Monday, May 07, 2012

Chicago

A couple of weeks ago, Brian went to Chicago for some training and Ezra and I got to tag along. We flew in on a Wednesday and that night we went to Gino's pizza. The crust was different than I was used to, but we did enjoy it. When we ordered, the waiter said that it would be about 45-55 minutes for the pizza and I thought he was just pulling our leg. I realized he wasn't kidding! Ugh! It went pretty quickly though and we munched on breadsticks and wings. On Thursday, Brian had classes most of the day, so Ezra and I hit the town. We did some shopping along Michigan Avenue. Our hotel was hooked to a shopping mall that had the American Girl store, so that was fun to go to. My girls would have gone crazy in there. I couldn't believe how big it was and everything they had! After Brian was done with his classes, we did a little shopping together, then we went to the top of the John Hancock Building. Brian listened to a guided tour that he enjoyed. When we came down, we grabbed dinner at Cheesecake Factory and brought it back to our room to eat. Then Brian went out and found a yogurt shop for a treat. On Friday, Brian had some morning classes. I took my time getting ready, then Ezra and I headed out to grab some breakfast and to do a little more window shopping. I stopped and got us a treat at Sprinkles. I had the s'mores cupcake--it was so good! Brian snuck out of his meetings a little early because we went to opening day for the White Sox. We lucked out and got some tickets from a friend who is a pitcher on the team. We had a great time, Ezra got a lot of attention at his first baseball game and we got to see Matt pitch--and help win the game. We rode the train there and back, which was an experience. After the game, we went to Navy Pier and walked around for a while. We had dinner at Corner Bakery and then took a boat tour on the Chicago River and learned about all the different types of architecture that is there. We really enjoyed the tour--it was one of our favorite things we did. It got really cold, but we had bundled Ezra up and he just slept most of the time. We may or may not have gotten another yogurt before heading back to our room. On Saturday morning, we went to Fox and Obel, which is a fancy grocery store. There was a bistro there where we had lunch. Lunch was so tasty. I also discovered the best caramels--Bequet is the brand. Oh my--they were amazing! They had different flavors, but all the ones we tried were melt-in-your-mouth incredible. After lunch we went back to the hotel and grabbed a taxi back to the airport. I would love to go back and see more of the city.
at the game
Navy Pier

on the river tour
a huge statue of Marilyn...
river tour
walked through a fancy car showroom
dinner
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taken from the top of the John Hancock building
first baseball game
there were tulips all along the sidewalks
lunch at Fox & Obel
smores cupcake

Bangs

Ruby has "bangs" now thanks to Hattie. Hattie was in our den doing some sort of art project when Ruby came into the kitchen where I was and said, "Hattie cut my hair." I was like, "Uh, oh." So I went in there and saw little tufts of silky blonde hair on the floor. Ugh!! Luckily it's wasn't too much and I can kind of blend it in with the rest of her hair. I was so sad though! Ruby still talks about it (usually when she sees a pair of scissors). Let's hope that was an isolated incident!

Hattie's 5!




Hattie turned five at the end of February. She had a little party with some friends and cousins. We played games, decorated cupcakes, open gifts and let the kids play. I can't believe she is 5! At this age, Hattie...
--loves to be fancy--fancy skirts, jewelry, shoes, etc.
--loves to change clothes.
--loves preschool
--LOVES to draw and is quite good at it
--loves her friends
--loves to hold Ezra and make him smile
--she is very passionate about things, which can lead to much drama, but we love our Hattie!