Chicago!

We sold our camper earlier this year in order to go on larger trips and expand our traveling territory.  Our first stop, Chicago.

I lived there for a short period of time, right after I graduated from United Airlines flight attendant training in 1997.  I forgot how much I missed it, what a fun trip for us, the girls had a blast.

Our itinerary...

Day 1:

- Took the "L" to the Skydeck at Willis Tower
- Rainforest Cafe for lunch
- Jay Pritzker Pavilion to see and hear the free orchestra music
- The Cloud Gate (aka the Bean)
- The Crown Fountain, the kids played in the water (it's okay, it's allowed)
- Buckingham Fountain, it has hourly light and water shows

Day 2:

- Shedd's Aquarium
- Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
- Navy Pier (caught the Cirque Shanghai show)

Day 3:

- Kiddos wanted to go back to the Crown Fountain and play
- Drove home

If I were to offer tips for those of you who may be planning a trip there, buy tickets ahead of time.  Also, those who bought the Fast Pass, they cruised to the head of the line each time.

Try to eat a little earlier, say 4:30-5pm, just before the crowds.  And for Navy Pier, it was a mad house, maybe because it was Saturday night and there were fireworks but next time I'd shoot for a weekday.

Also, the Bean and the Crown fountain are very close, next time (I was prepared the second day) I'd have the kids wear their bathing suit and there's a public restroom on the level just below the Bean where they can change into dry clothes.

Shedd's Aquarium has an awesome Stingray touch exhibit, I highly recommend it.  The 4-D movie, on the other hand, didn't compare to the Bug's Life 4-D at Disney.  So if that's what you'd expect you may be disappointed.

The cheapest mode of transportation would be the bus.  We were too intimidated to try it though and ended up paying a fortune for taxi's.

We stayed at the Grant Park Best Western on S. Michigan.  It was the cheapest around with a parking structure and it was one of the few that had a pool (on a roof, which the kids thought was cool).

Jell-O Worm FAIL

This summer, I've tried to do at least one project a day with my girls.  Today we tried the Jell-O Worms.  What a disappointment.  I saw this pin on Pinterest, looks easy peasy right?

Not so much.  Here's how it really turns out:

Could it be because I used generic Jell-O?  Were the straws not big enough?  Not sure.

I Heart Faces

This week's challenge for I Heart Faces is "Summer Fun".  I found this photo of my daughter and thought it would be perfect.  Not your typical pool shot or anything but she was still having fun collecting sea shells at the beach.  :)

Day at the Beach and my New Rug!

I took the girls to the beach and relaxed with a book today.  To my surprise I arrived home to my brand spankin' new rug waiting for me on the porch!  It's from Rugsusa.com and man was it a steal.  I think it came to $160 for a 7x9!  Plus, FREE shipping.  She's a beaut if I say so myself.  One of the few purchases I'm thoroughly happy with.

Rugs USA Homespun Nawra Trellis Charcoal Rug

  

Berry Pickin' 2010

We took the girls strawberry picking for the first time over the weekend. It was a beautiful day and they seemed to have a good time (more so when I told them they could have a donut after!). My husband made freezer jam when we got home. He does most of the cooking around here....mainly because he likes it and he does a better job at it then I do. I do the dishes so it evens out.

Headboard and Footboard Find

So yesterday was a wonderful day, My hubby took the day off of work so I got to do a little shopping by myself (Bath and Body Works has their antibacterial soaps on sale for $2.25!). My in-laws came over and had dinner with us...they make it a point to come see me on my birthday rain or shine. And for cake, a peanut butter cup ice cream cake adorned my table. Fabulous!

So after the festivities, we loaded into the car and went treasure hunting. That's when I spotted this beauty. Don't know what to do with it yet...either distressed black or off white....but it was the perfect ending to a perfect birthday. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

So sweet how my kids think my birthday is so much more of a big deal then I do. They've been making me presents all day, asking what kid of cake I want and wondering where the balloons are. So precious and so thoughtful.....I'm sure part of it has to do with them thinking they get cake and ice cream but I can put that aside for a second and just be thankful they care.

Speaking of cake and ice cream, have you visited the website, Cake Wrecks? It's so funny, browse around on there if you have the time, you'll get some good laughs.

Here's an example of what I WOULDN'T want my cake to be like:



This is what I would pick visually, courtesy of www.nassaulibrary.org:


And this is what I would wish for it to taste like, courtesy of www.bbcgoodfood.com:

Crafting with the kids. Sigh.

I don't have very successful crafting sessions with the kids. I truly throw caution to the wind, I'm game for having my kitchen trashed and don't mind quick baths after the fact BUT when I go through all of THAT and still don't have the craft turn out I get pretty bummed.

For example, I had the girls pick out a picture on the internet that I printed up to make necklaces with. The cut the picture out, mod podged it to the glass rectangle I had for each of them and then I sealed it with diamond hard and glued on the bail but within 24 hours of them wearing it the next day they fell apart!

So then I saw this idea for making cuff bracelets out of paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Great idea but:

1. The cuff stretched out while painting it and now it won't stay on the girls wrists
2. Beads would not stick so we invited the glitter fairy over
3. she left surprises all over the house and she's still hiding here....somewhere.








So if I were to do this project again I would probably skip the painting and use stickers only. Humph.

The Tale of the Unicorn Cake

Cute story. My oldest had her 5th birthday the other day and I had asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She said she wanted a unicorn walking on it so I headed off to Walmart to have a cake made. There's one lady in particular there that does a fantastic job on the cakes so I knew she could pull it off. I placed the order and when I told my daughter....she said, "but mommy, I wanted YOU to make it." I told her there's no way I could draw a unicorn on a cake. Her response?

"well.....can you WRITE "unicorn" on my cake then?"

So what do I do? I headed out on a mission to find a unicorn to stick on her cake. After long, painful searching I found the perfect unicorn to go on top of her not-so-perfect cake.



I think it took three tries to get the cake to look satisfactory. It's official, I highly dislike cake making...just as long as the birthday girl is happy.

Mother's Day Freebie

Compliments of Bayberry Announcements

Directions:
(this file is only one layer to make it smaller for downloading purposes)
Save the file to your desktop and open in Photoshop or Elements. Create a new layer, make sure the new layer is on top of the design layer, then add your photo on the new layer you made. Save as a jpg and print!



Photocard designs are for personal use only, please do not reproduce and/or sell for profit.

Easter Card Freebie

I do work. At home. If you call it work. I own and operate Bayberry Announcements.com, a photo invitation and announcement company. I haven't been able to get any designs for Easter up on the site yet so I'm going to offer this freebie instead. Just copy and paste a photo of your choice into the design and email or print for all to enjoy!

Happy Easter!