Girls Weekend in Chicago

Over Christmas, all of my college girls try to get together while everyone is home for the holidays.  We usually exchange small gifts.  This past Christmas, Michelle gave us tickets to the Brothers of the Sun Tour (Tim McGraw and Kenney Chesney) IN CHICAGO!!!  Carrie ended up not being able to come because of Tucker's birthday, but Melissa (even at 8 months pregnant) and myself jumped at the chance for a girls trip!  We flew out Friday morning and got to hang around the Lakeview neighborhood until Michelle and Lucien got off work.  They took us to a yummy Italian restaurant for dinner and then we stayed up chatting and catching up.  Saturday morning we indulged in our favorite place in Chicago--the Bongo Room.  Everything on the menu is delicious, but their unbelievable pancakes are to die for!!  After something from the savory side of the menu, we all ordered one kind of pancake so we could sample. We ended up with blueberry cream, red velvet with cream sauce and crushed graham cracker, and my personal fav--oreo pancake with raspberry cream sauce. Breakfast was definitely one of the highlights of the trip! We had quite a few leftovers that were able to enjoy later.

Bongo Room pancakes

The three girls went for pedicures and then for a walk down through the street fair going on right below the condo complex. I found the cutest pair of decorated flip-flops for Anna.  After a nap, Lucien was sweet to drive us to Soldier Field for the concert. It had been around 100 degrees so far during the trip, but the cool front hit a bit early and by the time we got to the concert at 5pm, it was only 85.  As the night went on, the temp dropped to a comfy 75 and with the breeze off of Lake Michigan, we were in heaven!!

The stage and skyline in the afternoon...

...and at night.  So beautiful!!

The concert was amazing!  I could listen to (and look at) Tim McGraw for days. Kenney was great but I thought he acted like he was on crack or something, bouncing all over the place. The two were an interesting contrast. We had such a great time!  The original plan was to leave early and catch a cab back so Melissa wouldn't have to walk so far.  Best laid plans...we just couldn't leave because they sang together at the end and it was the best part!!  So, we left with the other 30,000 people that were there. After walking a few blocks and then catching a rickshaw for another few (with Michelle sitting on my lap--poor guy), we were finally able to catch a cab back to Michelle's place.  What a day!?!

It was sad to leave on Sunday, but hopefully Michelle and Lucien will be back in NC soon!!!

Melissa and me sitting at the airport on the way home.
I'm so lucky to have such great long-time friends!

While I was away, Daddy and the kids had a blast. Nannie and Aunt Erin took them to the pool on Friday and then Aunt E went with them to play putt-putt on Saturday.  It was great to see them before bedtime Sunday night, though!

Ball!

Aunt E helping Jack putt.

Anna got another hole-in-one!

Fun with Daddy!

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th was on Wednesday this year, which made things kind of tricky.  Originally, the Young family had asked us out on their boat, but as time approached and the temperatures got hotter (100+), we decided not to fight the crowds and just hang out at home.  Will smoked some ribs and the Youngs came over for dinner and fireworks.  It was low-key but lots of fun to catch up since we hadn't seen them in a while!

Charlie, Will, and Anna watching the fireworks
in Washington, DC, before ours started.

Happy 4th!!

Silly Summer Days

In an effort to make up for lost time, here are some random photos over the past month or so that I wanted to include, but didn't want to make single posts for.  This is what we were up to in June...

Mementos from the end of school

Fun times with Caroline

Jack loves corn on the cob just like Sissy!

Sibling snack time

Playing Mommy and Daddy

Cool dude lounging at the pool

Anna and Mommy being silly

Sassy Pants at our house again!

Mommy's black eye from Jack and the baby monitor...
I tried to disguise it with eye shadow!

Jack loves wings from ECW, too!

Anna took a few swim lessons with Miss Alex
so she could remember how to swim without her floaties!!

Supergirl and Superman saving people from the
wind storm (i.e. the fan set up in the foyer).

Jack watching golf with Daddy...
he wants to grab the ball so badly!!

Breaking Ground

After much waiting and hassle and waiting and hassle, the bank FINALLY processed our loan and Stafford Construction could actually get started on our new house.  Dwayne (and us) had been ready to go for 3-4 weeks and we were all glad to finally see some action.  We closed on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday morning, the kids and I had a picnic in the back of the van while we watched Mr. Jeff take down trees from our lot.  And the fun begins!!

Picnic in the van!

Two trees down!!!

The Weekend of Surprises!

My mom is retiring from teaching elementary school this year.  She is so excited about having more time to spend with her family, especially the grandkids.  In light of this, her girlfriends in her Bunco group decided to throw her a retirement party and invited her daughters and all the grandkids to be there to surprise her.  Sarah and the three kids and I drove down on Thursday afternoon and invaded Greg and Michelle's apartment.  They were sweet to let us take over their place and feed us before the party.  Michelle even listened out for the babies napping while Sa and G and I went swimming with Anna.

Then we all got ready and Greg dropped all the girls and Jack off at Lisa's house.  Johnna and the girls had just gotten there, too, so we all found our spot to yell "Surprise!".  To say that Mom was shocked is an understatement!  She cried (just like Anna said she would) and was so blown away she almost forgot to breathe for a minute in there.  It was so fun!!

Mimi helping Anna put a flower in her hair--it was a luau theme!

Mimi and Anna in horrible lighting

Then we got to spend a whole long weekend with Mimi and Papa!! 

Piano recital

All 5 grandkids at Krazy's

Right after this picture was taken, Will called on my phone.  When I asked where he was, he said, "Turn around!"  He couldn't stand not being in on all the fun and had driven down with Murphy.  Silly Daddy!!

Hole in One! 

Will and Anna went to play putt-putt again on Saturday morning
while Sarah and I went to the beach by ourselves.  Mimi and Papa stayed back to watch the babies.  Then that afternoon, we all went to the beach together and met Jeff and Johnna there.

Everyone helped Daddy build a sand castle!

It even had a moat and bridge!

Jack wasn't too sure about the waves.

Anna and Mommy kept a look out from the
lifeguard stand.

Fun times and lots of surprises!

Father's Day Putt-Putt

We were shocked to realize that we didn't have any plans over Father's Day weekend.  When I asked Will what he wanted to do for his day, he came up with putt-putt.  I haven't been in ages so it was fun for all!

It took some explaining to Jack--he kept
wanting to grab the balls and throw them in the holes.

Riding the motorcycle with Daddy

Happy Father's Day to our extra-special Daddy!

Anna's Dance Recital

The end of May was crazy with the normal end-of-school events, but another addition was the rev-up for the end-of-year dance recital.  Anna had been getting tired of dance, but with all of the anticipation about the recital happening, she got excited, too.  One Wednesday night we went in full costume for her rehearsal.

Practicing with Mrs. Cathy Lee

So proud of her second trophy!

 Before we knew it, recital day had arrived!  Daddy and Pops were in Pinehurst for a golf weekend and  drove back for the big event.

Our sweet angel, ready to go!

"Make sure you get my flower in my hair, Mom."

 I was not at all prepared for the production that was the dance recital.  Hers was one of four recitals that was taking place that weekend.  Parking was crazy and there were actually dads tailgating in the parking lots with dance t-shirts on!!  Once we got in and found our seats, we were taken for a ride on the "DE Time Machine".  Other than lasting for 3 hours, the recital was very impressive.  There was great variety and the dancers were so impressive.  Aunt Sarah definitely enjoyed the show the most, especially the hip-hop numbers.  Anna's class did two numbers, a tap number to "Better Shop Around" and a ballet number to "Wind Beneath My Wings".  She was fantastic!!  

Anna and her flowers after the show

 Anna says she wants to do gymnastics again next year instead of dance, so we'll see where we end up. I find that quite ironic because I only took dance for one year when I was little, but I dressed up in my recital costume for many years to come!!  I can see the same thing happening for our purple princess!