Santa!

We headed to Navy Pier's Winter Wonderfest this morning and had an absolute blast! If you have kids and live in Chicago, definitely check it out. Max and Tessa were too young for most of the rides/attractions, but it was still fun to see everything. We also took them to meet Santa for the first time. It went just as we thought it would. They were terrified. We did get a good pic (except for Max picking his nose) with all four of us that I will have to scan in and post. We are making Winter Wonderfest and annual event!

Snow, a Haircut and Turkey Day Re-do!

We had a great weekend. Max and Tessa had their first hands-on experience with snow and they loved it. We let them play for a few minutes on our way out Saturday and they did not want to get in the car. We still need to get some appropriate snow clothes, but I can't seem to find snow boots small enough for Tessa's itty bitty feet.

After MANY requests from Duke to get Max's hair cut, I finally caved. I was just so afraid of loosing his curls, but it really did need cleaned up. He was starting to look a bit shaggy. So, Max got his first big boy hair cut on Sunday and other than one little cry, he did great! He drove the car he was sitting in, had some snacks and watched the "buh" (buses) go by outside the shop.

Sunday afternoon, we headed out to Duke's parents house for a Thanksgiving re-do. Since Max and Tessa were a little less than cooperative for us on Thanksgiving (we had to leave early without eating), Don and Mary made an entire Thanksgiving meal for us!! Max and Tessa loved the turkey and stuffing. Duke and I were very grateful to get a second chance at a very tasty meal.

Can you tell we tired them out this weekend?

Hats and Shoes

Tessa has taken a liking to hats and shoes. Here she is with her new favorite hat from Grandma Sassy. She asks for it first thing in the morning and wears it for hours at a time.


Here she is after Thanksgiving wishing she could wear mamas "boos" (boots).

The Holidays are Here!

We put up our holiday decorations last night after the kids went to bed and took a few pics of the kids coming out to see everything this morning. They didn't notice anything at first, but once we pointed them in the direction of the tree, they spent quite a bit of time looking at it, smelling it (this is funny because it's a fake tree) and touching all the ornaments they could reach. We strategically placed a few non-breakable ornaments within their reach. They gave Santa, an elf, Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman lots of kisses. So far they haven't pulled the tree over or broken any ornaments, but it's still early. We're working on getting them to say HO HO HO while jiggling their bellies.

We took a quick trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo today. We went thinking the kids could see Santa, but I must have must have read the flyer wrong. Santa didn't start until 5pm. Oops! Oh well, it was actually really fun. We practically had the place to ourselves. Max and Tessa loved watching the monkeys and the lions and wanted to touch everything in the gift shop. It was chilly, but a beautiful sunny day. We even took a ride on the carousel!

Happy Turkey Day

Max and Tessa with their first turkey hats! We have so much to be thankful for this year, most of all our friends and family. We hope you are enjoying Thanksgiving with your friends and families. We are off to Duke's brother's house later this afternoon.

Jump Around!

Max and Tessa have developed a love for dancing over the past month or so. We have little dance parties several times a day. Their favorite type of music is rap/hip-hop and it's just a complete riot to watch. Check out our favorite video so far.

Hoosier

This year was the 20th anniversary of the Indiana University Dance Marathon and 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to be involved in planning the event. I headed back to IU on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary and catch up with some college friends. The picture above is of our 4:00 am Mad Mushroom cheese sticks! Visiting the Marathon was a blast and it was an evening full of laughs with some old friends. It was a short trip, but it was packed full of fun! And, to top it all off, IUDM raised over $1.6 million dollars for Riley Hospital for Children. I'm hoping that Duke and I can head back together next fall with some friends for some more college fun.

For my fellow IU Alumni reading the blog, here are a few things I noticed/learned while back on campus:

Kilroys on Kirkwood has been totally renovated and now has a top floor with big leather booths where kids order bottle service. Yes, bottle service.

La Bamba is gone. No more "burritos as big as your head." Several people had a hard time accepting this news this weekend.

The fanny pack is back! I didn't get the memo, but apparently neon fanny packs are all the rage with college girls. We saw them. Lots of them.

It's not a s fun to sing the fight song at the bar on the day your team looses 83 to 20.