Saturday, June 30, 2012

Parade Float

We have only lived in our new community for a short time, but I can already tell I am going to love living here.
Why?
Because today they were having a parade to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Who was going to be in the parade?
Why our very own kids, that's who!

While the girls decorated their float (a.k.a their Barbie car), my mom and I made healthy, kid friendly desserts...
The memo asked every person participating to bring a festive dessert.
Apparently my mom and I were the only ones to receive the memo.
Always the overachievers...
Speaking of overachievers (I wonder who they get that from)
Check out the girl's float...
Although the neighbor girls originally had no plan of participating, their minds were quickly changed when they saw our girls working on their float...
The fire trucks led the parade...
With the Constable pulling up the rear...


Let the parade begin...
At the end of the parade, there was a grand prize.
I promise I was not aware there was going to be a prize.
But I was happy to know that my patriotic duo were the recipients of said prize.

Hooray for the red, white and blue!

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Windy City

Just like our trip to Lake Geneva, we had very little time to be downtown today.
But it is one of our most favorite places to be, so we were going to pack as much in as we could.
Or should I say, we would pack in as much as the girls would allow.

Our day began finding parking.
The parking lot just happened to be connected to Soldier Field.
For those of you who don't know, that is the field that the Chicago Bears football team play on.
It was a nice beginning to our day...
From there, we waited in an extremely long line to get into the Shedd Aquarium.
If I would have done my research, I would have known that today was free entry for Illinois residents.
Oopsie.
The girls were troopers and after what seemed like an eternity, we made our way in...
The jellyfish exhibit was new and for a limited time.
It also cost extra.
But it was stunning...
From the Aquarium, we took a taxi to Navy Pier.
Did I mention it was a water taxi?
It gave us lovely views...
Up next was Michigan Avenue.
We shopped at the American Girl Store.
We ate at a delicious restaurant.
The girls cooled off in the famous face fountains...
It was too cool for even my little water lover...
But they braved it for as long as they could stand to...
We dried the girls off and then made the long trek back to the car.
We made one last stop for ice cream and then continued our walk down Lake Michigan.
It was a wonderful day.
This city never lets me down.