited.  Summer has been fun, but I'm ready to add a little structure to my day.  And a little quiet time.  (2 more days!)

Blogging has taken a backseat this summer.  We've been busy (doing milkshake research and not watching TV).  So here's a glimpse of the last half of our summer.

Child labor

Field trip to see the sunflowers (with Aunt Kenzie, Aunt B and the cousins)

Gav's first karate tournament

Wren's re-adoption day.  

(We had to readopt her in the US so she could have a US birth certificate)

This is her being deputized by the Chicago police department.  I have no idea why this is part of the adoption process.  It was weird.  

Fun with the chalkboard wall.  

mmm. homemade donuts.  

Gavin teaching Wren how to jump in the puddles.  

Coming Soon:  First Day pictures,  a house project update and Milkshake Monday results.

Catch up

It's been a while, I know.  Here's what we've been up to this past month....

We celebrated Wren's 2nd birthday - 3 times, in 3 different states.

We enjoyed some quality time with some cousins, throwing gang signs.

Lots of this.

We ate this.  You should give it a try too. 

We spotted this "TIV" on the highway.......

on our way to Cedar Point.

We rode rides.  And we wore matching shirts.  Don't be jealous.  

We made a rope swing in grandpa's backyard.  

And everyone enjoyed it.  

We played on the beach.  This was not Wren's favorite thing to do.

It might have been his favorite thing. 

Is there anything better than digging holes?

We made our way back down to the beach to watch the fireworks.

first fireworks :)

backyard fun

I love summer.

Passing the Time

Everyone wants to know how our NO TV summer is going (by everyone, I mean 4 people).  And I must say it's actually going rather well.  The boys have re-learned how to play and use their imagination.  They have built towers, made forts, been reading more, and this...

This is the deconstruction of an old DVD player. 

 Kept them busy for hours.  

Next week I am going to have them put it back together. ;)

Milkshake Monday

The boys and I are conducting a scientific experiment this summer.  There will be data gathering, sampling and even charts and graphs.   Our goal: to find the best milkshake in town.  Every Monday afternoon we will venture out to gather our data (within a 30 mile radius)  (Radius is a fancy science and math word.   It's important to use the proper technical grammer when recording your data).  We had our first fact-finding mission yesterday at Oberweis Dairy.  

Our highly technical data recording system.   

Gav had the cookie dough.  I have taught him well. 

Ryder ordered the mint chip.

In our nine years on living in illinois we had never been to Oberweis, even though it is a pretty popular local dairy.  And I must say it was pretty darn good.  Very homemade like.  I think it will be hard to top.  But in the name of science we must continue on this quest.  We can not come to a conclusion until all the facts are in and the numbers have been totaled.  I'll keep ya posted...

I am the meanest mom ever

That's the word on the street, anyways.  You see, we're trying a little experiment on the Berry children:  No screens this summer.  Which means, no TV, no computer, no Wii, no Netflix.  I know!   How will they survive?!  How will I survive?!

As a peace offering, we did purchase them this toy.  It has already made us very popular in the neighborhood.

We're one day into this experiment.  So far, so good.  They haven't really missed their beloved TV yet.  Bust ask me again next month and the answer may be different.  Heck, ask me tomorrow and I may already regret this decision.