Sort of Like a River

One of the days my parents were here we decided to go kayaking down the St. Joseph River.  It weaves right through South Bend, so it's really close to our place.  The shuttle leaves from St. Patrick's park and you get to wear their AWESOME orange life vests.

Here we are--ready to start our trip :)

It is a really pretty river and it was fun to just enjoy the scenery.  Matt liked taking me on adventures to look for fish near the banks.

Dad and Mom in their kayaks

Matt and I

Then I took this lovely self portrait.

After a little while, paddling got really tiring!  It's a lot of work!  And, this river is NOTHING like the Provo river that runs out of the mountains my friends.  We don't have any hills in Indiana so it's basically at a standstill.  I'm convinced that it would take the same amount of effort to paddle upstream as it would down.  Near the end Matt tied my kayak to the back of his and pulled me down the river--he's too good to me. :)

This picture was taken right before these boys asked, "Woah, did they get stuck together like that on their own??"  My response: "Yes, yes they did."

And, here we are looking awesome with our paddles.  :)

The Windy City in the Summer!

The second day my parents were visiting we took a little trip to Chicago.

Isn't Chicago gorgeous in the summer??

After our day at the beach in this same lake, I wanted so badly to jump in and go for a swim. :)

While we were in Chicago we went to the Shedd Aquarium.  I was extremely impressed and Matt loved it.  He once said, "Fish are my favorite animal because they don't come out on land and bother me."  :) 

I didn't get any pictures of the really cool things they had like sea otters, penguins, MASSIVE snakes and really colorful frogs, but here were a few of my favorite little fishies.

We also went to see a 4D planet earth movie that was pretty sweet.  Our favorite parts were when they sprayed your face with water, and of course the glasses...

Ha, their serious faces are so much better than ours--think invasion of the body snatchers... :)

One of my favorite parts of our visit was the water show where they showed how they train the dolphins.  Check out the view of lake Michigan with all the sailboats!

Dad, Mom, Matt, and I in Chicago :)

After the aquarium we were going to go on an architecture cruise, but we were all really exhausted so we just went to dinner at a nice mexican restaurant instead.  I'm not sure if we were just really hungry or what, but they had the BEST chips and salsa I've ever had! :)  Until next time...

Favorite Day

I think the first day my parents were here was my favorite.  We slept in a bit and then went to breakfast at my favorite breakfast place of all time--the American Pancake House.  The food is amazing and they have fresh squeezed orange juice.  I ordered french toast with hash browns and Matt ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese panini with hash browns (we LOVE hash browns around here:)).

After breakfast we drove up to St. Joseph, Michigan and enjoyed walking through these lake side shops.

We even even stopped for ice cream :)

After walking around town we made our way down to our favorite beach. :)

Next time we go, I'm definitely spending some time on these swings.

Then Matt auditioned for Baywatch...

Haha, such a babe.

It was a perfect day for swimming.  It was little overcast, but still really hot.

Matt and I spent a couple hours just playing in the water like kids again--it was definitely the highlight of our summer.  My parents swam for a bit and then sat on the beach and played paparazzi with my camera.

I'm not sure what I said in the first picture but apparently it was hilarious.  In the second one we were waiting for that wave to hit us, and in the third you can see the effect of that wave on my legs. :)

I'm so glad I married my best friend because he makes my life so fun!

My cute parents :)

Matt and I after playing in the water

My mom's cute toes.  This picture also shows how amazing the sand is on this beach.

Yep--he's a babe ;)

Campus Walk :)

The last day that Matt's parents where visiting his brother James pulled through with his moving truck (he and his family were moving from Pittsburgh to Provo).  It was fun to have him visit, even if it was only for a day.  We had lots of yummy food and went for a walk around the campus.

James & Mom on the left, Dad and Matt on the right :)

We got some famous dome pictures...

And, of course we fed the campus squirrels.

 It's amazing how they'll eat right out of your hand!!  During the summer Matt and I would eat our lunch on a bench outside and feed these squirrels.  Sometimes it freaked me out though because they will come and sit on your feet!  That's a little too close if you ask me!

And, we had to get a picture of all the attorneys/future attorney in front of the ND law school.

People always tell me how much James and Matt look alike--especially with their goatees. :)

The pictures didn't turn out very well for some reason, but I'm glad we got a few anyway.  Matt and James may or may not have had some bonding time playing xbox later that night--even though it was Sunday. ;)  They had to live it up since these best buds hadn't seen each other since last December and won't be seeing each other until next December--man we need to live closer once we're done with school!

Chicago in the Summertime

We have done so many fun things this summer that I haven't had time to blog about.  We've just been busy having fun I guess!  Every night was a party this summer and it's really sad to see it come to an end... SO, instead of just skipping to the next part of our lives, I'm going to do a little post about some of our fun adventures.

At the end of June, Mom and Dad Purcell came out to visit us!  It was such a blast eating good food, staying up late, watching every episode of Shark Tank with them because Matt and I love it so much, and going on adventures with them.

One of the days they were here we took a little day trip to Chicago to visit the Science and Industry Museum.

Mom, Dad, and Matt in the car on the way there. :)

The museum really was incredible.  I didn't get any pictures of my favorite parts, but I have to say that one of them was all the human bodies they had in the health section.  The human body really is amazing!  I was a little weirded out by the "pickled fetus" section though.  I don't really know what else to call it, but they had fetus' at each week of development throughout a pregnancy in little cases filled with liquid.  The first few weeks were cool, but as soon as it started to really resemble a baby it just made me sad.  The entire museum was incredible though--best one I've ever been to!  It was so informative and just amazing (have I said amazing enough? ;)).

Here is a picture of Dad with his favorite plane... I can't remember the story behind it, but I think it was a WWII plane?

We also saw this little chick hatch, which was super adorable.  He couldn't even really stand up yet. :)

I also liked all the little town replicas they had.

This is the U-505.  It's the only German submarine captured by the Navy in WWII.  We went on a tour of the inside and it was SO cramped and hot in there.  I can't imagine living down there with so many smelly men.  Our tour guide was awesome and even made me jump a couple times.

After walking around we were exhausted so we went out for Chicago Style Pizza.  It is SO good, but I can only eat it once a year or it will clog my arteries and I'll die.

Mom and Dad at dinner

All of us at dinner with our pizza :)

More posts about the rest of our summer adventures--coming soon!

Bleeding Blue, or Irish Through and Through?

Matt and I were able to get some awesome tickets to the last Notre Dame home basketball game on Friday night through my work.  It was such a fun experience.  Matt says we were so close we had to look up to the players. 

Isn't this shamrock sweet?

The arena was incredible... so we were pretty proud that it's named after us.

We aren't rabid Notre Dame fans yet, but being there close enough to see the players and coaches interacting, with all the people, really got us pumped.

I think we'll always bleed BYU blue, but we were definitely feeling some Irish pride.

Matt and I at our first Notre Dame sporting event!!

The Windy City

On Monday we woke up and headed to Chicago for the day.

The view as we approached the city

 

My dad took this amazing picture after we arrived in Chicago

Photo by Judd Pinegar

Me, Matt, and Mom before entering the Willis Tower 

(formerly the Sears Tower)

Matt and I on our way up!

The views from the top were incredible!

Dad and Mom

(Not the best lighting for portraits though)

Matt and I

 

Me, Matt, Mom, Dad at the top of the Willis Tower

 

Mom was brave and actually stepped out onto the glass ledge...  Matt and I wouldn't go near it! :)

We then headed to Giordano's for Chicago style pizza - amazing.

(thanks to the Stewarts for the recommendation)

  

Ya, it was probably even better than this picture looks - if you can believe that.

 

After lunch we decided that we could walk from Giordano's (which was near the Willis Tower) to Navy Pier.  

ATTENTION:  Do not attempt that walk.  :)  At least it was kind of funny and we'll never forget it.  Plus, we got to see pretty much the entire water front!

And, I know I posted this already, but we had so much fun making fun of people riding segways.  I'll tell you what though, by the time we arrived at Navy Pier, I wished we had rented some segways despite their nerd factor.  :)

The water was almost turquoise!  It was crazy!

Navy Pier - so close... yet so far.

 

Mom and Dad at Navy Pier - finally.

Dad chillin' with a statue.

 

Matt and I at the Pier

 

More fun to come!!