Surprising Papa!

We had a memorable weekend in Chicago! My father-in-law, Curt, will be turning 60 in May. Back in November or December, all of the "kids" decided to surprise him with some time together. It hasn't happened since Megan & Jonas got married last June, and we didn't have any plans in the future to get together. We knew it would be just what he'd want for his birthday! We decided to do it in early April so that everyone could come. (It's hard to plan when you've got lots of schedules to work around.)

We had some amazing food at The Purple Pig!

Curt thought that it would be a trip with Megan and Jonas. The plan was for Heather and our family to surprise him. Curt ended up inviting Heather to come with them so that was no longer a surprise. We decided we would keep our family's attendance a surprise! Here's a video of his reaction:

And another angle. He was really shocked!

Here's Anna's summary of her weekend for her Kindergarten homework:

We enjoyed catching Curt up on how we planned it all. He was so delighted to hear our plans and to enjoy time with all of us. I think he was especially excited to see his grandkids! (Kate decided she didn't want to participate in pictures at this time. LOL)

Here's the surprised Papa as we waited for deep-dish pizza!

We stayed in a large airbnb that would fit all of us in the same house! We had a birthday banner, balloons, and a cake waiting there to celebrate him.

The next day we took the L train! Anna and Kate were thrilled about this!

Selfie while we wait for the train

We spent the day exploring downtown Chicago together.

It's not too often you can get these 2 pastors (father and son) together in a picture, so I took advantage of the situation!

In addition to spending time with Papa, we also enjoyed spending the time with Heather, Megan and Jonas. The last time they had seen Drew, he was only 7 weeks old!

Before I end this post, I figure I should post what Anna & Kate's favorite part of the day was that day - going to the candy store! Megan & Jonas had the great idea for us to stop by Dylan's Candy Bar. They got them a bag of candy and a lollipop! Here's a picture of our family (minus Drew) with their lollipops!

Kate's specific favorite part of the day was her lollipop, so here's one more:

We all went our separate ways on Sunday. It was a short trip, but one that will certainly go down in the McDaniel books!! 

11 months of Drew

This particular month with Drew was quite eventful even though we continued to battle lots of illnesses! Both Anna and Kate had birthdays during this month. He went to RUF Winter Conference for the first time in Brown County State Park. Here's a good picture of Curtis with him as they explored the small town of Nashville (Indiana).

He experienced his first time in a pool. He loved it!

He's warming up to "big friends" (aka college students) more.

This is a really good thing because RUF continues to grow! This was our largest group at conference yet.

He's continued to stand everywhere!

Look how tall he's getting! He's getting as big as his toy!

He's been eating very well. He prefers meat and lots of fruit. We've officially moved away from baby food though he still likes yogurt sometimes (as evidenced by the first picture).

He has some great smiles!

He has mastered the selfie - it is when I get the best smiles. :)

It's hard to believe how quickly our time has been going with Drew's first year of life. We're marching onward and preparing for his first birthday! Here's a few shots on the day he turned 11 months old:

And lastly, the comparison shot of all 3 at 11 months: