Go Speedracer GO!

The suburbs of Chi-town really have awesome grown up activities.  Everything seems to involved fun, food & drinks!  Last time we were in town we got to practice our Bocce skillz, and this time we got to race cars! Fine…they were Go Carts, but they were pretty cool (even though I sat on the sidelines and watched since I was carrying a 2 year old tantrum thrower!)  The consensus of everyone who raced was that Cousin B is a lunatic on the road and when you hear the screeching around the bed, it is him & beware!  He did win though.

Awesome family!

Doing the 1st place dance...for Cousin B!

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oh these 3 boys...

A just hanging out...

more Aunt G love ❤

Go Mister LK!

Go Daddy Go!

1st Place & 3rd Place...good job boys!

Next up…Party at the pool & shuffleboard tables!

Blackhawks vs Rangers…A Family Outing!

Friday night the family packed into the rented minivan like sardines & headed into the city with the intention of meeting up with our friend and his son for some dinner (as pointed out later, they left it to the Jews to pick a BBQ joint on a Friday during lent … oops!)

What actually happened is we sat in the car for over 2 hours and went directly to the stadium & ate chicken fingers, fried and M&Ms for dinner…A was happy!

This was A’s first hockey game.  She is a real sports fan.  She got that from her Daddy!

A moment of quiet on the long car ride!

Courtesy of Auntie E's Netflix & my IPhone!

Uncle C teaching A about his favorite sport!

Silly Aunt G!

Watching with Daddy!

Daddy couldn't find A a cookie, but I found her a churro! She thought it was perfect!

Hanging in the hall with Cousin J

Thanks to our friend T for coming to hang out 🙂

Great time at the game!  Tomorrow…more fun with the family!

A Day In the Park … Windy City Style…

Day 1 was cold.  Really cold.  Especially since we left NY on a 70 degree day!  The sun was shining though, and we decided to take a family walk to the local park.  We took the dogs out & hit the pavement…got to the park…played…and A said it best…”I freezing Mommy”!

Didn’t mean she wanted to go home though!

Photo highlights of our time at the park in Buffalo Grove, IL

T was freezing and he chose to hang in the stroller for a while before coming out to play...

Daddy went down the slide...

Aunt G got in on the slide action too! A waited at the bottom cheering her on!

Uncle C worked puppy BB out a little bit!

Heading over to the basketball court now!

My kiddos...

My kiddos in action...A is always pulling T somewhere!

T watching the action on the tennis courts

Almost ready to join the party...

This worked on the courts...not so much in the kitchen!

Playground crew!

One last freezing swing before we leave!

LK girls, T & Cousin J

I love these 2 people more than ... A loves cake?!

Chicagoland Welcomes the LK Family…

This weekend we visited with some great family out in Chicago!  The trip overall was amazing!  They are great hosts and Aunt G is a real jewish mommy … which means we pretty much ate yummy food the entire time we were there.  Good for the yummy, not so good for the dress I have to wear to a wedding this weekend, still totally worth it!

We did have a little drama but that is for a different post!  We packed a whole lotta fun into the 1st day…so here are some highlights & things I’d like our family to remember about our Chicago Winter 2012 trip…

We started off our trip with some naked singing & dancing!

A fell in love with Aunt G from the moment her eyes opened in their living room...

Head over heels...some might say obsessed! It was beautiful!

A enjoyed a few quiet moments with puppy BB!

A had some close up time with Uncle L too!

Wouldn't be a weekend without some play-doh time!

My serious girl!

Fun with Uncle C in the yard!

Aunt & Nephew!

Seriously....obsessed with Aunt G....everytime she saw her she started laughing and smiling and glowing! It was magical...

That was only the first half of day 1!

Thanks to our very gracious family for hosting us & tolerating our crazy schedule, and embracing our nutty daughter!

Tomorrow…our afternoon in the park…which was really cold!

 

Controlling Your Emotions Is A Part Of Growing Up…

This saying is something that has stuck with me since I was an early teen…My mom’s friend Aunt L was telling this to my sister who was throwing a tantrum of her own.  I know she meant it to be said to an early teen going through lots of crap and puberty at the same time…but I think it is an amazing lesson, and remind myself of it often.

We’ve lost touch with Aunt L, but I hope she knows how much these words have impacted my life.  I have not always controlled my emotions…but at some point in the “loosing it” stage…I usually find myself repeating this in my head!

I wish this worked on my 22 month old!  She’s having a hard time controlling her emotions…and by that I mean…well…she screams and throws herself on the floor kicking when she doesn’t get the M&M’s she wants in the middle of the pharmacy.  Or screams like a banchee for 25 minutes on our ride to dance class all the while using her Little Mermaid wand to Macgyver the door handle open on the highway.  Or kicking me in the face while screaming, crying & banging the mirror and wall as I hold her down all to do something like…change her diaper!  All pretty good examples of what my days have been like the past 2 weeks.  Torture.  Sadly, me repeating my “controlling your emotions is a part of growing up” is not having any effect on her at all!  Damn…

During the aforementioned car ride of hell, I decided that something has to be hurting my baby girl.  I was taking her to the doctor.  Stat.  I took her yesterday, and much to my relief…she has a double ear infection!  My daughter is not just a lunatic disaster who can’t control herself!  She’s in pain!  Medicine can HELP!

This is her first ear infection, and first time on antibiotics in her 22 month life…I think that is pretty damn good…

This is A last weekend, when it was just a cold…

 

This was A this week the day before the doctor…when I told her should couldn’t have cake for lunch…

Oh Amoxycillin, please help my little girl get back to smiling!  Crossing our fingers this is short term!

Embrace the Camera Thursday 3.1.12

Happy Birthday to our BFF PD!!!!!!

We hope you like your cake…I know A can’t wait to eat it with you later!!!  Thanks for playing with us yesterday!!!

And here Mommy & A are embracing the camera.  This was taken during last week when A was sick…ALL WEEK.  She looks ridiculously happy here because her Dr. prescribed a diet of animal crackers and cheerios…the only thing better would have been if she had prescribed cake and ice cream!

Happy Thursday everyone!  We are finally all better & will be going to dance class!  Wish us luck and cross your fingers that she isn’t crying the whole time!!!