Three Schneidimotos: All over the map! And farewell to great friends.

This has been one of our busiest summers ever! June was a very busy month around here, and the fun hasn't stopped...

I mistakenly added these pictures in reverse order, so we're going to start at the end of June and work our way backwards.

Our good friends, the Doba's, stayed with us for a couple nights before traveling to Vietnam, and Alison and Minh Khue had a blast hanging out together! Carly joined us for a special Vietnamese spring roll (fresh and fried) night!!

In the midst of rolling about 100 spring rolls and
getting excited about eating them!

They also got some good playground time together:

Before this visit was our big Road Trip of 2011! We visited Pittsburgh, Columbus, Winnetka, and Madison, and got the chance to spend some bonus time with the Nicholsons, who have now moved away for greener, chillier pastures. Here are some snapshots from the trip, starting with the return flight to Boston.

You will notice that this montage includes soooo many pictures of her pushing or driving a vehicle--that love has not dwindled with age! Given her other passions, her ideal profession at the moment seems to be a singing and dancing chauffeur.

Our final stop was Madison, WI, where we got to stay with Wyatt and Avery's Gaga and Popi. It was such a fun visit, which included trips to the children's museum and a nearby zoo:

(She sat on this dog for nearly half an hour)

At Ella's Deli, they had a fun overstimulating dinner
followed by a carousel ride.

Alison loved strolling around their Cabbage Patch doll
(and strapping him in, of course)

Popi is an amazing horticulturalist,

and his garden took our breath away

Another carousel at the zoo!

Oops, the casting director made a little mistake.

Ah, that's better.

She also got to sleep in a "big girl bed" there and loved it!

Before that, we spent several days with Grandma and Grandpa in Winnetka. One morning we went to a fun new show for toddlers and babies at the Chicago Children's Theatre.

We also found a couple of Daddy's old sticker books
and Alison loved looking at them

She turned this one into a multi-generational sticker book.

One of her favorite things is riding on Daddy's shoulders.

She and Lauren shared some laughs at the outdoor mall,
although the playdate was way too short!

At least they got to ride a train around the mall!

This was at a fun playground near the house--
Mommy was exhausted this day, so she just took pictures

Serving a customer at her store

Before that, we spent a couple days near Columbus, OH with Jonny's family. In addition to playing lots of games, we also went strawberry picking, had an Amish breakfast, went to CoSi, a great children's science museum and playspace, and walked to a nearby playground/castle.

Our first stop to Pittsburgh was very special--we got to see Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Tony, Jason and Kevin. It was a great brunch get-together, and Alison loved feeding the fish in Uncle Tony's pond!