35 candles in the windy city

It was time for mom and I's annual girls trip. I think it's actually been a few years since we managed to take this "annual" trip. We usually head to Dallas, Texas, but after Jon visited Chicago this summer and had lots of great things to say about the city, we changed our destination and headed north. It was great 5 days. We stayed right in the middle of the city off of The Magnificent Mile. Our hotel room was a real treat as we enjoyed the city from 36 floors up. We walked countless miles. We shopped. We saw the temp drop from the 60's to the 30's. We heard Christmas music playing in Macys. We ate deep dish pizza. We rode the train both above ground and below it. We shopped, did I already say that? By day 3 we looked like we were locals so much so that someone asked me for directions. Thanks Chicago for a great trip and a great 35th!

The view from our hotel room.

 

From the 94th floor of the John Hancock Tower.

 

Mom and I set foot inside the American Girl store but opted to save our life savings and only make purchases in the Lego store.

 

Of course the day we schedule our architectural boat tour, the temp is only in the 40's.

 

My best friend, Tricia had a birthday cake delivered to our hotel.

She was determined to buy me an "un-lame" gift for my 35th.

The kids have been playing with their new Legos non-stop.

hogs, horses, poodles and turtles

I meant to post this a few weeks ago but...well, you don't really care about excuses. October was fast and furious (do I sound like a broken record yet?). Here's what we managed to do in the 31 short days.

Jon and I took a trip to Fayetteville to catch the Razorbacks in action.

Riding horses at the church Harvest Festival.

The school sock hop in honor of the 50th day of school.

Landon and his buddy Alexander eating silly face pancakes on Halloween.

At the last minute, I decided to get in on the Halloween excitement.

The kids didn't care to o much for my makeup.

 

The kids have been asking to go camping so we opted for some camping on the deck in case it was a total disaster. Setting up the tent as far as we made it after the temperature was predicted to be below 40 degrees. Sleeping in our nice, warm beds was a much better ending.

We still roasted marshmallows which might have been what the kids wanted to do all along.

Presley and her friend from school and soccer, McKenzie.

 

picture post

Guess what? We have been busy lately. The easiest way to catch you up...a long picture post. Enjoy!

Playing in the neighbors sprinklers one last time.

 

Kindergarten field trip to the Children's Theater.

 

Book Character Day.

Click, Clack, Moo

 

Racing for the Cure with Mimi.

 

Go HOGS

 

Happy 45th Anniversary Mimi & Poppie!

 

How many boys can you have in your bathroom at one time?

 

His first time to push a little cart at the grocery store.

It lasted all of 5 minutes and then mama had to bend over and push it the rest of the way.

 

I usually don't buy his school pictures because they are never that good...might have to buy these.

 

Time for the state fair! 

The fair wins!

 

Presley's first Girl Scout meeting.

 

Sunday morning paper reading.

picture post

 Grandparents Day at Presley's school.

 

 Jon and I got to sneak away for 24 hours to Northwest Arkansas for a concert

 and a trip to Chrystal Bridges Museum.

Great Uncle Steve reading a bedtime story.  

 

 The picture Presley drew for Uncle Steve's birthday.

 A two sucker haircut.

Hanging out as the goalie.

 

soccer mom

I asked Presley if she wanted to take dance again this year and she told me that she would rather try soccer. I am sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that her two favorite cousins, Ava and Macy, are seasoned soccer players. I had every intention of working with her these last few weeks on some skills and basic technique, (I did play soccer for 1 season back in 9th grade after all) but before I knew it it was time for the first practice and we had yet to try on the cleats. Two of her friends are on the team so practice was a little more play/social time than actual practice time. The first game was on Saturday and the temperature had dropped to the low 60's. We grabbed our chairs and our blankets (and our little brother) and hit the field. Since I didn't grow up playing sports, I  mostly think of them as "just for fun", especially at this age. That being said, I have to brag that Pres scored the ONLY 2 goals for her team. About three quarters of the way through the game, something clicked and P was dribbling the ball down the field with precision and making clean goals. Even my "just for fun" self got really excited! Go Wolf Kickers (wish I could have been in on the huddle when the girls came up with this name!)