boating

Posted on August 7, 2014 by tandem in love

it was olive’s first time on a boat {one of our summer to do’s}!!! we were super excited to head up to dick and jane’s house on a beautiful summer day. there was a chance of rain but we crossed our fingers to hold it off…and it worked!

the morning started off very serene. we woke up to miss olive’s cries, after her feeding she chilled in our bed for a bit. i got up to get ready and hc went out to the grocery store with miss olive to pick up some ingredients for our morning breakfast. once he came home, it was time for another feeding. so while i fed olive, hc ran out to starbucks for our usual coffee.

while olive slept, hc whipped up his famous breakfast burrito. yum! we ate, i cleaned, and we waited. and waited. and waited for miss o to get up. she slept for quite a bit {thank goodness, sometimes her naps are so short!}. once the little one was up, we packed up, and left to head up north.

[my favorite]

[my yummy breakfast burrito by hc]

we made a pit stop at a reclaimed wood shop {all american reclaim} to pick out panels to remodel a room in our house. it was a fairly new business {hidden behind a bunch of shops} and we drove in circles for a bit to find it. we finally did locate it, parked, and checked out what they had to offer inside. it was pretty cool. we looked at several colors of wood and settled on a lovely color. it was a perfect blend of tones we wanted in our room. we were very excited it was a batch that just came in. after the boys decided how much we needed, we paid, and then they helped us load it into our car. we are super excited and can’t wait to start this room!

[shopping for reclaimed wood for a home project!]

we finally arrived at gramma and papa’s house! we meeted and greeted with everyone there {papa, jean, and aunt wendy}. jane was at her bridge session, so she was on her way home. olive and daddy checked out the boat before we went out for a ride. it’s a brand new boat and super clean and nice. we were all so very excited to 1. go for a ride 2. that papa bought a new boat! 3. that is was a beautiful afternoon.

[checking out the new boat!]

[getting ready to be captain!]

after we checked out the new digs, grace and annabelle arrived. this was the first time grace got to hang out with both her sisters! they have been together before but only in passing, so today was a fun, special day!

[gracie with her sisters]

[gearing up to go boating]

[nom nom nom, i love my life jacker {not!}

[annabelle loving olive]

we geared up and everyone got on the boat. olive was not loving her life vest. oh noooo. it was bulky and awkward and she wasn’t comfortable in it unless she was standing up. poor thing, it wasn’t coming off so she had to make do!

we were ready to go! hc was captain for the day and off we went. we cruised along the river for miles. just enjoying the scenery, weather, and water. it was very relaxing and olive was enjoying herself. when we first took off though, she was not happy. she was a bit startled and wasn’t sure what was going on. after a few minutes, she settled in and enjoyed the wind blowing through her mane.

[going fast on the river, the wind blowing through her hair!]

[loving life]

[gramma loving olive]

we cruised serenely for miles, it was terrific. the boat was awesome and there weren’t a lot of folks on the river so it was rather calm. when we got on the boat, everyone said olive would fall asleep, all babies do! so we waited, and waited, and waited for o to fall asleep. um, not happening!

hc offered to take her {we probably had been cruising for almost an hour}, we were almost home. she sat merrily on hc’s lap {2nd captain!} and enjoyed the ride. then, being just a few minutes away from home, the little bella finally fell asleep!! it was too precious! she sat in her upright position and zonked out! oh, we were so delighted. it was too adorbs of a moment.

[captain of the boat!]

[the captain fell asleep at the wheel!]

we docked the boat and everyone climbed out. hc and i successfully passed olive over and she remained asleep! a miracle. i walked her up the yard and into the house. she was still asleep in my arms but then a few minutes later, she woke up. we hung out at dick and jane’s for only a few more minutes {enough time to feed her} and then left. we needed to get the little bugger home, bathed, and to bed!

we thanked dick and jane for a wonderful afternoon. it was fantastic to take a boat ride along the river on this lovely day.

xoxo

somber day

Posted on August 4, 2014 by tandem in love

it started out as just an olive and me day. we got up together, as usual, well actually i get up before olive does so i am ready to go. she ate, we played, she napped, and i cleaned, blogged, and organized our home. after her nap, i got her dressed and we were about to head out when hc had called me. i missed his phone call and called him back to some startling news.

hc used to work for a company called arrowstream for five years and still has friends who work for the company. the ceo of the company was shot by an employee that morning and the employee then committed suicide. such a crazy, sad incident. hc knew the shooter and of course, the ceo. i have met them both and we are both shocked at what has happened.

hc was on his way home. for a bit, we chilled and talked about what had happened. it’s disturbing, you never ever think something so close to home could happen like this. there is a lot of disbelief and confusion. my heart goes out to both their families.

after we spent some time absorbing what had happened, we decided to head out to enjoy the day. enjoy our life, because a grave moment like this really grounds you and you slow down to really appreciate what is around you.

we stopped in downtown downers grove for a late lunch. we spent a lovely time eating alfresco and all the servers and patrons doted on olive. she is such a cutie! after lunch, we strolled around the streets and hit some shops to pick up some things we needed.

[olive staring at some people coming in]

[summer skin]

[cheers!]

[this vegetable boxty kicked my ass]

[me and my babes]

we did some more errands and then headed back home to relax. hc did some remodeling duties and olive and i played together. the night rolled by, we did a lot of reflecting, we talked a lot about stuff {our life, our relationship, our commitments}, and we cherished the time we get to spend together as a family.

xoxo

cruise night + dq = perfect summer night

Posted on July 31, 2014 by tandem in love

it was a wonderful summer evening. the rain held off; it was the perfect temperature, warm, and sunny. hc and i decided to hit another cruise night, this time in downtown downers grove.

we headed out in the early evening and found a parking spot right at the start of the show. hc drooled over the first car we saw. leave it to me, to not even know what kind of car it is! hee.

[hc’s car of choice]

[it was soooo bright i couldn’t even look up!]

[cruising]

[we got one!]

we started to stroll down the street, looking at car after car. it was very relaxing and chill. we were both hungry and it was great because a lot of the vendors set up shop out on the sidewalks! we were able to use our nose to find our food! pizza was on my mind, i saw a man walk by with a slice and that was what i wanted! we walked a bit more and found the pizzeria serving their slices outside. yum.

[pizza on the go]

[yum]

[daddy daughter]

grace wasn’t feeling the pizza so we walked a bit more and, of course, she wanted a hot dog! hc had dinner with me and then he had dinner with grace. we also pit stopped into a pet store and they had kitties for adoption! i begged hc for one but that was a no go! boo.

while we were sitting down and eating dinner, we decided that we would stop at the dairy queen on our way home! yay!

[hotdogs]

[admiring]

***

dairy queen, here we come!

[decisions, decisions, decisions]

i got a cone. simple. tasty. perfect. i actually could have gotten a smaller one, i didn’t realize a medium cone was so much ice cream! but nonetheless, it was delicious. we sat outside in the great weather to enjoy our delectable treats.

[soft serve me some good ice cream]

[guess what they are eyeing??]

as we were relaxing with our desserts, a family walked up with a boxer. grace and hc were intrigued. he was a cutie. they bought him a cone and he chowed it down. it was so adorbs. he ate it down to the bottom and gulped down the last bit of his cone. it was so fun to watch!

[a boxer ready to eat his cone!]

[yum, yum]

it was a very lovely evening together. we had a great time observing all the cool vehicles, getting a chance to eat greasy food, and finishing it off with some sugary treats. all in all, it was a successful evening full of not so good foods for you! hehehe.

here’s to checking off some more good stuff on our summer list!

xoxo

hb gracie!

Posted on July 23, 2014 by tandem in love

it was grace’s birthday! we trekked our way up to dick and jane’s house to celebrate grace’s day. when we got there, the kiddos were on the boat with gramma and grandpa, tubing. olive, hc, and i chilled at the house until they returned. once they got back, jane started to whip up some dinner.

while we were waiting, everyone was playing with miss olive. as soon as olive saw her sister grace, she was nothing but smiles. she loves her sister! grace is the only person who can make olive laugh and laugh.

[olive loves her sister!]

[hb gracie!]

[daddy with his girls]

jane made spaghetti, meatballs, and sausage. i decided on the pasta and meatballs with a pound of parmesan cheese, please! we sat down for dinner, while olive {miraculously} played on the floor by herself! we were pretty impressed, i love seeing her change and grow and how she is now so content with entertaining herself. so, she scooted around, grabbed at her toys, and gabbed out lout while we downed our dinner.

[marbled birthday cake]

[papa, daniel, olive, grace, and hc]

[spaghetti and meatballs]

gramma made marbled cake with chocolate frosting for grace! her cake was adorned with m&m’s and different colored sparkler candles. we lit them up and sparks started to fly from each one…a very fun, pretty sight for everyone. we sang happy birthday to her and then her dad tricked her into getting up from her seat…he gave her a birthday spanking! every year she falls for it!

[olive singing happy birthday to grace!]

[make a wish! grace couldn’t get all the candles blown out!]

[birthday spanking!]

[cake and ice-cream]

she opened up all her gifts and then we had to jet! i felt bad we had to leave right away but we were behind schedule. we were suppose to leave at seven, due to olive’s schedule, but we ended up leaving at eight. i was not a happy camper…i’m adamant on sticking to olive’s schedule. it takes an hour or more to get home and i knew she would fall asleep in the car. baby girl goes to bed at nine…that meant we would be home after nine, she would be sleeping that entire hour {when she should be awake!}, we still needed to give her a bath, and i needed to feed her. she ended up staying up later because she wasn’t tired {because of the nap} but all was well in the end.

[opening her gifts]

[she’s outgrowing me!]

happy birthday grace! it was fabulous to be able to celebrate it with you. happy twelve years little lady. here is to many more wonderful celebrations!

xoxo

happy low key july fourth

Posted on July 10, 2014 by tandem in love

our fourth of july was very low key. a lot of relaxing and hanging out together. hc had yummy dinner plans and he even baked a pound cake for dessert! how awesome was that?!

when i arrived home, hc started whipping up some good eats {such an awesome hubby}. i was hungry {as usual…this nursing state makes me voracious}! we sat down for dinner and stated what we are grateful for {we do this every time we eat}, then filled our bellies up with some good grub. thank you hc for always making a delicious meal.

[olive had navy and white star shorts on buuutttttt she had an accident in them 🙁 therefore she didn’t have them on]

[a delicious dinner by hc // winner winner chicken dinner]

after dinner, i cleaned up and hc, olive, and grace went for a walk. once they were back, we started making our desserts. grace sliced up the strawberries, i pulled out all the toppings and plates, and we gathered around to assemble our treats!

[anthroplogie bowls]

[grace slicing strawberries for our desserts]

[my red, white, and blue peacock festive dessert!]

[i love to pout]

after dessert, hc and grace went out to the backyard to look for fireworks. hc actually caught a firefly! one of our summer to do’s! there weren’t many out there but we got one! we still have all summer to catch more!

i tried to keep baby olive up for some fireworks but she was tired. pooped. so, no fireworks for this little one. she went to bed!

[trying to stay of for fireworks]

after some quality time together, some festive desserts, and slightly catching a glimpse of the fireworks behind our trees, we were dunzo. that pretty much summed up our happy fourth of july!

happy birthday america. god bless our country!

xoxo

carnival

Posted on July 9, 2014 by tandem in love

my famille and i got together during the holiday weekend to get into some festive fun. we were able to check off another fun summer activity: going to a carnival!!

there were so many fests going on but we decided on the lisle summer fest, eyes in the sky. they had a lot of fun stuff going on there – kitschy shopping, greasy food, cheesy kid fun, & a carnival! we parked at benet academy and we were bussed in…it is so much easier than driving to the festival to find parking, it was a quick bus ride there!

once we got there, food was in order! actually beer was our first go to…unfortunately, the beer selection was subpar. hello?! where was the craft beer section?! after getting our libations, we trekked over to the food section. of course hc and the bro in law insisted on walking the entire area and then decide on what to eat. they had to assess all the options…oh goodness. once we walked the food section, we all split up and bought our entree of choice. holy cow! it was so freakin’ expensive! that’s a festival for y’all. a monopoly of vendors that hike up their prices for a quick, lucrative profit. hmph.

[god bless america]

[i don’t want milk…i want my toesies]

[italian ice]

[this picture cracks me up…it was so bright, they couldn’t keep their eyes open! bennett screamed, “i can’t see!!!!”.]

[i so didn’t want a miller lite]

[shopping around the food section]

[decisions, decisions, decisions…gyros? fried rice? crab cakes?]

[grace and daddy]

[the ridiculously expensive gyro]

[my funny, funny nephew…what a ham]

while we were eating our food in the picnic area {funnel cake anyone? yes, please}, tommy the hawk flew by in a golf cart. the kids went nuts! a slew of kids started running after him. it was hilarious. reagan and bennett went running towards him too. tommy the hawk started to throw out rolled towels! the kids went crazy, running back and forth so they could catch a towel! i ran out with the boys to encourage and help them. as tommy the hawk directed the kids to where he was going to throw the towel, he spotted me standing there…i knew he was going to throw the towel towards me! he had the kids run across the grass again to where i was standing, he threw the towel directly at me! it totally bounced off my hands and some dude totally swiped it from me when it bounced onto the grass! darn it!

they also handed out stickers and eventually, reagan caught a towel! woo! i’m so glad he did! reagan soooo wanted a picture with him so i got them to stand next to him and i snapped a photo! bennett was so nervous! he wasn’t completely scared but completely questioned the large, furry, human sized animal in front of him! that is why his eyes are closed. he didn’t want to directly look at him! lol.

[bennett was a bit afraid…but he did well…except for fearfully closing his eyes]

as we hung out at the fest, they started to blow up the hot air balloons! it was so cool to see. only at lisle fest is the only time i ever see hot air balloons…even as a kid! it never gets old.

after the eating, drinking, shopping, watching kiddie entertainment, we finally dragged ourselves into the carnival area. this festival was a money pit! oh em gee…everything was so expensive! i bought tickets so grace could possibly go on rides. we walked through the gaming area, the boys totally loved this part. they participated in how fast you can throw a ball and won blow up baseball bats…of course they chose the cubs!

grace played the game where you throw the balls and try to win a gold fish. wha wha. no goldfish but the girl definitely went on some crazy looking rides! she loves roller coasters and such. um, not me nor hc! we won’t go on such contraptions!

[auntie thuy always doting on olive]

[grace excited and ready to ride this scary machine]

[olive and daddy]

[bye bye carnival]

after a lot of fun, and it was really a lot of fun, we were spent {literally} and ready to go. it was a great time outside in the beautiful weather, i loved eating the greasy festival food, we had such fun with the famille, i enjoyed watching the kids having a wonderful time, and i am absolutely loving summer.

here’s to more summer memories to create!

xoxo

l.o.n. = land of fun

Posted on July 3, 2014 by tandem in love

the oakbrook land of nod celebrated their 10th anniversary!

i was really excited to attend. i had received their email and the party looked like so much fun! they had balloons, a face painter, a photo booth, a children’s folk singer, and they had set up a whole bunch of teepee’s, tents, and blankets all over the grass in the front of their store. a perfect spot for kids to play in & lots of activities to entertain the kiddos.

we started the afternoon with some lunch at cpk. we put olive in a highchair {first time at a restaurant!} and she was quite content for a bit. i fed her some carrots and cauliflower. reagan was completely entertaining her and then she was liiiiiike, ok…i want my momma. she whimpered and whimpered, so i picked the cutie up to calm her down. i was able to wolf a bit of food down before we headed out to do some shopping before heading over to land of nod.

[reagan enjoying his sundae]

[auntie/godmother kim playing with miss olive]

we decided to hit a few stores kid’s stores before lon. it’s been awhile since i’ve purchased some cute clothes for miss olive! i bought a bunch of stuff at gapbaby, h&m, and carter’s.

of course, we stopped at starbucks for a pick me up drink! the boys got matching cake pops to nosh on.

[never without a starbucks run]

[cake pop twinsies]

[they had a children’s folk singer entertaining the crowds]

[holding on to her lon carrot rattle]

olive and i participated in the photo booth. it was delightful and fun. look at her face…so chunky and cute.

we also ran into our friends lan, pete, and avery! we were able to hang out with them during our afternoon of fun. small world, but then we ran into our friends larissa and thai and their family of three! a sunny day and a land of nod event brings out everyone!

[photo booth fun]

[avery having a blast with the campfire props]

the boys waited in line with auntie thuy to get their face painted. it was quite the popular spot! the line was so long but thuy and the boys waited oh so patiently to get their faces painted! reagan chose spidey man and bennett chose mario brothers. they loved it! it was so adorbs, after they had their faces painted, they looked so happy staring at themselves in the mirror. i love kids. so wonderful and innocent.

[reagan getting spiderman]

[mario brother]

[aren’t they so cute?!]

[i honestly didn’t know where to look at first…then we got it! isn’t she just the most adorable baby in the world?!]

[ending the afternoon fun with yummy goodness]

after an hour or so at the land of nod, we went to macy’s because the bro in law wanted to shop around. kim and i were a bit hungry, so we headed downstairs to the food court to grab a snack. well, a snack turned into more food and lots of desserts and a very full belly {there goes dinner!}!

we had such a great day lazily lounging around, shopping a whole bunch of stores, and participating in the l.o.n. party! it was such a fantastic afternoon with my lovely family! a much needed relaxing afternoon at a beautiful shopping center with my famille.

xoxo

happy dad’s day

Posted on June 25, 2014 by tandem in love

by golly, it was father’s day! a day to celebrate my hubby is who an amazing dad! not only is he an amazing father, he is a wonderful partner, a doting hubby and dad, a sweet, kind, caring, loving person.

olive and i are lucky gals to have this man in our lives. we started out the morning in bed, hc wanted to open up his gift right away! we gave him a tent from rei! he was so excited that he set it up right away in the kitchen! lol.

[hc wanted his gift right away! right when we woke up!]

[papyrus motorcycle card…tres cool]

[little olive ‘camping’ with her daddy in the kitchen]

since it was daddy day, olive and i ventured out to starbucks and got us coffee. it’s dangerous that the starbucks is so close {literally a couple minutes away}. we relaxed and ate a small breakfast before we headed out to brunch with our family.

[staple]

[relaxing before we head out]

we cruised to the city, parked, and walked to the restaurant. it was such a beautiful day; sunny, warm, and bright. so perfect! kim, terry, and the boys were already there. we said our hello’s and ordered tasty beverages to imbibe.

[family time // the boys going over the drink list]

we started out with apps…scones and jam, fried pickles, and poutine. an interesting combo but nevertheless delicious. this place is so good. i ordered a latte, um, i could have downed four of those! so smooth, nutty, and sweet.

[scones and lattes…so good]

[reagan showing off his shirt]

i ordered the smoked salmon…it was so tasty. the cream cheese was peppered with chives, the capers were perfectly salty, and the accoutrements were like a fresh salad. i was able to wolf some it down {thanks to kim for taking the babes}, my little olive was tired and fussy. kim came back and i took olive for a walk down michigan ave.

[delicious smoked salmon]

[enjoying his fruity drink]

[lovingly eyeing each other]

we absolutely enjoyed brunch. i really like the gage. the staff was so friendly and quite kid friendly. the ambience is fantastic, the food is delicious, and it was fun. i wished we could have enjoyed more of this beautiful day with them in the city but the other family duties called! so, off we went to spend some quality time with hc’s parents!

***

we drove our way to crystal lake…oy vey, it was almost a two hour drive. yowza. once we got there, we hung out outside with dick and jane. gramma brought out the swing and olive had a fantastic fun time on it! she made the funniest faces, she smiled relentlessly, and actually was waving at her daddy while they were swinging together! we chilled out in the yard and enjoyed the wonderful weather. it did rain just a tad. we brought olive inside for a second and then out we went again to continue the fun.

[papa and olive]

[olive loving the swing and waving at daddy!! look closely, her little hand flapping in the wind]

[loving her carrot rattle from land of nod]

[look closely at olive’s face…she has the funniest expressions]

we spent many hours lazily relaxing. jane whipped up some dinner, we filled our bellies, and then downed too many sugar cookies she had baked. after olive’s feeding, we hit the road back to our maison.

it was such a delightful, beautiful day with our families. we are so blessed and couldn’t ask for anything more. we are so lucky to have such amazing father figures in our lives. happy dad’s day…but we like to celebrate them everyday!

xoxo

happy father’s day

Posted on June 15, 2014 by tandem in love

happy dad day to the world’s greatest father!

[olive, eight hours old, and daddy]

i’m so excited to celebrate this special day together with our presh daughter, olive! i know hc is a fantastic father to grace but it’s awesome to celebrate him being an amazing dad to our olive.

thank you for being a strong partner in raising her. you love her, play with her, dress her in cute outfits, and completely dote on her in so many ways. there are many, many moments you guys share that are too cute for words, i love watching you both interact! it makes my heart melt!

***

[photo by kate headley]

happy father’s day to my dad. the most amazing, loving father anyone could ever ask for. he has given so much to us as a family, i am forever grateful for all his sacrifices and all the love he has given. i am so fortunate to be surrounded by such terrific, kind, loving men!

happy father’s day to all the wonderful dads out there!

xoxo

a day at the zoo

Posted on June 11, 2014 by tandem in love

it was a beautiful, sunny day. we had a very relaxing morning. we stayed in, had coffee and breakfast, and chilled. olive took a nap mid morning and we planned on heading to the zoo after her siesta.

you can never predict what olive will do and we were hoping we would get out to the zoo earlier {we wanted to get out late morning but instead, we left early afternoon}, her nap was for quite a long time. once she got up, i had to feed her, get her ready, get myself ready, make sure grace got herself ready, and then we could finally head out the door!

when we arrived at the zoo, it was a madhouse! there were at least 25 buses leaving the grounds. kids were leaving the zoo in herds! good timing on our part, that meant it wouldn’t be as crowded. we bought our tickets and trekked inside, ready to explore.

[the crazy, busy zoo]

[waiting to see the animals]

[excited to explore]

[a very warm day]

we were excited to see the new baby bison! it was so adorable to see, the baby was side by side with her momma. she was like her shadow, nuzzling and following her mom…it was so sweet to see. brookfield zoo hasn’t seen a newborn of this species since the 70’s! what a cool moment to experience.

[bison // can you see the baby bison that was born on may 31st?]

[my pensive girl]

[can you spot grace?!]

as we were walking through the zoo, they had little stations set up to give temp tattoos. i asked grace if she wanted one! we looked at the examples and she decided upon the wolf. it’s a pretty cool process, she airbrushed it on and then sealed it with a powder. it turned out great!

[grace getting a wolf tattoo]

while we were at the zoo, i totally regretted that i had not found a sun hat for olive yet. honestly, i had been shopping around for the past month looking for a hat. boutique after kid’s boutique, i still hadn’t found a hat i loved. so now when push comes to shove, i’m out and about with olive in the direct sun and i needed a hat! so, i had to buy one there! i was glad to have found a plain, white, cotton canvas hat. it was really what i was looking for {most kids sun hats have crazy prints and patterns all over it, and i’m not a fan}, i wanted a plain white hat for olive so it could match with all her outfits. voila! it was meant to be!

[a fishy world // olive in her new sun hat]

grace and i had a wonderful time watching the penguins. one of our favorite spots. they were so cute. waddling around, peeking out from the little caves, and there was one penguin that kept on showing off! he would swim around in the water, do flips, turns, and swirl around in the water.

[humboldt penguins]

[heading our way to the big cats]

as we were heading our way to see the big cats, we saw a pop up shop where you can pet stingrays. so cool. grace was hesitant because we had to buy tickets but i insisted! it was something fun and interactive for grace. she had such a great time! she said they were slimy and smooth…ewww, gross.

[pit stopping at the stingray petting pool]

[defending herself against this attack cat!]

[snow leopard]

we were able to see the bisons, aquarium house, african safari, the big cats, and a lot of animals in-between! it was a fun, relaxing afternoon with just us gals. what a fantastic time spent together. i had so much fun with my girls.

xoxo

tandem in love

{life is truly beautiful and it should be celebrated + shared.}

Tag Archives: famille

boating

somber day

cruise night + dq = perfect summer night

hb gracie!

happy low key july fourth

carnival

l.o.n. = land of fun

happy dad’s day

happy father’s day

a day at the zoo