July 2009 - the girls officially turned 2 years old! We had a small birthday party in our condo with family to celebrate the occasion. There was cake, Portillo's, a few beers, a few less tears, gifts and two little girls that were absolutely thrilled for a room full of people to sing to them the 'Happy Birthday' song. Seriously - they love that song - and sing it often - mostly to their blankets, dolls, stuffed animals and to Dora - but none the less it ranks right up there with 'Old McDonald' and 'Twinkle Twinkle'. I'm pretty sure neither John nor myself will be surprised if one of both of these girls have music become a vital part of their adult life.
August 2009 - 2 weekends of August were spent in Michigan this year. The first weekend entailed a wedding (congrats again to Steve and Chris!) and a short trip to Toronto for John and Jami minus our little turkeys. John's mom and dad graciously watched the girls for us while we went off to relax, sleep, wander aimlessly, dine and sleep some more. Great times were had even though it rained basically the entire time we were in Canada. Though when you've only spent a grand total of 4 days away from your kids in 2 years not much is gonna keep you from enjoying your time away. And in case you were wondering - yes - I have already started contemplating where the next anual Turkey-less Chung Vacation will be held. I'll have to update you all on that one later
The second trip to Michigan during the month of August '09 was to South Haven where the greater Chung family congregated to spend some quality time bonding. And bonding we did! Again it rained and rained and rained and rained and for the 2 minutes that the rain would stop we'd throw on our shoes and dash outside with the kids in hopes of burning off some of that pent up energy we were all feeling - only to have it start raining once again. We did manage to spend some time around a camp fire in the back yard Saturday night and some time at the beach on Sunday before we left for the 2-hour trip back to Chicago - so the trip wasn't a complete bust. Plus Helen and I spent many many hours the kitchen making meals for the entire family - and if any of you know me well you will know that I love to cook! Plus learning that Trader Joe's makes an awesome pancake mix - well that was more than well worth a trip!
September 2009 - Ah September! I love September - mostly because of Labor Day and that coveted day off of work - but I can't forget that September marks the beginning of Fall - and again - if any of you really know me you know that I love Fall! I digress....Labor Day weekend was spent in Iowa this year celebrating my mom's birthday. The girls seem to love spending time at my parent's house running around smelling all the flowers, watching the bubbling fountain and finding produce in their giant garden. My mom was also able to secure some babysitting from the neighbor girls so that the rest of the Wendling family could enjoy a not so quiet dinner out at The Brown Bottle. It is possible that our dinner antics had other fellow diners running for the hills - but it's also quite possible that we didn't really care! Good times were had - and it's rare that 3 of the 4 Wendling siblings are available to break some bread together - so we had to take advantage of the time that we had.
September also marked a few more trips to the Brookfield Zoo, the Shedd Aquarium, a U2 concert (a child-less night for John and Jami) and a few lake side bike rides that always seem to be a favorite of The Chung Twins. The girls have seemed to vastly develop their speech and are now speaking in almost full sentences and have also managed to learn all their colors, shapes, animal noises, numbers and on rare occasion can even count to 20. We're still working on the alphabet and potty training - and I'm fairly certain that is going to be a long, long dirty little road! At least they are developing their taste for John Cougar Mellencamp and the Black Eyed Peas - what more could any mom ask for - right? Now if only I could get their feet to stop growing!
September also marked a few more trips to the Brookfield Zoo, the Shedd Aquarium, a U2 concert (a child-less night for John and Jami) and a few lake side bike rides that always seem to be a favorite of The Chung Twins. The girls have seemed to vastly develop their speech and are now speaking in almost full sentences and have also managed to learn all their colors, shapes, animal noises, numbers and on rare occasion can even count to 20. We're still working on the alphabet and potty training - and I'm fairly certain that is going to be a long, long dirty little road! At least they are developing their taste for John Cougar Mellencamp and the Black Eyed Peas - what more could any mom ask for - right? Now if only I could get their feet to stop growing! 
