City Skipping

Hello Chicago...

Meet Miss Hollis....

She has been waiting an awfully long time to meet you...

Actually, the more I think about it, the two of you were made for each other...
Full of boundless energy...

Bursting with dreams...

And growth...

We were even able to pick up a new family member while visiting...

See this little stinker?
I snapped this shot at 10:00 at night.
Wide awake.
And wide awake at 12 and 2 and 4 and 6 too.
I think I found her kryptonite..Hotel Rooms.

If you do not like to eat, Chicago is not the place for you.
Our family does like to eat..and eat we did.

Garretts Popcorn, Ginos East, The Rosebud, The Dog House.
We left no stone unturned and took no prisoners.

If you asked Hollis what she liked most about Chicago, she would probably tell you, "Riding In a Taxi."

She asked us every 5 minutes to go for a ride in a taxi.

At one point  I looked at Jason and said,"If she asks me that again, I am going to flag the first taxi I see, put her in it, and send it home to Zionsville."

WOW.

I will tell you that going to Chicago with kids is a WHOLE lot different than going to Chicago without kids.

I'll let you read between the lines on that one.

When we were leaving Ginos East, I ran into a old family friend from Winston-Salem-right there in Chicago!!

It took my breath away.

And then I ran into my OB doctor and her family at the aquarium the next day.

I love serendipitous moments like that.

It is a small world, isn't it?

Thank you Chi-Town for enduring our family for a couple of days.

You helped create some wonderful memories for us.

You are,indeed, our kind of town.

We will give you a couple of months of some much needed respite...

But we'll be back before you know it.

The Big Day

Just in case this crazy mom forgot...Hollis left a little reminder for me.

She must know I need all the help I can get. :)

We put a very  excited 5 year old to bed.
And woke up to a even more excited 6 year old (with a terrible cough!)
I swear she has grown an inch overnight.
How does that happen??
Since Hollis chose to have a destination birthday again this year, I told her that she could have a simple "playdate" with 1 friend on her special day.
And of course there is cake.
And ice cream.
And streamers.
And pizza.
And pin the tail on the donkey.
And 3 more friends.
And favors.
And me cleaning the house for 2 days.
And baking a homemade cake at 9 o'clock last night only to go and put it in the fridge and TRIP..spilling the cake all over my kitchen floor and inside of fridge.

And me up again early this morning to bake another cake.

Miss Party Pants decided she wanted to get the party started this morning at 5:30.

I think Hollis is most excited about the fact that one of her friends gets to carpool home with us today-that she's not stuck in the back of the car by herself with her crying sister.

Maybe there is a reason birthdays only come once a year.

I think next year we might just keep it simple...with ponies and clowns.

Happy 6th Birthday, my sweet Hollis.

I hope it was all you dreamed of, carpools and all.

Happy Happy

Leprechaun number 1 would like to wish you a Happy St. Patty's...

She would also like you to note the gap in the front of her mouth.
That was courtesy of a freak swinging incident last night.

Leprechaun number 2 would like to wish you a Happy St Pat's too...
She would  like you to note that she is hot stuff courtesy of the new Bumbo seat a friend picked up for her at a consignment sale.

Here's to finding that big pot of gold....and maybe dancing a jig or two.

In hopes of Spring...

Since we didn't manage to get away to warm and sunny Palm Beach this year,
we thought we would mosey on down the the Flower and Patio Show at the Fairgrounds.
Pretty much the same thing, right??
Hollis was sooo excited to go.
That's one of the many things I love about little kids-they are usually up for anything.
Maybe she wanted to go because I told her there was going to be lots of patios and mini ponds there and she thought she could wear her swimsuit.
No kidding about the swimsuit.
She still managed to have fun anyway.

Now you know, it would not be at typical blog post if I didn't show at least one picture of us stuffing our faces.

We can always manage to find a concession stand-even at a Flower and Patio Show.

We gave Hollis a penny so she could make a wish and toss it into the pond.
Jason whispered in my ear as she was making her wish,"I bet she is wishing she had pond like that in her backyard."
Yeah, you and me both, sister.

Poor Collins. She fell asleep at home and woke up at the Fairgrounds.
She was a trooper though.Didn't make a peep the entire 3 hours we were there.
She was probably just happy to have her sister focused on something else besides her.

There were some GIGNORMOUS, HUNGRY  fish in this pond. Hollis kept sticking her little fingers in there. Jason was afraid she was going to fall in.

I was more concerned about one of those fish taking off her finger.

It would've been something if she had fallen in AND lost a finger.
But she left dry and all appendages attached.

I told Hollis she could she my camera to take ONE picture of her favorite thing at the Flower Show.

And she chose to take a picture of us.

Kids are so funny.

Who needs Palm Beach when you have the Flower and Patio Show?

Springtime don't fail me now...I'm beggin ya.

Her fleece was white as snow...

The carpets need vacuumed.
There is something sticky on my kitchen floor.
I need to brush Wrigley's teeth. And mine, for that matter.
But those things are gonna wait-because there is a little 3 and a half month old who needs my full attention.
And I am so happy to oblige.

She sure took her time getting here, but she was so worth the wait.
Motherhood the second time around is more than I ever dreamed it would be.

And my heart nods in agreement.

Happy Friday, everyone!

To the place I belong....

It makes me so sad to think it's been 6 months since I've been to NC.
There was a time I would travel home every 3 months or so-but that was a different season of my life, I suppose.
A season of more time and less responsibilities..
I try not to think about it too much, because it can make my heart really really heavy if I do.
It's one of those things in life I have no control over.
God has me right where he wants me, right?
Still, I miss NC and the people who live there like crazy.

And these people don't live in NC..but I miss them like crazy too...

I probably don't have to tell you, but it was a really really good visit.
That Thomas Wolfe fellow-you know the one who said "you can't go home again"-
Well, he has no idea what he is talking about.