sharks game

Jacksonville has an arena football team - The Sharks. I happen to know the make-up artist for the cheerleaders and she hooked us up with some free tickets. We figured we would take the girls and make a fun family night out of it.

We had club seats for the game which meant we had food, drinks and bathrooms that were easily accessible. The girls had hot dogs and then later I took them to pick out a snack. Addison chose a pretzel the size of Jacksonville. I made her share it with me.

Morgan just wanted a pack of m&m's. She shared a couple, but she mostly are the entire bag herself.

 The girls had a blast. They were yelling and cheering right along.

It was a fun night. And since it was late they both crashed as soon as we got home.

fourth of july

I'm not sure how things were in your neck of the woods, but where we were in Tennessee, it rained for 5 days straight. On the way there we got out to stretch our legs. These are Morgan's legs all bruised up from the playground.

Wednesday morning the rain started. We were at lunch and things were already getting out of hand.

Everything was cancelled on the 4th. No fireworks, no fanfare. And since it was raining, we decided to go to the mall and the movies. We still displayed our American pride and got all decked out in our red, white and blue.

I didn't get to go to the adult movie with the boys, but that's okay. These sweet girls loved Monsters University. I thought it was cute, but I liked the first one better. My favorite part was the popcorn.

What's better than fireworks on the 4th of July? A long bath in Aunt Angela's giant tub.

Both the girls thought they were hot stuff when Aunt Angela and cousin Hannah did their makeup. It was fun putting it on. Not so fun taking it off.

By Friday night we had all gone stir crazy. 

They rescheduled the fireworks for Saturday, but it was raining harder that night than it was on Thursday. I was for sure they weren't going to do them until we heard booming sounds around 9:30. Needless to say, we really didn't have a 4th of July. Maybe we'll have to do our own display sometime in the fall to kick off football season.

happy birthday

Yesterday was Michael's birthday. He doesn't like making a big deal out of birthdays, but he should know by now that I don't let a birthday go unnoticed. The girls made this little video for him. We love you Michael!

They also made about 5 cards for him and gave him some Tennessee license plates for his new ride. Oh, the new ride. I forgot. I got a new car. Meet Pearl.

Since we have two kids and two cats, we thought we should have two Pilots too! Which means that Michael is now driving the old Pilot. With an 8 year upgrade, it's like a new car to him and he loves it!

chicago weekend: the end

We had such a great weekend, but it wasn't over yet. All of us were excited about eating at Bill and Giuliana Rancic's restaurant, RPM Italian. We're nerds like that.

We didn't hold back. Drinks at the bar, bottle of wine, apps, cheese plate, and entrees. This is why we strategically planned to eat here on our last night. We all knew our waistline would be hurting. The atmosphere was fun and our waiter was super nice. All in all, a really good place to eat.

See. My plate is empty.  

Monday morning we woke up to more rain and cold. Good thing we were headed home.

Luckily we all had flights around the same time and nothing was delayed. Shocking since the weather was bad. I couldn't have asked for a better girls weekend. Spending quality time with Shannon & Krista was such a blast and much needed. April and May were crazy months for me so it was nice to get away from the madness and recharge. I was so happy to get home to Michael and the girls and have nothing planned for June. Get ready ladies. Boston 2014 here we come! 

chicago weekend: bike ride

Don't be fooled. Not all bike are created equal. I think we were all a little wobbly when we got on these things, but it all comes back to you pretty quickly. We left the pier and rode along the shore to our next destination. The bike path was perfect for tourists like us.

We arrived at Buckingham Fountain just as the skies were starting to turn gray again.

 We didn't let it get us down though. We still made fools of ourselves. Look at that form.

Time was running out on our bike rental so we headed back to the park. One more stop along the way - the colorful Dangos. We evidently don't know how to behave ourselves around Dangos.

I'm not sure about Shannon and Krista, but after that ride I was ready for some good Italian food and wine.

chicago weekend: navy pier

We rode our fancy schmancy bikes down to Navy Pier. We walked around for a bit and took some pictures by the ferris wheel.

We did not ride the ferris wheel because the line was ridiculously long and we're not seven years old. We did however partake in some libations while we shopped.

The view of the city.

Then I had lunch. It was second only to the drinks we had on the first night. 

Time to get back on the bike and work off some of those calories.

chicago weekend: the bean

When we woke up Sunday morning we finally had good weather. The sun was shining and the high for the day was between 65 and 70 degrees. It was the perfect day for renting bikes. Our first stop on our self directed tour around the city was The Bean at Millenium Park.

I see us.

We played the role of tourist and took it very seriously.

Evidently, eating a Chicago dog the correct way is very serious as well.