The Rancourt Family: A month of vacations

Here are Harper and I in Chicago for our monthly photos. Harper is 2 1/2 (36 months old) and I am 32 weeks pregnant. We were on our way to the zoo. If you want to compare this belly with my 32 week belly with Harper click here. I'm pretty sure I'm about the same size but it's a tough comparison because of the wool sweater in the December photo carrying Harper. Maybe a little bigger this time around.
We decided July would be the perfect month to take all of our vacations. Will, Harper and I took a trip to an island near Portland with our friends from Lebanon. We had nice weather and everyone on the island travels by golf cart which may have been Harper's favorite part of all. No car seat and she didn't have to sit in the back, a 2-year-old's dream come true. On our way to Portland we made time to stop at the Adams' so Harper,Theo & Ana (and their parents) could have a little visit. It was much to short but better than no visit at all.
We were back from Maine for a day and my dad, Harper and I headed to Chicago for our yearly visit. This year we decided to drive overnight. It was a challenge for all of us but definitely the best choice for Harper. It's a 15+ hour drive and could have taken 3 days if we tried to do it while Harper was awake. So, once we got to Chicago it took a little while to catch up on sleep but we were up and running the first day. In Lockport Harper had a wonderful visit with Abi. They were super cute playmates this year and Abi was a sweet mother duck. Harper also enjoyed Aunt Sandy and "Grandpa Jim". They have great toys at Aunt Sandy's house and Grandpa Jim helped Harper search for the bunny family that seems to live in the yard. Then we went to Aunt Sharon's house and filled our days with trips to Navy Pier, the American Girl doll store, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Museum of Science and Industry, our annual family picnic and a trip to the beach in Michigan. Harper and Owen had a great time together and she also really enjoyed the "big" girls, Ailee, Alyssa, Sydney, Amber & Hailey, as well as her older cousin Cassidy. Harper took quickly to everyone despite not seeing them since last year. She had a wonderful time but missed her daddy very much.
In other news before our vacations my dad came over and painted Harper's room. Only a year after moving into our house Harper finally has a big girl bed and some exciting paint on the wall. She even helped which was great fun for her. Will finished the trim while we were in Chicago and now all we have to do is hang a few things and decide exactly where we want her furniture to go. Will did some other home improvement projects while we were gone. Lots of big steps to get us ready for the arrival of baby r #2.
For those of you who still haven't guessed Leah set up a baby pool for baby r's gender and arrival date etc. You can join the fun here: http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyRancourt2
Below are some of my favorite pictures from the month and you can see the rest of July's pictures here!