spring recital ’19

Posted on June 6, 2019 by tandem in love

oh, how i love the spring recital.

olive’s first formal recital was last year and it was so special and oh so sweet but this year felt even better! why? we were seasoned, we felt more confident, and i was less anxious. LOL

i think the most stressful part about the recital is reserving all the seats for our invited guests. most people wouldn’t care, worry, or think it’s a big deal to nab good seats but it’s my purpose. haha! i find it important to be front and center for my girl and that her family can see her clearly! my problem is that i invite 15-20 people each time and i semi-feel like an ass blocking off that many seats! but not enough to not do it, so it’s an endless mind battle in my head. i’m filled with anticipation until i do so and then once it’s done, i can relax. phew!

our family trickled in and everyone was situated in their seats and ready to watch our baby girl perform! olive’s group was first to perform. she danced her ballet routine to ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ and then her group was fourth in line to perform and they tapped their way to the song ‘rainbow’.

watching the little kiddos dance is so darn sweet and cute! they are usually all over the place with their moves, never in sync, and so darling in their costumes. when it came time for them to end their routine with a final pose, it was like a comical show with them not knowing what they were doing or arguing with each other on how they were suppose to pose and end the act….hahaha! ahhhhh, their innocence is so heartwarming!

olive did such a great job! she practiced at home {a few times} and was so focused during her performance! i am so blown away she doesn’t get stage fright or even appear to be nervous. she just goes with it and i love her for it!

after the show, i picked up olive and brought her out to her adoring crowd. she was showered with flowers and gifts…what a welcome! our family snapped a few photos of the shining star and we all cruised back to our abode for a late lunch and fun.

once home, our guests slowly arrived while hc and i ran around preparing random things for the party. i snapped pics of olive with all her guests while hc prepped the food. once i was satisfied with all the snaps {olive so patiently obliged to all the photos, although she wanted to play! oh, she’s so sweet and kind!}, i took everyone’s drink order and finally stopped for a moment to visit with them.

it was so sweet that auntie lynne bought flowers for both girls {she didn’t want ellie to feel left out} and gifts for them both. she’s always so good to them! they are so spoiled by their family!

about an hour and half later, kim and reagan stopped by after his baseball game and joined in on our fun! the weather was so amazing! rain was in the forecast but it stayed away and it turned out to be the most perfect day.

the whole afternoon was so good. the food was delicious. the drinks flowed. the girls were super happy and our guests were comfortable. we couldn’t have asked for a better time.

spending time with family is always the best. words can’t describe the joy, content, and happiness we feel to be surrounded by our loved ones. happy recital day miss olive. you did such an amazing job in your dance routines and you are one blessed girl to have such wonderful family around you.

[i love how she chose to pose]

[she danced to ‘somewhere over the rainbow’]

[the final pose]

[ready for her tap routine]

[the girls tapped to the song ‘rainbow’]

[the final bow]

[inundated with flowers and gifts!]

[my sweet girls]

[ellie did not dance but auntie lynne got her flowers to not feel left out! how sweet!]

[of course we had to coordinate olive and ellie]

[auntie missy and olive]

[papa and gramma]

[the heintz family]

[barbara and lynne]

[ba and rimma]

[no cake topper, so i quickly decorated it with flowers]

[cousin reagan and auntie kim]

[so azn]

[mes soeurs]

xoxo

a day at the zoo

Posted on June 3, 2019 by tandem in love

memorial day weekend weather looked dismal. it was supposed to rain every.single.day and who wants that??? it’s the weekend to kick off summer {and to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom} and rain didn’t fit into outdoor plans.

well, mother nature fooled us. it was beautiful and sunny on both saturday and sunday, which turned out great because we had plans no matter what! on saturday, we took olive to the salon for a haircut, lunch, and came back to our abode to work on things at home. then we headed back out to buy flowers at wannemaker’s, then eat and shop at ikea. it was a busy day and night but we checked things off that needed to be done!

the next day, we hosted our family over for some grub and drinks. it was a good afternoon eating and hanging out with the best people. we cooked seasoned chicken, burgers, corn, vegetable skewers and had many other delicious dishes. it was a fun time and the weather was beautiful for us to be outside!

we decided, last minute, to head to the zoo on monday. now this time, the weather looked ominous but we were confident the rain would hold off until later in the afternoon and we were right! we had the most joyous time at the zoo! the temp was just right, the kids were having so much fun, and the adults were living their best life with beers and just having fun with the kiddos. unfortunately, we didn’t get to explore as much as we wanted of the zoo…our time was cut short by the big storm rolling in.

terry was on weather app radar and informed us of the time we had every hour. LOL. then the temperature dropped and we knew the storm was about to hit. we said our goodbyes and started walking towards our cars. i foolishly asked hc to stop so olive could get her face painted but straightened out my head and said, let’s go…and convinced olive that we would do it next time. well, those five minutes cost us! we were a few minutes from the car when the sky opened up and pouuuuuuuuuured on us. like buckets of rain! darn it!

we left the zoo and headed on our way to a restaurant to meet the fam, again, for a late lunch. it was a monsoon out! just sheets of rain coming down and blowing to the side. i was amazed at how many people were actually coming into the zoo as we were leaving. the rain didn’t pass quickly…it rained heavily for awhile!

of course, after we ate, we then went shopping, like fools. the rain didn’t let up and we all were soaked one way or another but truthfully, we really had the best day with everyone. it was good, fun, relaxing, and full of content.

this past memorial day weekend was one for the books.

[olive just had her did]

[chowing down]

[she’s so sweet]

[stan’s doughnuts]

[she’s so sweet]

*****

BROOKFIELD ZOO

[azn auntie life]

[kangaroo]

[he’s so sweet to the girls]

[thanks hc for taking the photo!]

[my heart]

[cheers]

[beggin’]

[crazy cousins]

xoxo

olive’s pre-k graduation

Posted on May 24, 2019 by tandem in love

pre-school came and went.

i remembered the first day of pre-school so well. it wasn’t cold nor warm…it was in-between. i was excitedly anxious and olive seemed unaware of what was really happening. i got her dressed for school, a long sleeved white tee, teal jumper, grey knee socks, converse shoes, and i kept her hair down. i snapped a few pics outside and we scurried our way to school.

as we got out of the car and held hands in the parking lot, she became scared and nervous. i saw it in her expression although she didn’t say a word. we walked inside and waited in the hallway and she clung close to us, afraid of the unknown behind the closed classroom doors.

two years later…she loves school. she looks forward to it every time and absolutely loves learning, playing with her friends, and enjoys the creative activities it offers. i think some moms are sad that their children are moving on up but i felt happy, slightly tinged with sadness that this milestone was ending but so satisfied that she has grown so much and has become such an amazing person already.

graduation was quick, fun, and exciting. the kids sang four different songs to us and i actually cried when the announcer said it would be the last time the kids would sing the goodbye song to us…yes, it made me tear up.

olive’s name was called and she walked up to accept her diploma. it was so darn cute! she shook both teacher’s hands and stood there for a few seconds to face the audience with a sly smile. oh, my sweet girl. i love you so.

after the graduation, we went out to brunch at a local place and saw some of her classmates there and they had fun playing together near the end of our meal.

oh baby olive, i am so proud of you. so proud of your growth, your gregarious nature, your willingness to learn, and how far you have come with your knowledge and application. thank you for always teaching me on how to be a better person, a better mom, and level set me to the joys in life. i love you so much and only hope that this world only surrounds you with love, kindness, and faith.

[she’d always sit like this and i would change her shoes for class on snowy or rainy days]

[she was fussing with my camera and i snapped this sweet pic of her]

[she was being sneaky and kept creeping up onto the stage]

[getting up to accept her diploma]

[smiling for the crowd]

xoxo

mother’s day ’19

Posted on May 22, 2019 by tandem in love

our plans for mother’s day typically includes a brunch somewhere. sometimes in the city, one time at our house, or locally in the ‘burbs. this year, we decided to keep it local. my sister, kim, suggested a place called vistro in hinsdale. i’m always game for doing something locally, plus with our dad is having a hard time walking…so it’s easier to have brunch close to home and where we don’t have to walk very far.

the morning started out lovely. the kids and i slept in, while hc cleaned up the house, he then took care of the kids, gave me a back rub, and i was able to get ready without too many distractions! the kids also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a very sweet, glittery card.

it was a perfect start to the day. oh, how i wish every morning was like that! hc fed the girls, got them dressed, while i was getting ready. i did their hair and out the door we went to meet everyone for some delicious brunch.

we were seated at a long table right inside the entrance and right by the food stations. score! we didn’t have to walk far to get our grub. LOL the cousins played together, the adults chit chatted over everything, and we ate and ate until our belly’s were full! i was digging their quiche and buttery pancakes with lots and lots of cream!

after brunch, we went home and relaxxxxxxed. oh, nowadays, it’s all i ever want! for some reason, i was sooooo tired. i put ellie down for a nap and i felt exhausted. i laid down onto the couch and fell asleep! hc took a nap next to me and the only person not sleeping was olive. ha! she dislikes falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon…she will avoid it at all cost! she took full advantage of a toy house take over while all of us were sleeping. i think she pulled out every toy from the bins and strategically placed them all over the house.

the nap was so needed! i felt refreshed and rested!

mother’s day was absolutely perfect because my hubby did his best to make it a great day and i loved it all! it was spent with family, good food, relaxing, and i couldn’t have asked for a better day!

thanks hc, olive, and ellie for an amazing mother’s day! i love you all to infinity and beyond!

[ellie is such a ham]

[these cuties]

[mom and dad]

[toe tapping]

[cheers!]

[super auntie thuy and ellie]

[kim and bennett]

[mini cupcakes]

[dan, reagan, and terry]

[oh ellie]

[mother daughters]

[she’s so precious]

[mom and dad’s birthday cake]

[why does my face look so old yet young…a weird combo??]

xoxo

olive’s first cubs game

Posted on May 20, 2019 by tandem in love

hc took olive to her very first cubs game!!!!! i was so excited. hc was so excited. olive was so excited! the day had come and the weather stunk. absolutely stunk. it was cold, rainy, gloomy, and did i mention cold? hc was a bit bummed but i said, take her anyways! bundle her up, bring lots of layers, a blanket, and if it got too cold…you can always leave but it’s the experience that was most important!

so, there they went. olive was so game for it. they explored the area, took pics everywhere, and baby girl was a complete trooper! as elsa said, “the cold never bothered me anyways!” LOL the good news was their seats were under an awning, so they were protected from the ongoing/intermittent rain.

olive enjoyed a big cup of pepsi and of course, a hot dog! she loved the music and bopped along to the tunes and enjoyed watching the game. one of her favorite things about the visit was meeting the cubbie bear! she thought he was so cool, bragged how she high fived him and he picked up for a pic!

this girl was steadfast in staying and enjoying the game despite the crummy weather. so much so, baby girl stayed through 10 innings! yes, 10 innings! after the 10th inning, she said she was ready to go home! i don’t even think i’d survive 10 innings in the cold and rain! i was so proud of her!

hc and olive packed up their items and headed out. she is so darn good! hc even offered her to get a souvenir and she declined. she didn’t need one. whaaaaaa?! gosh, i love her!

her first chicago cubs game was a success! she thoroughly enjoyed it! i can’t wait until she goes again and this time around, it will be warm out! i demand it. i guarantee it. no if’s and’s or but’s…ya got that chicago weather? please and thank you.

[that’s a big cup of pop]

[hello hotdog!]

{may 11th, 2019}

xoxo

under the sea birthday party

Posted on May 2, 2019 by tandem in love

i was looking forward to spending some time with andrea at her kid’s birthday party. one – i don’t see her enough. two – she’s awesome. i mean, she’s hosting, so i knew it wasn’t going to be one on one time kind of chatting but no matter what the circumstance, it’s always good to see a friend.

we arrived there in a flash and it was a beautiful day out! it was hard to believe that it had snowed alllllll day the day before! once inside, andrea greeted us, we settled in and i started snapping away with my camera.

ellie was not happy at first {as usual}. she cried and clung to us. she acted as if we were throwing her to the wolves with this large group of adults. {eye roll} olive on the other hand meshed right in. she was loving it. first thing we walked into, when we arrived, was the dessert spread and that received a thumbs up from miss olive!

we made our way through and said our hello’s to the usual gang – ginger, katheryn, beth, and patrik. it’s always so good to see them and it was great catching up with everyone.

andrea had a slew of entertainment there! i loved it! such great ideas for an indoor kids birthday party that’s not at an activity center! she had a balloon animal artist and a singer called miss jamie’s farm. the kids looooooooooved it! ellie not so much. the balloon guy made ellie a dog and it freaked her out and she threw it on the floor. miss jamie started singing and ellie cowered back in fear. oh em gee…she’s a riot. i finally made some mom moves and coaxed ellie onto the dance floor and slowly but surely, she started loving miss jamie and her singing! it helped 100% that olive was soooo into it and ellie loved that olive loved it too! anything her big sister does, ellie is game.

the kids ate {lots of pizza, pastas, cheese curds, salads, beef sandwiches, and so much more! there was a copious amount of food!}, they played, they were entertained and super happy!

we sang happy birthday to the kiddos and ginger cut the cake while i passed her the plates. we made a good assembly line although, she was quite swift in cutting the cake and i was a bit slow with handing her fresh plates! i received some coaching on my lack of skills and sped up! LOL. i yelled at andrea for some forks and after that, we were on a roll divvying up the cake to the ravenous kids in front of us.

we were some of the last guests to leave…as we were having so much fun! it was such a great party! i had so much fun and i know the girls did too! thanks andrea and jamie for throwing a fabulous birthday party! many blessings to all the years ahead for annabelle and sebastian! happy birthday kiddos! we love you all!

[andrea – always the consummate host]

[olive had to have any cupcake with a mermaid tail]

[always attached one way or another]

[yum yum macarons]

[mesmerized by the balloon artist]

[olive was so excited!]

[they’re so sweet. oh they melt my heart]

[unicorn]

[colin and katheryn]

[someone really likes to gamble. LOL]

[oh that face]

[y’all. we took, hmmm, maybe 10 pics?? in EVERY pic, ellie literally made a different face. she’s my freakin’ emoji face kid]

[the kids enjoying miss jamie’s farm]

[the sweet birthday girl]

[i love her outfit]

[ellie bullying this poor girl in front of her, who is smaller than her!]

[sebastian and grandma]

[jamie]

[how fun is this cake?!!]

[the birthday girl, ready to make a wish and blow out her candles!]

[ginger, the cake cutter extraordinaire]

xoxo

easter ’19

Posted on April 30, 2019 by tandem in love

oh, it was a very busy {leading up to} and very tiring week after easter! you know meeeeee, always piling on too much and loving every second of it. i swear if i didn’t plan months in advance, then i’d be a creative hot mess. LOL.

easter morning started out with the girls waking up and screaming their way to their baskets. well, olive screamed her way! hahaha! ellie, for some reason, was in a mood and pouted her way towards her basket. oh guuuurrlllll.

olive was so excited the easter bunny dropped off her unicorn ponycycle! her face was priceless when she saw it! i absolutely love that they BOTH love it and they sometimes ride it together…it’s so cute! ellie feels comfortable on it too, so the gift was a win win!

they then went through their easter baskets looking at all the goodies. they were very excited over their shoes! yay! olive had to look at everything and make a comment on each item. once they were done perusing their basket of goodies, everyone got ready for easter brunch.

but before we left, we did an easter egg hunt outside! the weather was Ahhhhhhhmazing. the best kind of day to celebrate Christ! the girls had so much fun hunting down their eggs! i made paper plate markers for the eggs and to help guide the girls through the hunt! hc did the set up {y’all know kiki doesn’t get up early if she doesn’t have to!} and did a great job with hiding all the eggs! we had filled them the night before with candies and moj moj animals. olive loooooved them all and loved that they also glowed in the dark! bonus!

i was quite proud of miss ellie getting a good amount of eggs too! she did good! once the hunt was over and the girls went through their egg surprises, we then headed downtown for brunch with the famille!

our place of choice was baptiste and bottle at the conrad hotel. we were very curious on this restaurant. i told my family that it better be amazing as it took two weeks and a whole lotta phone tag to finally nail a reservation at this establishment! we walked in and the interior looked lovely, modern, and moody. i was totally eyeing the scrumptious dessert table that greeted us!

they walked us over to our table{s} and didn’t even push them together to seat our party of 13! i had to ask them to do so. i mean, if you are out with a whole group, would you want to sit at separate tables?? that made no sense! then our server came by and he was energetic and very nice! then, 45 minutes later, our drink orders were still not fulfilled, our food still hadn’t come, and i was completely irritated. it was prix fixe menu!! the kitchen obviously knew how many people they were serving that day AND the menu was set…so waiting almost one hour for our first course to come out was ridiculous!!!!

i went to the hostess stand and asked to speak to a manager. he was very nice and polite and i was cordial and calm. he immediately reacted, apologized, and came over to our table to help our server out. for goodness sake, my sister ordered coffee and asked for cream and sugar and 15 minutes later….she still didn’t get. i had to do something!

once the ball started rolling, our server continued to mess up {he’d take away our plates and then would forget to bring in fresh plates so we could continue to eat} but we were in deep and there was no going back. the poor guy did his best to accommodate us but i really think serving was not his forte! the good new was, the food was delicious!! we really did enjoy our brunch despite the subpar service. we were with the right people and that was all that mattered.

thuy brought the kids their easter bakets and olive went nuts over what she bought her. she literally had to wear everything thuy bought her! ohmergawd, olive is so extra. the girls are so loved and so spoiled by their family. we are so so lucky to be close to them, in all aspects.

after our long and yummy brunch, we all traipsed our way over to the new shop – dylan’s candy bar store! it was bright, fun, and smelled way too sweet for me! it was a candy land dream! every type of candy, the largest cotton candy cone i have ever seen, and everything was way overpriced! LOL. of course, olive suckered me into buying her a lollipop! no pun spared.

our easter was perfect. the weather was perfect. the day was perfect. remember it’s your mindset. live positively. count your blessings. cherish the moments with your people and be thankful for what God has given you. then your filter will always view things as perfect because it is.

*****
EASTER MORNING

[here they come!]

[look at that excited face!]

[she loves her ponycycle!]

[she was totally pouting for no reason]

[there she goes!]

[easter baskets]

[bunny sunglasses]

[gong through their goodies]

[scattered goods]

[oh that face]

[gummi’s on a stick]

[LOL doll in a chocolate egg]

*****

EASTER EGG HUNT

[isn’t she sooooooo sweet?]

[finding easter eggs]

[egg hunt markers that i made the night before]

[eggs in plain sight]

[bunny egg markers]

[looking for eggs]

[reaching for the eggs]

[a whole lotta goodies]

[ellie’s goodies]

[she’s loving her moj moj’s]

*****

EASTER BRUNCH

[she loves her cousins]

[ellie alllllllways attached]

[bagel and lox]

[the cutest cousins]

[avo toast]

[baskets from auntie thuy]

[she’s so excited over her basket]

[dessert table]

[agata and dan]

[reagan, kim, and bennett]

[check out all her moves!]

[my sweet extra girl]

[a rare family photo]

*****

DYLAN’S CANDY BAR

[rainbow rice krispie treat]

[the biggest rainbow cotton candy stick i’ve ever seen!]

[grandma and her grandkids – minus ellie]

xoxo

bunny good time!

Posted on April 17, 2019 by tandem in love

it was a mix of many things this past weekend. it was the weekend before easter and hc’s birthday. we were able to do a lot of fun easter driven things and unfortunately, most of the birthday inspired activities fell through. there was the snow storm on sunday which cancelled plans for a lunch up at hc’s parent’s house. i had planned a spa afternoon and dinner at a yummy restaurant for his actual birthday but that fell through as hc had to stay late at work {his boss was flying in mid afternoon and he had to be there}.

nevertheless, it was still a good, fun, relaxing time!

we had a date with the easter bunny on saturday morning. as usual, our morning started off slow and always winds up in a frenzied rush to get out of the house. i didn’t want to be too late, as in, i wasn’t sure if the line for the bunny would be too long. last year, it was at least an hour and half long wait and we arrived there early!

we were third in line, which was great! the person manning the virtual wait list told us to not go far, as we would be up soon once the bunny arrived. hey, no problem. we grabbed a seat right by the check in and waited until we received a text from the virtual queue. i received the text that we were up next, so i walked up and the host told us to step in the 8 person deep line. um, what? what is the point of a virtual line if your place in line is not honored?? i was annoyed. hc made a great point, it was worthless for us to arrive a half hour early to secure our place in the virtual line and if we had arrived 40 minutes later, we would have not waited and had the same place in line as our virtual queue, because it didn’t matter. we could have just walked up and it would have saved us time in the morning and all the rushing we did just to secure a place that was not recognized. i was peeved.

the good new was that the line moved quickly. the bad news was, ellie was starting to freak out. she was sooooooooooo scared of the bunny. i mean she was freaking the f8ck out! as our turn with the bunny drew near, she started to melt down. i was holding her and she literally screamed for my sister, thuy, to save her {who was standing outside the ropes}, she said, “i want thuyyyyyyy!” and cried. when it was our turn, girlfriend literally belted out in the loudest voice, “noooooooooooooooooo! no! nooooo! no!!” everyone was like “awwwwww” as in they felt her pain.

we got a few pics in and we went on our merry way. poor ellie…i didn’t want to traumatize her! i felt so bad she was freaking out hard core. although olive was a pro! she was so excited to see the bunny and couldn’t wait to tell him what she wanted for easter! i get it though…olive was not keen on santa, bunnies, or anything of that sort until she was about 4 years old, so we have time with ellie {only being 2 1/2!}.

we all walked to a favorite restaurant called the blue door kitchen and garden {off of elm and rush}. we were seated upstairs {it’s so quaint and cute}, where it was a little more spacious and less crowded. the girls were so well behaved but it helped having their cousin with them, reagan, who is so good with them!

we ordered food for the girls right away and libations. we hemmed and hawed just a wee bit on the entrees but finally concluded to a few delicious choices. i really enjoyed everything about the restaurant: the ambience, the decor, how relaxing it was and the great service. i also adore how the girls love to explore and how comfortable the environment was for them to do so. that always makes for a relaxing, stress free dining experience!

after brunch, we traipsed our way back to bloomingdale’s, where we hung out a bit more {we are a bit obsessed with aster hall}. kim and reagan had to head back for his baseball game and thuy had plans with a friend in the evening.

once we arrived home and settled in, we dyed easter eggs! it was such a fun time. olive truly loved it and had a great time creating different colors, drawing on the eggs, and making unique designs. we used shaving cream with food coloring to create swirl dyed eggs, we had mod podge, glitter, confetti, markers, stickers, party hats and metallic paper to promote creativity! ellie, on the other hand, preferred to watch us, yawn, and roll her eyes at us. LOL. she’s such a character.

we crammed a lot into our saturday but i wouldn’t have it any other way. i love being busy and keeping busy and diving deep into anything holiday related! happy easter week my friends!

*****

900 NORTH SHOPS CHICAGO

[anxiously waiting for the easter bunny!]

[being skeptical about everything]

[she styled her outfit and hair!]

[we really had to talk to ellie and tried to convince her that bunny was a good dude]

[miss ellie couldn’t stand still for anything]

[playing around and waiting for the bunny]

[look at ellie crying!]

[i totally didn’t want to be in the pic but here we are!]

*****

BLUE DOOR KITCHEN AND GARDEN

via tandeminlove.com [she was entertained by her little figurines]

[pretty plates]

[enjoying our time with family]

[pretty corners everywhere]

[high tea]

[mes seours]

[classic ellie]

[hc ordered a drink called the boss and it just baffled olive why they kept serving the boss to dada. LOL]

[the prettiest restaurant]

[my sweet tenacious babe]

[chicken and waffles]

[i am obsessed with kale and cabbage salads!]

[the prettiest light…auntie kim with the prettiest ladies]

[hustling through the streets of chicago]

[the clan gang]

[my old stomping ground]

*****

EASTER EGGS

[easter egg dying]

[working diligently]

[eggcited over the colors!]

[how ellie dyes easter eggs]

[glitter, confetti, party hats, markers, food dye…oh my!]

[shaving cream food dye colored eggs]

[her easter egg bunny creation]

xoxo

snow day in april ’19

Posted on April 15, 2019 by tandem in love

well, here it is again. it always snows in april, everrrrryyyyy year. i only know this for a fact because for the last ten years, i’ve celebrated hc’s birthday in this month and it always snows around his birthday.

well, i knew it was going to snow {hearsay from hc} but i had no idea it was going to snow almost 5 inches {canceling our birthday plans for hc with his family}! whaaaaaaa? we woke up to a snowy white landscape and it felt like christmas. LOL. hc told me it was going to snow allllll day, well ok! we had a cozy day in, we chilled, hc cooked breakfast, we played, and took pictures. hc went outside to check what type of snow it was and said it was prime snowman building fluff. sooooooo, when i put ellie down for a nap, hc and olive went outside to build a snowman.

they rolled it, stacked it, and built it as i mostly watched them from our bay window. they had gathered all the trimmings…coal, a wannabe carrot nose, hat, scarf, and stick arms. i periodically ran outside to capture some good moments while they were in process.

olive was humming/singing christmas songs as she built the snowman…it was the cutest thing to hear. ohhhhh, she’s the sweetest! she did such a great job building it with hc. she was all about finding the right items for the snowman and helping hc with all the accessories.

they put the finishing touches on the snowman and he looked marvelous! hc and olive were so proud! i must say, he was a good-looking one! we snapped some good pics and walked inside happy and satisfied with our lovey snowman. the only bad news for him is that it’s only getting warmer! by the evening, he was the leaning tower of pisa. i told hc he will topple over by morning! c’est la view monsieur!

even though it snowed and almost everyone in chicagoland almost crapped in their pants with anger, we really enjoyed it and loved every moment of it! it was f u n!

[bundled up and ready to roll]

[strolling in stride]

[they’re so proud of their snowman]

[yeahhhh, he’s drinking a beer]

[she’s so proud!]

xoxo

spring break staycation

Posted on April 4, 2019 by tandem in love

olive loves hotels. she loves staying at a hotel. she loves sleeping in them. she loves watching tv in the room. it cracks me up how much she loves being there. from one vacation to the next, olive will always hint to me how much she loves flying on a plane and staying at a hotel.

well, for spring break, we decided to do a staycation in our favorite city! there would be no airplane but definitely a hotel stay! on our way there, olive kept exclaiming how excited she was for our ‘family vacation!!!!!’. so adorable!

we stayed at the millennium knickerbocker hotel and my sister {last minute} ended up staying at the park hyatt hotel, a few blocks away! they were suppose to fly to california but some health issues put a stop to that, so they wanted to get ‘away’ and booked a room at a hotel off the ave too!

so it was extra fun having family with us! the kids jumped on beds, swam, ate, stayed up way too late, ate some more junk food, shopped, perused toy stores, explored, and then some!

the weather wasn’t so great {hello chicago!} so we didn’t venture outside as much as we liked but if you’re staying in chicago, i highly recommend visiting millenium park, lincoln park zoo, the shedd aquarium, the science and industry museum, peggy notebaert nature museum to name a few!

we loved eating at food life in watertower place, ghirardelli’s, aster hall at 900, benihana’s in the hancock building, eataly are some great places to take your kiddos!

we had such a fun time with the kiddos! they loved staying at the hotel, exploring new places, and breaking all the rules!