Matthew and Meredith

I truly cannot describe the wonderful warmth that spreads through my heart when I watch my two precious children playing together.  We are outside playing in our new backyard every chance we get and absolutely enjoy every single minute of it.  Matthew has a natural protective instinct towards Meredith and it is obvious that she just adores and admires her big brother. 

Just two random videos of the kids playing outside :)

New Tricks

Matthew and Meredith have new tricks that they are very proud of themselves for as they should be. I'm super proud of them :) Matthew now does somersaults all over the place. I didn't teach him how to do them, I think he discovered on his own. Meredith likes to stand up from a sitting position without holding on to anything. Next up for her-walking!

The Two Little Loves of My Life :)

The Shedd Museum in Chicago

There is a plethora of great museums in Chicago and this trip we decided to check out the Shedd Aquarium.  It is so well done and fun.  The whole time we were there I'm sure Ann got tired of hearing me say "Matthew would LOVE this" or "the kids would have so much fun here" :)  This is definitely one of the places I will take the kids to when they visit Chicago.

A gigantic tank sits right by the lobby with lots of different types of sea life.  One could watch the tank for over an hour and still be enthralled with all the sea creatures inside

Little Turtles!

These tiny eels were Ann's favorite.  I thought they were cute, however they look too much like worms for my liking

These were my favorite-so bright and interesting

Nemo :)

I think it's fascinating how they grow coral

We caught a show that was neat.  It included a Beluga whale, dolphins, sea lions, and penguins.  Oh yeah, and strange men with umbrellas that dove into the water

This trip was an unbelievably nice break for me and it was great to get so much sister time.  I had such a blast that I want to make this a yearly event :)

Chicago!!!!

I visited Chicago for a long weekend and had the best time with my sister, Ann.  Chicago in itself is an amazing city, but to be able to go (kid free!) and spend time with Ann was wonderful.  Ann and Tim were gracious, pleasing hosts and made me feel right at home.  It was the very first time I was away from the kids for more than a few hours,  I was nervous and missed them terribly, but it was so worth it to have a much needed break, great sister bonding time, and super fun weekend. 

Ann treated me to a manicure at The Peninsula Spa, only the top spa in Chicago.  Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie are frequent visitors of the Spa.

I had never been to Toast, so of course that was on the top of the list of activities.  It is one of the top brunch places in the city, although you wouldn't know it from the building. 

Seriously, I have never tasted stuffed French toast that tasted so delicious, YUMMY!

One evening, which happened to be the only time it rained while I was there, we put our soft clothes on, sipped on sparkling wine, and watched Steel Magnolias-such a great movie and a nice, relaxing night.

We saw/walked by Vince Vaughn going into the side door of The Dragonfly restaurant, which was exciting :)

Tim joined us for a beautiful stroll around Lincoln Square (not to be confused with Lincoln Park) and we soaked up all of the architecture and daydreamed what it would be like to live in one of the million dollar homes in this gorgeous part of Chicago

It was then off to The Taste of Randolph, which is right near Tim's condo, for some great food.  I'm always amazed at the amount of unique, tasty restaurants all over Chicago.  It would be so easy to never eat at the same place more than once

Ann and I standing in front of Opera's studio

I had never had a Mojito, so Ann opened my eyes to the delectable cocktail that is now my new favorite drink :)

My last night there was topped off with a show at The Second City.  It is a comedy/improve show that is hilarious.  A lot of comedians got their start at this club, including Mike Meyers, Tim Meadows, Steve Carell, Chris Farley, and many many more famous comedians (most of who continued on to SNL)

There is now an improve school for people to attend.  I don't think I'm outgoing enough to do improve, although it does sound fun