Chicago and my Shoes

It may be shallow but my new shoes make me happy.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

This week was a date weekend. We went to Chicago for my husband's cousins wedding without the kids. I could count the trip to the airport as a date since there was no children and we could listen to Howard Stern. Simple things make me happy.
I got up at 6 am the first morning. I was going to go to navy Pier by myself but Dave woke up and didn't want me going by myself. He was glad he got up because we had a great time exploring the pier and looking at the tall ships. There were not too many people down there at that time which was a bonus.

Fun mirror shots.

The city of Chicago was beautiful. We walked around for around 4 hours on Saturday. It was sad how sore our ankles were the next day. We had a blast seeing the city and people watching though.

We even got to do a little shopping.

The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. They had a photo booth and props. It was fun to take silly photos especially after several cocktails. Maybe I'll scan those later.

I was nervous about leaving the kids for almost 3 days. I had never been away more than 1 day. I knew that they would be fine with my parents and have many of their own adventures. I'm glad we took this trip. We had fun. I think it is important for us to still have adventures of our own too.

This is date 25 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

Caught Red Handed

The kids totally raided my garden at our play date. It is hard to yell at them. After all they are eating, vegetables.

Nothing like fresh veggies.

If you want to see some amazing gardens, go to Feet Off the Table for Monday Garden Club.

Slug Like for a While

When I got diagnosed with underactive thryoid, it was almost a relief to know that the fatigue I felt was not going to last forever. I thought that it was just normal fatigue. I allowed myself to take some time off from working out till my medications started kicking in instead of forcing myself to workout despite the fatigue.

It has been a couple of weeks now since my diagnosis. I saw an endocrinologist. He seems awesome. He spend 30 minutes with me just explaining my illness, test results, and treatment. He answered my questions before I asked them. He explained I have Hashimoto's Disease. He also upped my meds from 25 mg to 50 mg. I am actually starting to feel a difference. I have more energy.

So this week it is time, to start working out intensely again. I did the 30 Day Shred this week after taking 3 weeks off. Let me tell you I don't recommend taking that time off and starting with level 3. Those walking pushups were brutal again. I was definitely sore the next day but it is a good thing to get those muscles working hard. I also went jogging this week. I am painfully slow but I will work my way back to just slow. It feels good to be moving even if it is hard.

I am also starting to watch my diet again. Hopefully I will be able to eat healthier and actually lose weight.

Soaking Up Summer

Summer is not quite done here. We are soaking up every bit. We went to the beach last week and walked the sandbar to the island there.


Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 28/52 for me.

Enjoying the Last Week of Summer

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.
Davey and Caitlin are wearing the best in balloon hats. Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

The Beach, Margaritas, and Jenga

It probably was the last beach day of the summer for us and it was beautiful.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.


For date night this week, we went old school and busted out the Jenga and margaritas. We used to play drinking Jenga in college before going out to the bar on Fridays. We didn't really play the same ruthless was we played in college since there was only two of us but we did have fun and reminisced.

Margaritas

+ Jenga

= Fun!

This is date 24 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

The Sesame Place Trip and Tips

We went to Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania on a Friday and a Saturday.

Tip #1-Go during the week. The Friday was busy but tolerable. The Saturday was crazy crowded. It was still really crowded after dinner time when it is usually gets less crowded. We went last year during the last weekend in August. It was way less crowded then too. Of course it rained on the Friday.

After last year's rain, we decided to do the water rides the first day if the weather was nice. It was a gorgeous day, so we headed to Big Bird's Rambling River ride.

Tip #2-Do NOT carry money and drivers licenses in your swimsuits. You will lose them. Good news, Sesame Place does have a lifeguard who will swim with goggles to search. Thankfully we did get our licenses back the next day. The money however was long gone.

Tip #3- On busy days there are 2 entrances to Big Bird's rambling River ride. The one over the bridge with the yellow tubes tends to be much shorter than the blue tube entrance.

We alternated between wet and dry rides. Davey still gets really cold in the water so alternating helped him warm up. It seems like most people alternate this way too. So be aware that ride seats are often wet.

We had lunch at the park the second day. Big mistake. The lines were crazy long and the food crazily overpriced. I actually took the kids to ride the carousel while Dave waited in line. The line was really long for the carousel but we still got to ride before Dave made it through the food line.
Tip #4-The park does let you bring in a small cooler. Pack your lunch at least for the kids. The kids meals were $9 each. My kids ate like 4 fries each.

Tip #5- The Count's Splash Castle dumps an amazing amount of water on you (and not just the giant bucket that dumps itself every couple of minutes.) It may be too much for the little ones. My 5 year old loved it. My 3 year old acted like we were trying to electrocute him when taking into here.

Caitlin and Dave are under that water somewhere.

Tip #6-Sky Splash is a huge raft ride. It is the ride with the rubber ducky on top that you can see from anywhere in the park. It is a fast ride. It can be a little scary for the little guys. Both Caitlin and Davey said they never wanted to ride that ride again. Next year might be a different story.

Tip #7-See a parade but get there early. People recommend that you watch the parade where the blue meets the black but really anywhere will work. The characters sing, dance, and high five the kids on the way. Spread your towels out to save yourself some space. You need to get there 20-30 minutes early to get a space. I sat with the kids and Dave got us ice cream to snack on while we waited.
Tip #8-See a show while you are there. We saw Elmo Rocks this year. It was really cute. The kids sang and danced along with the characters. We saw Elmo's World Live last year. Really cute like the TV show. You can pose with Dorothy after the show. We also saw Abby Cadabby's Treasure Hunt last year, which is another good show. Elmo's World Live is the only show that is air conditioned. The rest are outside. Be sure to get there early to get good seats.
Tip #9-Go to a character meal. We had breakfast with Abby Caddabby, Cookie Monster, & Friends this year. It is great because you get take photos with all the characters. The characters also stop by each table to pose again and hang out with the kids. We had breakfast with Elmo & Friends last year. Book early because this meal sells out early. My kids love meeting characters and this lets you do it all at once. We only had to find Elmo and he was luckily at the 1-2-3 Smile With Me when we stopped by. There was almost no line which was a bonus too.
Tip #10-When lines are long, go to some of the attractions that don't have lines or very short ones. The Count's Splash Pad only had lines for the slides.
The Teeny Tiny Tidal Wave pool was great for the kids to just cool off and splash around in.
Davey's favorite place was the Silly Sand Slides. I felt like I could have taken him to a regular park and he would have been as happy but that is another issue.
The kids loved the Mix 'N' Miatch Twiddle Tracks. They are little cars on a train track that the kids can move themselves by pumping a lever. Davey rode this one 3 times in a row since their was no line that day.

The Nets and Climbs were popular but had no lines. My kids loved Cookie Mountain, which was a big tarp mountain to climb. It had short lines.

The kids also loved Monster Maze.

Tip #11-Have fun and make some great memories.

Waiting for Elmo

This week for the challenge I have a photo from our trip to Sesame Place. This is me and kids waiting for the parade to start. Come back next week, I'll have a post about our trip with tips.
Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 27/52 for me.

Her Own Style

Caitlin got herself dressed in this fabulous get up and then posed all around. I'm not sure where she learned this but I grabbed the camera to record all the poses. Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Sesame Place and True Blood

Sesame Place and True Blood just shouldn't be in the same title. It just seems wrong.

Our trip to Sesame Place made me happy.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

Some people say I am obsessed. Some people might think it is a problem. I say I just enjoy the True Blood tv series and the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse books. So what if I'm reading the whole series and watching all the DVDs. While Dave teases me about being obsessed, he watches the series with me. We only discovered True Blood this summer. We are renting the series through Netflix. Dave indulged my obsession and we had a True Blood marathon for our date night. We watched 3 episodes from season 2. I love the series and can't wait till our next DVD comes in the mail. I venture to say Dave likes the series too. Maybe not as much as me though. There is plenty of nudity that helps make it more appealing to him I'm sure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I finish reading the series and we catch up watching the series.

Dave laughs at me when I point out how the show and the books vary. Since he has been indulging me with my True Blood shows, I am going to watch Hamlet again with him. Part of being a couple is indulging your partner in things they love. Now I just need to stay awake through the whole thing.

This is date 23 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

Another Fine Day At the Beach

Go to Skywatch Friday to see skies from all around the world.

Beer and Hawaiian Gear

Is this beer simply too cold or happy to see me?

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Now for a more wholesome image, my kids in their authentic Hawaiian gear. Thanks to their grandparents' trip. Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Summer, Pirates, and Planning

Summer beach days make me happy.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

So the hubs and I got a new flick on Netflix to watch last weekend. Maybe you have heard of it, Pirates of the Carribean? Yeah that movie came out in 2003. What can I say Dave and I are really up to date on all the latest flicks. The movie was action filled and great. Most of you probably knew that. We felt that this date helped us catch up on our movie watching and understand what people are talking about. Only 7 years later. I couldn't help but notice how much Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow resembles Russell Brand. Or is that the other way around? Do you think Russell was inspired by Johnny's performance? Hmmm...Anyway Dave and I discussed how much of the movie was similar to the ride at Disney World. We are planning our first family trip there next year. After the movie, we discussed our trip more. I love planning this trip. I am so looking forward to this trip.

Pirates of the Carribean was good and let's face it Johnny Depp is easy on the eyes.

This is date 22 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.