block par-tay

Here we are at our block party last Saturday. If you think we look a little under the weather, well, we were. Three words: fountains o' snot. Mom and Dad tried to keep us quarantined, but as soon as we saw the giant inflatable jumpy thing, that was over. Will our parents ever learn anything? Fortunately most of the other kids on the block were sick as well, and our wonderful neighbors embraced our mucous-covered selves with open arms.


This is the reason Mom and Dad let us out of the house in the first place: a visit from our friendly neighborhood firemen, complete with awesome red firetruck. And yes, here in Oak Park they actually let 3-year-olds shoot a loaded firehose. (Okay we had a little help.) Click here for a reminder of last year's visit.


The firemen gave out helmets, flashlight keychains and whistles. Zak will give you his helmet and his keychain if you can guess which gift was his favorite.



Finally, here we are in the aformentioned giant inflatable jumpy thing. As you can see, it was an absolute blast. We don't quite understand why it can't remain in the middle of our street permanently. In fact, if you can explain it to us, we'll give you our helmets and our keychains.

zak's web

Here's a little something I drew today: a spider in his web. My spider only has five legs, but that's because he's a baby. To count the limbs for yourself (four and five are kind of stuck together), click here.

I've been drawing a lot of webs lately, inspired by two arachnids who have taken up residence with us. One lives in the garage ("Cute Spider"), and one hangs out on the deck ("Sleepy Spider"). Click here to see Cute Spider, but be warned: Mom and Dad's new camera takes very detailed photos, and despite his name, this little guy would undoubtedly be rejected by Cute Overload.

wyn's limbs

mom's birthday

Mom's birthday was last weekend. We're a little late posting this because, well frankly, it took a few days to calm down after that trip to Bass Pro Shops. Anyway, on Sunday we took Mom out for a day on the town, hitting Evanston and Andersonville.

Here you see us after ambushing Mom with one of our signature hug attacks. We executed it perfectly. First, Zak sets a pick by stopping near the entrance to our lunchtime restaurant. When Mom stoops down to usher him in, wham! Hug attacks from two sides. That's how it's done, folks. If you come visit us in Chicago, we just might bestow a hug attack on you, also.

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you.

nature calls

Today we trekked down to the magnificent Bass Pro Shops store in Bolingbrook, where men are men and women can come along if they have to (Mom). Here are Zak, Sam and I conducting a dress rehearsal for the year 2019.


Who has the keys? They must be here somewhere.


Excuse me, sir. Yes. We'll take three of these.


Uh, cancel that order. We'll take three of these.




This kind of adorable can only be described as a force of nature.


Camping pretty much rules. As did our morning at Bass Pro Shops. Thanks for coming with us Sam!

off to preschool

We've been in preschool for two weeks now, and we gotta say, we love it. It helps that we've been going to the same place (Andersen) for playschool since we turned two. And even though Mom had a dream that we both got F's in geography on our preschool report cards, rest assured that we are learning lots of things about lots of things. Just ask us.

flowers, plants and animals

Grandma Lipsey came to town last week to spend some quality time with our extended family. Here we are on Saturday at the Farmers' Market.


Mom and Dad's new faster, better camera also arrived last week. Which means you'll be seeing even more adorable moments like this, right here. Yee-ha!


As if that wasn't enough excitement, Aunt Melissa Alex Moosow Moosaw also flew up for a visit last weekend. Here we are at Niki in the Garden at Garfield Park Conservatory. It rocked.


Look out for the giant alligator!


Watch out for the skunk! That's right, Wynston was a skunk for most of last week. Unlike most skunks, he liked to be held. And as he told everyone repeatedly, he was "sooooo soft and soooooo fluffy." Who can resist holding a soft, fluffy, relatively-stink-free skunk?


"Woe is me, what will I do when both Grandma and Aunt Melissa Alex Moosow Moosaw are gone?" We love our family so much. Come back soon!