October Adventures...

Our girls are growing up. Fast. Here's proof:

In the last year the girls have grown about 2 inches each. Even though Izzy is about 4 inches taller than Laney, we still get asked daily if they are twins.

The summer session of gymnastics just ended...ribbons are the reward. However, Izzy has been enrolled for an entire year, which earned her a trophy. You'd have thought she had won the lottery. She was so excited and wanted to show (and tell) everyone. Izzy has been enrolled in 'invite only' classes the past year and has improved tremendously in 12 short months. Her focus has gotten a lot better (but it's to be noted she is still only 6 and likes to have fun/goof off a bit) and her flexibility and strength has improved as well. She has just 2 more 10 week sessions until the annual try-outs. At the rate she is going now, with continued focus, her coach (and my former cheer mate) thinks she has a good shot at making team. And team is big time. It means twice a week practice without parents watching. It means competing. In team leotards. Dude. Not sure who is more excited about the opportunity, Izzy or myself.

 We spend a lot of time outside; Mike tending to the yard and garage while the girls and I do a lot of playing and exploring. Last weekend I woke from a nap and came outside to see this:

 Izzy was pulling the wagon and push toy behind her Jeep. Around the neighborhood. Wagon was attached via cord ties...so I'm pretty sure this idea was engineered by their daddy. Leave it to Mike.

My dad and Anna paid us a visit last weekend to celebrate Izzy's birthday. 

 We carved pumpkins (and by we I mean dad and I did all the scooping and carving for the girls).

 Anna and I did a little shopping and returned home to an incredibly delicious meal made by Mikey. Then Izzy made a wish...

Dad and Anna left after breakfast and we had a great visit with them, per usual.

This past week was Fall Break for Izzy so Mike had the creative idea to take the train into Chicago, bring the girls to the Am.erican Girl store and stay overnight. We left early Friday morning and had a fun little adventure.

 The girls' first train ride was a hit!

We walked 1 mile from the train station to meet Jenny for lunch at our favorite Gio.rdano's Pizza. After lunch we checked into the J.ames Hotel (where Jenny works) and all of us took naps. Then it was time to hit up Michigan Avenue.

The girls got the doll rolling bags from my mom for their birthdays and they rolled these all over the city with pride. Never complained once. Arrived at the doll store and explored for a very long time. These dolls have been around since I was a child; however, it was only a magazine at that time, not a store. I had always wanted 'Molly' and coveted the magazine I got once a year. So when Izzy started getting the magazines a few years ago it was very nostalgic. Let's just say I enjoyed the store as much as the girls did. Mike? Well, he was a super trooper.

Here is Izzy standing in front of the doll she owns: Kit.

 And of course the gymnastics display was a hit.

Laney in front of the dolls she owns: Bit.ty Baby twins.

After a lot of persuasion, we settled on the gymnastics set for Izzy and a lovie for Laney's twins. Izzy originally wanted to get her doll's hair styled; however, we explained to her she'd be leaving the store without anything and that the doll's hair style options would be limited, since Kit has a short bob. As for Laney, well, she wanted to get the pet dog that was a seeing eye dog. No big deal. Besides the fact that we have 25 other small stuffed dogs at home that were identical. Jammies for her dolls? No. Settled on something that is near and dear to her heart (her own lovie goes everywhere with her, it's silk...we call it Silky or Silky Wilky or Wilky): a silky for her dolls. Perfect. Anddddd, we're out. But we got a lot of ideas for xmas presents :)

We then hit up the 3 story H&M for a few things for the girls (their children's section is ridic). They had to pose with their attitude faces for their nanny Natty. So stinkin'.

We dropped our purchases at the hotel and continued walking to dinner. Another famous Chicago joint: Portillo's. De-freaking-lish. Besides sitting next to a local gang (we didn't know when we sat down but people kept walking by and whispering to us to be careful) it was a hit. Famous hot dogs. Large beers. Amazing desserts. I was in heaven (and a little nervous about the gang next to us - but the beer helped take the idea out of my head that we'd be publicly attacked for sitting too close).

 It had been a long day and we were all exhausted. The girls played with their new doll accessories for a bit before we turned the lights out. Izzy was up most of the night coughing so we didn't get the best night's sleep. However, we loved the James and would stay there again in a heartbeat!

The girls loved the modern beads in our room

 We decided to sleep in, take the morning very slow and relaxed. After breakfast we walked another mile to Mill.enium Park. Michigan Avenue was full of people watching and the girls had lots of questions, as they saw a lot of homeless people (and families) and pan handlers. The girls kept trucking on, though, carrying their baby dolls along the way.

 Chicago River

Finally got to see the Bean...was quite the tourist attraction! Made for some fun pics...

 We skipped the museum and took an earlier train back home. The train station was right outside the entrance to the Ind.iana Dunes and we couldn't pass up the chance to see Lake Michigan. The girls giddily ran through the sand towards the water yelling, "Look, it the ocean!" Ha!

We collected some rocks, wrote our names in the sand then quickly got back to the car to load up on cold medicine. Was a quick trip but the perfect little getaway for our family.