Our Exchange Student Arrives From Germany

We have been so excited to have a new member of our family arrive for months, and today is the day!  Tobi arrived from Germany at the Quad City Airport after a very long day of flying.  We arrived at the airport early, and all of us were so anxious to meet Tobi!  We have only seen pictures and chatted on Facebook a few times. 

I made this poster for us to hold up at the airport a few days before, and Skylar was really wanting to hold it when he walked in.  This picture was taken about 15 minutes before we watched his plane land in the observation area.  There were other local families there waiting to pick up their exchange students as well.  We felt proud of our sign because another family ran to the store to buy poster board and make their own sign!

As time got closer to his arrival, we waited around the greeting area, and eyed every single body we could see in the distance to see if it was him.  I know that all of our hearts were racing to meet our new friend!

I held up my phone and recorded the event of when we first saw Tobi.  It was a mixture of excitement, nervousness, awkwardness, and happiness.  We all hugged and said hello, and walked to collect his baggage.  Small talk started while we waited, and I could tell that he was probably tired from such a long day.  When we left the airport, the three kids sat in the back of the Jeep and we asked Tobi about his trip to America, what his favorite foods are, if he was hungry, and if he was tired.  It was hard to believe at that moment he was going to be a major part of our lives forever.  I'm really looking forward to getting to know this young man and introduce him to all of our friends and family!  Below is the video I took when he arrived at the airport:

Anxiously awaiting a German

We are so excited to have Tobi stay with us this year!  His arrival date is August 15th, and we have to drive to Chicago to pick him up so he doesn't have to wait in the airport for a 8 hour layover to fly into Moline.  Skylar and I made both the German flag and the US flag for Tobi's room.  Tom and I got a new tv and put together the armoire to have in Tobi's room.

Concrete for the Hot Tub

The guys had this knocked out in no time!

River Bandits family outing....sort of....

Tom and I took the kids to the River Bandits game and upgraded our seats so we could have a great view of the game.  Tom, Skylar, and Steven went to get food, and when they came back Skylar was white as a ghost and could barely walk.  She sat down next to me and quickly passed out.  We called the ambulance and they took her to the hospital, luckily everything was okay and it seemed she had heat stroke.  So instead of having her baseball autographed by the baseball players, she now has an autographed baseball from her nurses and doctor from the day she had her first ride in an ambulance :)

Our day with the Chicago White Sox

Back in May, Tom and I attended our first White Sox game together.  We sat in the family section (without knowing until we got there) and I befriended a nice man in front of us.  His name was Jose, and he was willing to help me get autographed children's books from some of the players.  I gave him my business card and a few days later, he found me on Facebook and added me as a friend.  He invited Tom and I to go with him to the Sox vs. Cubs game on Saturday.  We were soooooo excited!  Jose's cousin, Ramon Castro, is a catcher for the White Sox, and Ramon reserved the seats for us. 

We arrived at Jose's home in Chicago and he drove my car to the park.  We pulled in the players parking lot and all of the attendees instantly knew Jose and waved him in.  We parked next to many fabulous cars, and we hurried into the ballpark.  Our seats were behind the bullpen, so before the game we met Ramon as he was warming up Freddy Garcia.  One of the pitching coaches knew Jose and gave him a baseball from the bullpen, which Jose gave to us.  All of the players and coaches in the bullpen signed our baseball! 

Our signed White Sox bullpen baseball

After the game, we went back to Jose's house and got dressed to go out with Jose and his family.  We went to a bar called Pancho's owned by Alexei Ramirez' (White Sox player) in-laws.  When we arrived, we were greeted very kindly by Jose's relatives who had flown in from Florida, California, and Puerto Rico.  Another White Sox player arrived later in the night, Dayan Viciedo, a 21 year old brickhouse who was very nice. 

Dayan Viciedo, Ramon Castro, Jose, Tom

It was a night to remember, I salsa danced my night away and ate some amazing Puerto Rican food.  I really look forward to the day when we can have Jose visit us and return the favor. 

Geocaching with Skylar and Becca

Sky found a "micro" geocache

This one was hidden under a big rock in Richmond Hill, Sky took a necklace from it and Becca left a piece of sidewalk chalk inside for the next person

The name of this geocache was called "Big Sky" and it was hidden on a fire hydrant near a camper sales parking lot with a camper named Big Sky.  I thought this picture was more appropriate :)

Sky and Becca found a geocache at the Library!

Sky using the GPS to find our next location!

Niabi Zoo with Skylar and Grandma Shirley

Today we went to Niabi Zoo.  It was VERY hot outside, so we packed some drinks and snacks in our backpack.  Grandma Shirley came along with Skylar and me, so it was a day for the Timbrook girls.  We walked around the zoo and then took a train ride.