rotary fest {aka…heritage fest}

come summer, come festivals. oh, it’s one of my favorite things about summertime!

what wasn’t a favorite was the cold, cold temps! ughhhhhh. it was so chilly the evening we chose to go. for me, a jacket wasn’t even warm enough while standing outside for hours. i saw people in short shorts, tank tops and sandals and here i was in layers, long pants, and i was super cold!

we met up with lan, avery, thuy, kim and the boys. olive and ellie were so excited to see their cousins! ellie was all about holding my hand leading up to us meeting them. as soon as she saw the boys, she wanted to be a big girl and refused to hold my hand. LOL she did her best to keep and be cool. oh my two year, going on twelve.

the kids were living their best lives – playing games, having fun, winning prizes. us adults just walked around with the kiddos as they picked what games they wanted to play. the girls were having a great time! the best part of the fest was when the boys and olive rode on the bumper cars. hc went with olive and she had a blast! giggling, laughing, and hc was a pro steering the bumper car and smoked everyone in there.

after a couple hours there, we had made dinner reservations at a restaurant right downtown, just a few minutes away from where we were. we walked right over and enjoyed the rest of our evening in the comfort of warmth.

if the weather was better, we probably would have eaten some yummy festival food and sat on the sidewalk but we wanted to be comfortable {not freezing our tushies} while we ate our dinner.

despite the cold weather, we still had a wonderful evening out at the festival. what was most important was that the kids had a blast, memories were made, and we, in the end, still ate yummy food!

yay for summer!

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[olive said, “kiki! kiki! look…a big lemon!]

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[everything is so bright and over the top!]

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[we chose and only had time to go to the fest friday night and of course it was freeeeeeezing. the next day was super warm. go figure]

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[so many plushies, so excessive!]

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[pop a balloon and win a prize!]

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[i told ellie to look at me]

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[then i said, “look at reagan”. look at her adoring stare]

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[my sweet babe]

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[i love her sweet looks]

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[our crew]

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[oh these two]

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[this girl and her poses]

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[girl gang]

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[everybody wins!]

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[dada helping ellie out]

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[did you win ellie?]

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[their prizes…pink unicorns!]

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[toss the rings]

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[i’m not sure how long he was able to hang in there for]

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[i think thuy got to 75 seconds!]

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xoxo

summer to do!

our summer to do list is here!

i love summer and i love creating a list of fun things to do every year. sometimes we can check all of the lovely things off our list and sometimes it’s just a list to inspire us and sometimes we just don’t get to all of it. though, it’s definitely something to aspire to every day!

getting outside to enjoy the weather is so great {as long as it’s not stifling hot and muggy…that can be a sticky situation…no pun intended. hahaha!}. summer is so short lived here in chicago. we get the wonky weather transition during spring {good days and bad days}, it’s when the weather app is your best friend. you’re trying to figure out if you need a coat or not or how will you dress your little one for the day but come summer, you always know it’s shorts and tanks.

so, without further ado, here is our summer list of things to do!

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1. go to a carnival

2. buy ice cream from the ice cream man

3. go to the pool {you would think that this was easier to do…}

4. make s’mores

5. catch fireflies

6. eat funnel cake/snocones/popsicles

7. go to the farmer’s market

8. blow bubbles

8. go boating

9. pick berries

10. go to the zoo

11. created sidewalk chalk art

12. go to the museum

13. go to an ice cream parlor

14. go to a cubs game

15. eat alfresco as much as we can

there ya go. our summer to do bucket list. i am hoping we will accomplish everything on this list this summer. it seems easy peasy enough…although i did feel like i always missed the ice cream man every time last year! i might stalk him this time around.

anyhoo, what’s on your summer bucket list this year? i am hoping to possibly add to this fun round of activities…we’ll see how fast this set will get accomplished! cheers to warm weather!

xoxo

farmer’s market

it’s official. it’s fall {ooohhh, cool coats and boots, here we come!}. but hey, technically it was still summer when we did this. so, with that, we were able to cross off another summer to do on our list! we went to a farmer’s market in downtown downers grove. i heard through others that it was a great place and that it offered a lot of great produce, amongst other items.

i was super excited to explore it. as crazy as this sounds, i have never been to a farmer’s market before. yesssss. it’s true. never. ever. been. although, i have heard so many wonderful things about them, i never really took the plunge to go to one and now here we are. my first time evah and i was soooo excited!

we got up and got ready to go. we knew that there would be food there, so we wanted to hold off and get breakfast at the market. we found a parking spot nearby and strolled our way to the market.

once we stepped inside the lines, we were greeted with such goodies! the first stand we stopped at, the lady was selling pies. all organic, no preservatives, all made from scratch ingredients. they all looked so good. then we saw a stand that made piping hot fresh doughnuts…oh em gee. we turned around and there was a crepe stand. there were so many fresh veggies, fruits, and fun knick knacks to look at. it was all i imagined it would be! chock full of goodness.

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[selfie at the market! fresh flower stand behind us!]

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[fresh veggies]

we ended up buying veggies at this stand, the carrots were huge! we purchased green beans, carrots, potatoes, and fruit.

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[lots and lots of independent stands full of goodies]

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[she just woke up from a nap]

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[organic mini pies…sooooo delish]

these pies were sooooo good. we gobbled them up! they were perfectly sweet, the crust was delicate and light, and the filling was decadently rich. we will definitely purchase these pies again!

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[snuggling her bear]

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[apple cider donuts from st. charles]

these cider donuts were to die for. they were so yummy, sweet, and densely cakey. perfectly cakey goodness. i could, seriously, eat three in one sitting.

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after we perused the whole place, we started to make our purchases. we picked up veggies, fruit, a hat for olive, donuts, pies, and finally decided upon breakfast. we all wanted a crepe. hc got a paella crepe, gracie wanted a banana hazelnut crepe, and i chose the ham and cheese crepe. we watched the chef make each of our crepes…we were so hungry by then! it was such a popular place, there was quite a line at this stand but we got there just in time, before the rush. we got our crepes right away! woo!

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[breakfast! grace with her banana and nutella crepe]

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[the chef in process of making my crepe]

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[my ham, egg, and cheese crepe]

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[enjoying our breakfast in this great weather!]

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[as we ate our breakfast, we enjoyed the polka band playing near us!]

after we ate our crepes in the warm sunshine, while listening to the polka band, we gathered our goodies and headed out. i must say, it was a successful visit to the farmer’s market! we headed out with a whole bunch of good stuff. i loved my first time at the market and can’t wait to go again. unfortunately, most likely next year since all the farmer’s markets are closing up shop soon. boo.

nevertheless, it was pretty awesome. i had a fantastic time with my family exploring such a great farmer’s market so close to home. cheers to such great, yummy finds on that day!

xoxo

olive’s first time in a pool!

another fun activity crossed off our summer to do list!

well, we did do this awhile ago, but i’m finally getting around to posting it. life is just so busy sometimes and getting a blog post published can take up so much time and it’s harder since i have the little one! i used to go, go, go but now {ok, now some people might say i’m still like that} but now i slow down and put things to the side because i’d rather have a little more snuggle time with olive, more one on one time with her, and more cuddly moments. the truth is…i know these moments don’t last forever and i am doing my best to cherish her little baby moments.

ok, so this was fantastic! i was so excited for olive and couldn’t wait to see her reaction. after a lovely brunch with my friend andrea and her friends and family, we headed to the hotel {palomar}, that they were staying at, to hang out at the pool.

i, unwillingly, changed into my swimsuit {um, having a baby does cray things to your body and i just ate lunch, hello!} and i dressed olive in her minnie mouse swimsuit {a present from gramma jane!}. we excitedly scurried to the pool, i couldn’t wait to get her into the water! i wasn’t worried she wouldn’t like it, i was sure she would love it! she loves bath time and has become so fascinated by the water.

so there i went, gingerly stepping into the pool {it was cold!}, my feet hit the ground and in olive went. she immediately loved it! yaaay! it was too presh. she cooed, mumbled, and splashed her way all around the pool. she was having the best time evah! annddd so was her momma! i loved watching her and i was super happy to see her love it so much!

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[here we go!]

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[she’s loving it! or am i loving it more?!]

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[look at that face!]

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[in the water!]

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[honestly, olive really did have a blast, although it looks like i am having more fun]

we actually stayed in the pool for quite some time. maybe 45 minutes? the only reason we got out was because i needed to head home. it was time for another nap for the little one and a car ride home would suffice. so, we got our raisin hands and toes out of the water, changed our clothes, and went on our merry way. baby girl zonked, i mean zonked out in the car! out like a light once we started moving on the road.

it was so fabulous to have experienced olive’s first time in the pool. we both had a blast! we can’t wait for future pool dates together!

here’s a little vimeo of her in action!

xoxo