we don’t get to see these two guys very often…but when we do, it’s always so fun and feels like we did just see each other!
we’ve eaten at band of bohemia before and we liked it so much that we needed to go there again! matt made reservations for us and shockingly, hc and famille actually arrived early! it’s a hit or miss for us…usually it’s a miss but once in a blue moon, we will actually have our act together and get out the door on time!
we arrived early and snapped some fun pics and sashayed our way inside. they seated us right away but within minutes, johann and matt showed up! we ordered copious amounts of libations, perused the menu, and settled on our choices. we chitchatted and took care of ellie, cause she’s high maintenance. she’s such a wiggle worm. she doesn’t like unfamiliar enviromments and will only want us to hold her but she can’t sit still so it’s like a flippin’ wrestling match with this little chunker.
after we ate, olive asked us if she could play over by the waiting area. it has a record player, music blasting, games, comfy couches and chairs, and it’s a perfect play area for these babes. i was a bit hesitant because i didn’t want her to go by herself {we could still see her if she went} but i didn’t want to sit over there with her because we were still visiting with matt and johann. we asked her to wait a bit longer and she complied. after 10 minutes {it probably feels like an eternity to a kid} she asked again and i let her go.
our brunch turned into a 2.5 hour long event, as usual. is it me? is it us? is it hc’s doing {ha probably not!}? it seems like whenever i meet up with my friends, we can gaaaaaaaab for hours and hours. hmmmm, i think it’s me. hahahaha!
anyhoozle, it was definitely a fab time together. the drinks were tasty, the bites were good but the company was even better. until next time my dear friends!
[ellie always giving the side eye]
[cheers!]
[ellie always needing to be in one of our arms]
[the prettiest, cutest bagel and lox i ever did see]
pool time has become our summer day staple. i am so happy we joined a neighborhood pool. it’s the greatest solve for too hot summer days!
on this day, i got the girls ready, not as early as i was hoping for because we love to sleep in! we had a very, very late and slow morning. these summer nights and mornings have been so late, late, late! late nights and very late mornings! i am definitely enjoying it though!
i rounded them up, my little sassy gals, and headed to the pool. not many folks hit up the kids pool so it’s nice and not crowded for us when we are there. it’s only when they have adult swim, do all the older kids come barreling into the pool. yikes!
when we first got there, ellie was in complete observe mode. it was hilarious to watch her. she just strutted around and stared at everyone through her pineapple shades. what a little diva! her chunky thighs and cheeks and the sunglasses that didn’t fit the nose bridge she doesn’t have, was so glorious to see. hahaha!
we decided to bring a bag of toys with us, this time, but that was a big mistake. each time adult swim happened, it resulted in a large group of kids raging into the baby pool, then quickly dissipating, but slowly, each time, the girl’s toys would disappear. so with each adult swim, by the time we left the pool, olive and ellie had two fishes left out of their whole spread of toys. olive lost her fishing net, her tinker bell doll, her nemo toys, and so forth. wah wahhhh.
after lunch and some more swimming, we headed back home. after giving the girls a bath, my sister called me and asked if olive could go to the pool with her cousins. oy vey. well of course! so i dressed her in another swim suit and out the door she went for another early evening of fun!
happy summer days!
[dancing fools]
[i love these babes]
[she was cracking me up! she looked like this the whole ride to the pool]
we enrolled olive into swim class, again {she started over a month ago, in early june}. she took classes when she was two? i think she was two, maybe a little older than that but not by much. we, unfortunately, stopped after that. i highly recommend any parent to always continue with lessons once you start and start early. your kids will most likely be more confident, not so afraid of the water, and more advanced in their skills.
olive’s first lesson was tough. she was afraid, didn’t understand some of the trainer’s concepts, and was super timid with trying anything that caused water to touch her face. um, that’s a problem.
her coach was great, though. she was super patient, kind, and really supported olive in the way she needed it. i was happy with her style and happy to see olive attempt a few things she wasn’t feeling confident about.
we wanted ellie to try out swim lessons too but that was a complete debacle. she didn’t want to be in the water and clung to hc and cried. oh well, there’s always next year for this little girl! we all attended olive’s first lesson…ya know those firsts! it’s always special in our books! of course i watched from the sidelines while olive practiced and hc carried ellie around in the pool. after olive’s first lesson, we needed to head back to get after the plans we had for the day.
overall, it was a good first day of lessons. i am hoping that she gets her aha moment and progresses quickly! it’s so important to me that she becomes a strong swimmer! for my sanity and for her safety! so, here’s to a good run for the rest of the summer!
we just celebrated ellie’s second birthday with a fun party!!
ok, ok…i say it e v e r y time. i’m only going to get balloons and a cake. eep!!!! what starts out small and innocent blows way out of control. first, it starts with…’oh, i’ll do a sprinkle theme’, then i think – this idea is fun. this idea is cute. oh, i can make this. wouldn’t this kind of cake be perfect? oh, sprinkle balloons would be a nice touch. what about sprinkle favors as name cards? and on, and on, and on my brain goes into overdrive and my crafting hands get to work and can’t stop. that pretty much sums it up and then boom! a simple party is born. hahahahaha!
hc and i had a very, very, very busy week. we had birthday parties to attend to, traveling to do, laundry to fold, friends to visit, grocery stores to go to, activities for the girls, cleaning to do, baking treats, crafting to finish, a brunch date, errands to run, keeping little humans alive, ya know…typical, every day parent shit.
then saturday came at us and we were ready. we had the food catered, the decor was ready to go, i did some easy baking, dressed the girls, and we were ready for our guests! there was a lot of prep work done the weeks prior, so the day of the party was easy. although through all my hustling that day, i literally ran out of time to dress myself. i said screw it. i’m wearing what i am wearing, everything and everybody else can look nice!
it was another hot day outside, so most of our guests stayed inside. we served apps {vege tray and a cheese plate!], plenty of drinks {alcoholic and non…}, mingled with family and friends {plus i ran around like freakin’ paparazzi!}.
right when the party started was ellie’s nap time. so i put her down 20 min. before the party began. she only slept an hour or so {there was so much commotion going on in the house!} but to my surprise, agata had retrieved her from her crib!!!! whaaaaaa? i was shocked ellie didn’t cry and let agata pick her up!? she allowed others to be in her personal space until she saw me, of course. but overall, she was so calm and well behaved for waking up to a full house of people!
after dinner, we served desserts but not without singing happy birthday to my beautiful girl! she was a bit upset i put her down in the chair but i quickly lit the candles and picked up her cake to bring to her. her face was like, ‘what’s going on here??’ we started to sing happy birthday and she was making the funniest faces!!! she was quite amused {watch the video below to see it in action!} but the best part was when we laughed at her cuteness and she busted out laughing herself; she was not sure on why people were laughing but joined in just because!
her birthday celebration was a total success! i had so much fun putting it together and i think all our guests, especially our guest of honor, had a great time!
happy birthday my beautiful ellie. you are spunky, sweet, silly, tenacious, so loving, thoughtful, amusing, and full of life. we are beyond thankful you have graced us with your presence. always remember how beautiful, strong, and intelligent you are! we love you so much baby girl!!!
[pout pout]
[flowers by my sister kim]
[sprinkle wafers]
[sisters]
[chocolate dipped goodies covered with sprinkles]
[thanks for the picture reagan!]
[hc made the donut board and i glazed and sprinkled the doughnuts!]
[not impressed by my decor]
[two sweet]
[family]
[sprinkle cake]
[somewhere under the rainbow]
[dessert bar]
[sprinkle cups and calligraphy names so people won’t lose their cups!]
[these babes with ba…oh my heart]
[i filled each balloon. oy]
[barbara and lynne]
[emoji favor bags]
[thuy and lan]
[she’s a doll]
[sprinkle vases]
[ready for her cake!]
[singing happy birthday to ellie]
[we all started laughing at her funny faces, so she laughed along with us!]
two dear friends of mine both had babies 6ish weeks apart! oh babies! they are so cute, fresh, and high maintenance!
my morning started out in a hustle. i knew it would take a long time to get to dana’s and we were running so behind. i was a bit bummed that my tardiness was cutting into my time with dana, so i asked andrea {my second stop of the day} if i could come over with dana. she was all aboard and i wanted to make sure dana felt comfortable about it too!
well, we were all game, so i was happy i was going to be able to spend time with both my friends! after spending an hour over at dana’s visiting her and the new baby abraham, we gathered our belongings, strollers, and don’t forget the kids and walked over to andrea’s house [she lives a little over a block away from andrea!}. andrea had just gotten home with her kids {just ab and see…no ollie – he was at camp}, she had picked annabelle up from a lyceé français camp and so kindly picked up lunch for us gals! i felt like an ass, because she’s the one who had the baby and i didn’t want her picking up food for us! i should have been the one picking up the food for the new mamas!
anyhoo, she swung by a boulangerie, next to annabelle’s camp and picked the most delicious sandwiches and macarons from there! andrea told us that they baked their own fresh bread there…yum!
us gals hung out, abe slept, sebastian cried, ellie clung to me, and annabelle and olive played together. i knew dana didn’t want to stay out too long, plus i needed to hit the road to coordinate ellie’s nap with our schedule, so after an hour or so, we left. i was a little bummed my time with andrea was cut short. i really cherish her as a friend and i’m a bit sad we don’t get to see each other as often anymore!
it was so good to see my two dear friends who just had their two beautiful baby boys! i am blessed to have amazing women in my life!
[rosie freaking out over the girls]
[yup, there’s ellie, loving on rosie]
[ellie NOT happy i’m holding abe]
[total meltdown and i love how olive is smiling]
[scott, abe, and dana]
[sweet friends]
[noshing on a macaron]
[2.5 weeks and 9 weeks]
[so darn goooooood – andrea picked up sandwiches from a local boulangerie]
since our plans to go up to a friend’s lake house fell through, hc suggested we go to a place he’s been to before called house on the rock. i was like, the what on the rock? well, it’s a really weird house built on a rock. plain and simple. i thought, ok…let’s do it! why not. he had time off and we might as well travel somewhere, not too far away, and have some fun!
i packed up everything but the kitchen sink…even though it was a one night get away, we still hauled a lot of stuff. hc packed up the cooler with drinks and goodies and we were ready to hit the road. it was going to be a 3.5 hour drive. not too shabby…a totally doable ride with two little ones!
we had fun driving towards our destination, although trying to find a decent place to eat was almost impossible. we did not want the typical fast food stops and we didn’t want to go to a seedy joint with slot machines. ugh. mile after mile, we had nothing. then we started to get hangry. snacks weren’t cutting it and i didn’t want to fill up on junk {well, i eat junk every day, so i don’t know what i am talking about} but anyhoo, i finally mapped out a place called baumgartner cheese store and tavern. hells yes! we were in wisconsin and you always have to hit up something cheesy {no pun intended}.
this place was perrrrrrfect. it was quaint, cute, and everyone was so dang friendly. our server, kyle, was the nicest kid everrrrrr. the kids had a blast sitting by the window and we ate the most random, fulfilling things. it was kitschy and fit into the aesthetics of our road trip perfectly!
we ordered beer, chili dogs, popcorn, and our meals came with pickles and blocks of cheese. yasssssss. ellie made us crazy with her restlessness but we survived and had a really good time eating there! kind kyle even snapped a decent picture of us in front of the restaurant!
we hit the road again and made it to our destination within an hour and a half-ish. the area was green and pretty. we pulled up to our ‘resort’ {total joke} and checked in. we then drove a second to get to our side of the hotel and it was freakin’ desolate. apparently NO ONE visits the house on the rock on week nights and they definitely don’t stay overnight. hmmmmmmm.
their restaurant inside the hotel was closed and there was no one in sight. we decided to hit up the hotel pool and have some fun. olive had a blast, she loved that she could stand in the pool and ellie was terrified. after some time in the pool, we headed back to our room and this is when shit got real!!!!
as we were walking down the hallway, there was a man {not a boy}, a grown man sitting on the ground, looking at his phone. olive ran by him and i called her back, because she went too far past our room. she backtracked and stood, maybe five feet away from the man. he looked very annoyed, so he got up and scurried away. as he passed me, i was going to say hello, but his eyes were looking down at the ground and he seemed flustered. then he passed hc and he actually said hi to the man but the man didn’t even respond and scuffled past hc. okayyyyyyyy, odd.
honestly, it kind of freaked me out. i said to hc, “what happens he is a serial killer or someone crrraaaaaaazy?!!!!!” hc was a little disturbed by this man’s behavior too! well, that just gave me anxiety all night. we and this man seemed to be the ONLY guests at this hotel. i am not joking. the parking lot was empty. ohmergawd.
we all had fun back in our room and when it was time for bed, we put the girls in the adjoining room, far away from the door. hc and i decided to sleep on the bed in front of the door. holy crap, i was like dude, strange hallway man,…if you try something, i will stab you with my blush brush and beat you with my flip flop!!!! in the middle of the night, hc woke up to use the bathroom and it rustled me awake. ugh. i was filled with anxiety, so much so that i laid awake freaked out over the creepy dude in the hotel!!!
morning came and all was well but really, that guy freaked me out! we got ready and hit a breakfast place that looked yummy, and it was! after a decent meal, we drove over to the house on the rock. the entrance was soooo pretty, so green, lush, and filled with very large pots filled with pretty flowers!
we started our journey inside the house and finished in two hours?! we did kind of speed through all the rooms. i found the house {now, not to knock hc because he really does like this tourist attraction} to be so odd! it really creeped me out. there were clowns everywhere and doll after doll after doll after dolls. it smelled old and gave me a very strange vibe. the girls were frightened by some of the displays and disliked the very loud music some of the musical attractions played.
it was definitely a fun trip and worth a visit {it’s like american pickers on acid}. after touring the whole place, we jumped back into the car and headed back home {and hit horrible traffic!}. we finally arrived and it was sooooo good to be home sweet home. our favorite place to be!
[olive is so dang cheesy, i loooooove it]
[my sweet babes]
[baumgartner cheese store and tavern since 1931]
[i love her kisses]
[they can be so sweet together!]
[sharing popcorn]
[she cracks me up!]
[gourmet meal: chili cheese dog, a pickle, and a block of cheese]
[she loves to give kisses]
[she found dada’s hat]
[hotel room]
[hotel pool time]
[hanging with dada]
[she loved the jets in the tub!]
[such a ham!]
[olive loves to pose!]
[big flower urns at house on the rock]
[the infinity room – it juts out 218 feet from the house with no ground support]
my girlfriend, kim, celebrated her third baby’s first birthday party this past week. i can’t believe it’s been a year since mason was born. that totally flew by!
hc and us gals had a relaxing morning. the party wasn’t until 3, so we chilled and did random stuff until it was time to leave for the fête. i told kim i would arrive a bit early to help her with some of the decorations.
once there, i scurried around, finishing up some last minute decor touches, snapped some pics, and then sat back with a beer. well, kind of. ellie was in rare form that day {and honestly, of late…she’s become soooooo attached!}. she clung, CLUNG to me or hc. she didn’t want to venture off on her own, she didn’t want to play with the other kids. she didn’t want to play with her sister. she didn’t want to be left alone by either one of us {especially me!}! plus, she didn’t get the nap that she needed.
so, there we were, trying to pass her back and forth, socialize with others, and drink and eat – one handed, or no handed. hahaha! overall, it was great to catch up with kim, her friends, and family! the party decor that kim dreamt up looked fabulous and i was so happy to have helped!
olive and brady had a blast playing together as usual! the food was delicious and the company even better!
happy birthday sweet mason!
[father daughter]
[brady and olive…so sweet!]
[isn’t she darling?]
[oh, these kids]
[the one second we didn’t have ellie in our arms. what you don’t see is her tugging at our legs, crying]
[oh sweet girl]
[i created a chalkboard sign for kim!]
[me and the party planner]
[the FIVE minutes she actually sat by herself and not in our arms]
i really, really do. i grew up loving the cubs. my most favorite team? andre dawson, ryne sandberg, wilkins, mark grace…my love for the cubs intensified then. i was that child that would rush home from school and turn on the cubs games on wgn and actually watch all nine innings. yesssssssss.
anyhoo, prior to the game, we had abraham’s bris {you can read that in the previous post}. we purposely arrived late to the game because 1. we had the bris to attend and 2. it was soooooooo dang hot, we didn’t mind showing a wee bit late. we scored rockstar parking and walked our way into the stadium. we grabbed some dogs and beers and maneuvered our way to our seats. ohhhhhh, it was hot! the temperature in the stadium was 102 degrees F. yowza!
we really enjoyed ourselves. well, i really did…although drinking beer, mixed with hot temps seemed like a disastrous combination. my body temp started to rise and i was feeling super parched, but survived. once the game hit the 8th inning, hc was done. i was surprised because usually i am the one done but hey! it’s the cubs game!!!! i love attending any game and it’s even better when they win. i absolutely love singing the go cubs go song at the end of the game!
well, i wasn’t going to argue! so, we left. we stopped by a shop to find a hat that hc was interested in. we knew that a storm was coming but we really didn’t plan around it. once hc purchased his hat, we hit the streets to walk back to the car. that was when the sky opened up and it rained on us! it was actually awesome! it was so hot, so a rain shower was appreciated! it may have rained for 6 minutes and then it stopped and the sun came out again.
i loved that we attended two events that day, i really had a great time despite the 102 degree heat, hc and i both purchased hats {like we need any more!}, we were rained on, and…
we left at a poignant moment in the game! the twins caught up and then the cubs won the game by one run! holy cow!
we hit the road again and cruised home to meet up with hc’s parents, who stopped by our house {they watched the girls over the weekend!}. it was such an eventful but heart-full day.
when my dear friend, dana, got pregnant, she told me waaaayyyyyyy in advance about the bris. the what?
the bris is a ceremony where the baby gets circumcised eight days after birth. obviously, if you are not scheduling the date of the birth, it’s kind of a throw your hands up in the air on when the event will be. well, it happened to have fallen on a day we already had plans. a cubs game and hc’s parents coming over because they took the girls over the weekend!
i hemmed and hawed. i really wanted to go! it was important to me to attend this special event {now literally, i wish there were really two of me! can you imagine all the shit i could get done and all the socializing i could do?! hahaha!}! i talked it over with hc and we decided that we would be able to make it, even if it was only for a half hour or 45 minutes.
as we pulled down dana’s parent’s street, there were soooo many cars! i said to rich that there must be multiple parties going on this block. as we neared our destination, we noticed a flow of people going to the same house. hmmmm, as we got out of the car and walked towards their house, we confirmed that, indeed, there were no other parties on the block and that all the cars parked on the street were there for the bris!
the house was packed, there were so many people inside! we cruised around, saying hello to the few people that we knew, said hello to scott, and waited. dana came downstairs and the ceremony began. it was traditional, meaningful, and very, very special! the rabbi’s speech was heartfelt, funny, and poignant.
when scott and dana explained why they chose the name abraham, gosh, that made me cry! scott was so emotional, it completely tugged at my heartstrings! this whole event was so freaking wonderful and i am so, so, so happy we were able to attend!
after the ceremony, scott and dana headed upstairs to have the mohel explained the 4 steps of taking care of the circumcised area, but hc and i needed to get going. oh, i was a bit sad i couldn’t stay any longer and super sad that i couldn’t visit with dana a bit more! hc and i needed to hit the road to go catch the game.
we cruised on out but i was quite content that we were able to witness this special occasion, albeit our time there was so short! thanks dana and scott for letting us into this moment in your lives! 8 days after having a baby can be so chaotic but you two handled almost 100 guests like champs!!!
mazel tov!
[debuting abraham]
[sweet little abraham]
[sooooooo tiny!]
[scott is so sweet about his family]
[passing little abraham to his aunt, emily]
[proud grandpa’s]
[the mohel holding baby abe]
[sweet sisters]
[nervously laughing???]
[feeding the baby wine and ready to go!]
[gail is so proud!]
[proud grandparents]
[oh scott, he made me cry with his speech! he talked about the special meaning of the name abraham]
we draaaaaagged ourselves out of bed {at least us girls, hc gets up early every day} and quickly got ready to head to the 4th of july hinsdale parade. i knew it was going to be a warm day but dang!!! the humidity was BRUTAL. we just sweated and sweated at 9 o’clock in the morning.
we parked hc’s jeep and walked our way to our usual meeting spot. hc had made ‘special’ beverages for us but little did he know, i am not a rum kind of gal. eep! i wish i was ’cause it was so warm and i needed a cool drink! it was a little bit miserable for the girls. i don’t know if it was too hot, they were not feeling good {because they were very sick the days prior}, or whatever it was, they were grumpy. ellie wanted to be held the entire time {holy hotness} and olive was super whiney {she kind of is in general but we won’t stress that part}. so, before the parade ended, we left. it was just too much. the heat, the sweat, the crying…it was time to go. although i still had a great time watching the parade, as i do every year!
once we got home, we wiped off, we cooled off, and everyone felt so much better. phew! hc and i started prepping a few things. we didn’t have to do much with everyone coming over, because our 4th parties are usually: everyone bring something, so it’s less stressful and so much easier!
i made festive ice cubes, frosé, and a mozzarella salad. we had a lot of salads on the menu. we had potato, mixed greens, coleslaw, pasta salad and i am sure i am forgetting another salad of some sort! hc had the fun task of grilling the burgers, corn, and dogs on the hot, hot grill. yay! what a trooper!
we stayed inside to stay cool, we hung out, and eventually the kids lit some ‘fireworks’ outside. olive was not a fan. she’s so sensitive! she was so afraid and worried someone would get hurt! she ran around screaming.
despite the high temps, it was a wonderful day! it started out hot and stressful but ended up being relaxing, fun, and very enjoyable. plus, it’s always fun to be with family! it was another great 4th on the books!
