Fall Fun

The weekend was perfect and wonderful.

I went to a Mary Kay party on Saturday, took the bike because the weather was perfect. When the hostess greeted me at the door she was laughing and said that one of the ladies inside was all, "Some lady just pulled in on a bike!" :)

We all had a fun time. They were all fireman wives. We had a lot to chat about, laugh about, grouse about.

Hubby and I went through the study together and made a pile for goodwill. I love consolidating. Lots of books we don't need/want. We were able to get rid of a curio cabinet in the living room that we didn't need. Means more space! I love empty space.

Sunday, we took the two youngest kids to the local apple orchard. Man, it was busy.

The girl with her best 'tough' face.

The Circus, Parades and Bathroom Tubs

Last weekend, hubby and I took the kids to the circus. The Barnum & Bailey's 200 anniversary circus. This was a big deal, cause the middle boy went with us! The oldest boy, nearly 20, understandable didn't want to go. But other than that, it was the whole crew.

Hubby took the girl down to the pre-show. They had lots of activities to walk around and see/do.

Wedding pics

Wedding programs! They thought it would be hot and came up with these clever fan-programs. Pretty!

My Cousin's Wedding

Friday morning, the girl and I got up early, 5:00am and got ready, loaded our bags and got to the airport to fly to Denver, CO for my cousin's wedding.

The flight was fine, we even got a little sleep on the way.

Denver airport is HUGE, by the way. They have 2 different locations of baggage claims. We walked down to one set and walked all the way from one side to the other to find out that our bags were at the OTHER baggage claim, the West Baggage Claim. Seriously?

Back from Denver

The girl was a a beautiful flower girl!

I danced, crazy!

We stayed at a nice hotel with a HUGE comfy bed.

We got lots of free meals and.....

Wedding cake.

I've got pictures....tomorrow.

Denver, Co

Well, Friday A.M. the girl and I are getting on a plane for Denver. Like 7:30 A.M. Like we have to get up around 5:15 for it.

ugh

I do not live for early mornings.

I live for the pillow.

We're going to be gone until Sunday around 11pm, late.

We're going to my cousin's wedding and will dance and be merry.

I'm jazzed. My parents and grandparents will be there. We will swim in a hotel pool and drive around a new town. Lots of fun to be had.

Yesterday, we got our nails done for the wedding. Fancy!

Wisconsin Dells

We spent Wednesday - Friday at the Wisconsin Dells, at the Mt. Olympus water/theme park to be exact. Loads of fun.
Definitely a kid's vacation.
I am sooo sooo glad that we planned it so that we came home Friday evening and I had the weekend to recover.
High. Energy. Vacation.

Wednesday, we left around 8am, got there around 1pm, drove around and saw the downtown areas and some fun sights. We checked into our hotel room and got our wristbands. We rode some of the roller coasters until dinner-time.

Off the grid and away again

Last Saturday morning, I anxiously got ready and left for Tennessee, to meet and pick up my girl. I drove 5 hours, 300 some miles to get there. Sat and waited until her dad's van came into view.

It was a wonderful reunion, after 6 weeks in Florida, I was blown away by how much I'd missed her and how much I love her.

I just haven't been able to get enough of her even yet.

Independence Day

Sunday, the fireman and I went to my aunt and uncle's 50th Anniversary party, up near my mom's house. It was a great time. I had so much fun chatting with family. I got to see some people I don't get to see very often.

I have a great family.

The 4th of July, I had off work. It was a slow, relaxing day.

The middle boy was sick and in bed all day and it was just us and the youngest boy. *The girl is still in FL with her dad and went to see the fireworks on the beach!* We took the yougest boy to the 'big city' fireworks, which is only 25 minutes away. It's was on the river and you can watch on either side of the river.

We arrived around 7:30pm with our chairs, walked down to the park by the river and found a nice spot near the radio station's tent. They had fun light rock to listen to. The two guys walked to the nearby Subway and bought us some subs and water for dinner.

Around 8pm, they had an airshow!

Memphis

So, last Saturday morning we woke up early to take the girl to meet her dad in Memphis. Normally, we meet a little closer for us, but we thought it'd be fun to spend the evening in Memphis and see the sights. We love Memphis Beat, Jason Lee's new tv show. Ironically, it's shot in New Orleans and not Memphis, but they do throw shots of downtown Memphis in occasionally. Something about the state taxes.

Friday morning after work, I took the girl to Chuck E Cheese and let her blow $10 worth of coins on the games. She had a blast, then we went to The Olive Garden where we shared a Chicken Parmesan. Yum! Then we rented Gnomeo & Juliet and went home to pack and snuggle with the movie.

I had to do some major girl fun with her before she left! Gnomeo & Juliet rocks socks. Way fun. Elton John songs throughout. And with voices by James McAvoy (wow, what a sigh-worthy voice), Jason Statham, Emily Blunt and Patrick Stewart. They threw Shakespeare tid-bits in, but it was mostly this fun, campy movie. We loved it.

So, back to Memphis. We dropped her off at her dad's hotel around 6pm. It was seriously hard, but she was excited, so that helped. It was a long drive and she had slept a lot of the way, but we got some snuggly time on the road.

I'm gonna miss this girl.

Chicago with Kids

Last weekend, we took the two youngest to Chicago. The oldest boy had to work and had school, and I'm not sure he was that keen on running around Chicago with us, so he stayed. The middle boy had driver's ed. driving days and is still recovering from a sprained ankle, plus I'm not sure he wanted to be cooped up with us either. Chicago's really one of those cities where you all have to stay together. And you do a lot of walking.

So, no biggy. We are planning another short vacation at the end of the summer and both older boys said they planned on coming with us then. So, we still had a great time.

We took the train bus to Chicago. Turns out, the tracks were down for repair, so they switched us to a bus. Seriously? A bus?

The Windy City

Tomorrow morning, the fireman and I are taking the two youngest (8&14) to the train station for a trip to Chicago!

We are going on foot, with backpacks strapped to our backs.

We are visiting the Shedd's Aquarium and the Museum of Science and Industry.

We are going to eat somewhere fun, somewhere cool. Hard Rock Cafe? Rain Forest Cafe? Who knows?

We are staying at the Palmer Hotel in South Loop, within walking distance of, well, everything!

Our Trip To Chicago

My hubby took the train to Chicago and arrived around 3pm. We didn't try to figure out the bus system yet and just took a cab to our hotel. My first time in a cab! It was crazy, they swerve in and out of traffic, stop short and drive fast! The hotel was beautiful and wonderful. The Hilton Chicago. I forgot to take a picture of that.

We went out for a walk around the south loop, where the hotel is located. We found this awesome library!