Mama + The Midwest ~ Part 1

Last week we were in the Windy City and I didn't want to leave. Comfy hotel beds, club level snacks, full coverage rainhead showers, fancy coffee machines, an agenda all our own, fun shopping excursions, memories with my kiddos, my momma, and the city. All my heart.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, we were missing daddy and everyone was somewhat ready to get back to routine. But dang today came with a bang and re-entry is HARD y'all! A full day of survivorship scans and some medical updates that I will share with everyone in a following post, but today I want to talk the fun stuff! And document all of these super fun Chicago memories! Beware, picture overload and even more to come after this!

Momma and I have taken an annual trip for three years running now and this year we were slated to head to a bucket list destination, San Diego, but with all of this blah blah medical drama we're holding off on flying until we learn to manage this lymphedema business a little better. So, we tabled San Diego and replaced it with a road trip to Chicago and filled it with all things family and fun.

We drove back to Louisville Tuesday to drop Daddy off for his big golf trip to Scotland and Ireland, spent the night at PaPaw and GoGo's before getting up bright and early Wednesday to make our way north. The kiddos did great in the car and mama and I listened to Serial most of the way. I'm totally into podcasts now, especially with all of the driving we seem to be doing lately. Does anyone have any good recommendations of what I should listen to now that I've finished the Serial seasons?

We arrived at the hotel, The Langham, and unloaded our 4700 items. I mean, I was legit embarrassed at the amount of items we packed. I used to be the gal that jumped on a plan with an overnight bag for a two week trip and now I've got the whole house packed  into my car #momlife. The kiddos made themselves right at home and we got everything situated in our fancy place, Penny totally outdid herself. The hotel couldn't have been more perfect and I will certainly stay there again when we go back.

 And there was a TV in my bathroom mirror. Yes please.

 GoGo had special surprises for the littles when we arrived. And they received a new surprise every morning. Grandma of the year award!

 Nespresso machine. Did someone say I'm turning 30 soon? Did you need gift ideas? No? Oh, okay ... nevermind.

 And let's be real, give us cookies and it seals the deal.

Thursday morning we started off the trip with a bang (for Bennett anyways) and headed to see a children's theatre performance of The Three Little Pigs and Bennett was amazed. He's been obsessed with nursery rhymes since he began school last fall and his latest love is the three little piggies. So, when I saw there was performance I knew we had to go. And sure enough it was a huge hit.

After the play we loaded up the car, snagged some Chick-fil-A and headed to Wheaton, IL to visit with Daddy's family. We played and visited and introduced them to Lainey for the first time! We need to get up there more often, it's never enough time, but we had a blast and a yummy dinner.

Friday we had GREAT weather and loaded up the kids and road The El aka "DA TRAIN MOMMY!" to the Lincoln Park Zoo which is an AWESOME free zoo in a great little part of the city. We followed up with a yummy lunch at R.J. Grunts before headed back to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

 The Lions were extra lively and put on an awesome show for us.

 And little miss thang made herself comfy and took a whittle nap.

 Look at that salad bar and unlimited burger topping station! Nom nom nom.

 And once she was ready to get our of her stroller for a bit, I put her in my backpack and we walked along the park some more.

 And little mister picked out a popsicle.

 And tried to steal his PaPaw's girl.

We then hailed a cab, headed back to the hotel got cleaned up for dinner and made our way to Latinicity where we racked up our card with tons of yummy dinner options.

When we got back to the hotel, we went to the kids room and let Bennett romp and play.

And then we got all cleaned up and headed to bed, and in our suitcases we found a surprise from daddy! 

Bennett's very own stuffed Maggie to keep him company at night. I mean does it get any sweeter? What a great daddy that little boy has!

Saturday the kids slept in and I snuggled in bed with my computer and coffee, ahhh vacation.

 We then headed to check out Bucktown and had brunch at Mindy's Hot Chocolate where we indulged in all things yummy and scouted the town for cute shops and eateries. And we peaked inside and checked out The Max, the real life Saved By The Bell restaurant - SO COOL!

 This mac 'n' cheese y'all. Oh. Em. Gee.

 And no hopes of seeing Zack or Slater ... but just as I'd imagined.

 And this little man weaseled his way into another cookie.

 We headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading back to Lincoln Park to meet up with the family once again for The Taste of Lincoln. Shane's cousin, Mary, and their band, March Fourth Band, had traveled all the way from Portland, OR and were performing so we headed down to party and watch her on stage.

 Cousin Mary,

 Uncle Danny,

 The whole crew!

 And of course we had to surf :) before calling it a night.

Sunday we took it easy, and did a little Magnificent Mile strolling complete with giggles, legos, chocolate, and lots of walking; followed by some downtime in the hotel and lots of Chicago pizza from Giordano's in our bellies!

 And on the walk back home we threw pennies in the fountain and wished for health and happiness.

I was lots of fun and that's not all! I'll be back with Mama and Midwest Part II in a few days. Have a great rest of the week lovelies!

Weekend Recap Rewind

Happy Monday y'all! It was a good summer weekend round these parts. Nashville schools start back this week, and while our little man doesn't start for a few weeks we decided to play tourist in our own city and weekends like that are ALWAYS a good time. I think this weekend prompted me to put together some "how to do Nashville with kids" posts that may help anyone visiting with some ideas.  But, that will take some time, effort and legitimate thought and planning that is frankly just too much for my brain on a Monday morning. So, in the meantime I'll just share a little recap of what we did, and then formulate real thoughts and methodical planning you can put to good use in a few weeks. Capische?

We woke up Friday to some fun mail. I love snail mail, and especially mail funnies from friends just to let you know they're thinking of you. This was from our friend Jenni ... it's a picture of a blue duck, because she'd never seen a blue duck before ... get it?! Billy Madison anyone?! Ha!

 Bennett played with his blue duck and made up funny stories all morning long.

I got to work on a little editing from a family session I'd had earlier in the week. Just packed up their complete session and sent it out the door last night. If you're in the Nashville area (or surrounding cities) and looking for a fun family session give me a shout: Katie Marie Photographie.

And then we loaded up the car and headed out to Opry Mills! A day of indoor play to combat the heat + misty rain was just what we needed. Carousel rides, train rides, Rainforest cafe lunches, tree frog souvenirs (Bennett has entered a big stuffed animal phase), a stop at the cookie shop, a little tennis shoe browsing, double stroller snuggles, you know all the essentials.

 Which led to a car nap on the ride home ... SUCCESS!

And we wrapped the day with this big girl, holding her own bottle. What have I told these children about growing up?! Don't they know that is strictly off limits!!

 Saturday we headed downtown to stuff our faces in food truck heaven. Over 40 food trucks packed the house on 4th and Demonbreun for a fun start to the day.

 Little mister headed straight for the Rita's Ice Cream truck.

Momma and Daddy opted for something a little more filling and landed on King Tuts Moroccan food.

 Once our bellies were full, we walked down to Broadway and decided to have a little fun in the city we live in. Little Lou joined us, but didn't much care where we went. She was just snoozy lousy.

 We headed to the second floor of Crazy Town for some live music, drinks and snacks. Bennett and I owned the dance floor and we said a little thanks for putting our beers on the menu!

After we'd danced our socks off, we headed next door to Savannah's Candy Shop  to let little man fill up a bag of candy. Candy stores are so fun with kids. The saying "a kid in a candy store" is so true. His little eyes light up and watching him meticulously study all the candies to ensure he gets his favorites its so adorable.

From Savannah's we headed to Wild Horse Saloon.  The upstairs bar was closed, but all of the game tables were open, so we had the whole floor to ourselves and played all the games.

And then a little three year old caught the eyes of a young little lady downstairs on the dance floor and insisted we go dance too. Truth be told, I've been to Wild Horse before, but its often always been late night and the dance floor has looked much different. However, during the day it is so family friendly and kids have complete run of the dance floor while all of the adults eat and chill. Perfect little combo for a Broadway visit.

 And then Lainey got on stage! Insert crazy eye emoji here. Next Nashville star, Miss Lainey Lou everyboddyyyyyy!

We capped off the night visiting some friends and then came home to tuck the littles in bed while Hubs and I ordered some late night grub and binge watched TV.

Sunday we had just a regular ole chill family day and it was the perfect end to a great weekend. We ran errands to prep us for our upcoming trips and got all of our last minute items. And then we giggled and played and watched Lainey eat everything in sight!

This morning we woke up bright and early because I had a scan *say a prayer we get a great phone call with good results* and then today we are putting together all of our things and will soon be hitting the road for lots of adventures! Can't wait to share lots of updates with you guys soon! Have a great week errrrbody!

Weekend Recap Rewind

Happy Monday y'all! It was a good summer weekend round these parts. Nashville schools start back this week, and while our little man doesn't start for a few weeks we decided to play tourist in our own city and weekends like that are ALWAYS a good time. I think this weekend prompted me to put together some "how to do Nashville with kids" posts that may help anyone visiting with some ideas.  But, that will take some time, effort and legitimate thought and planning that is frankly just too much for my brain on a Monday morning. So, in the meantime I'll just share a little recap of what we did, and then formulate real thoughts and methodical planning you can put to good use in a few weeks. Capische?

We woke up Friday to some fun mail. I love snail mail, and especially mail funnies from friends just to let you know they're thinking of you. This was from our friend Jenni ... it's a picture of a blue duck, because she'd never seen a blue duck before ... get it?! Billy Madison anyone?! Ha!

 Bennett played with his blue duck and made up funny stories all morning long.

I got to work on a little editing from a family session I'd had earlier in the week. Just packed up their complete session and sent it out the door last night. If you're in the Nashville area (or surrounding cities) and looking for a fun family session give me a shout: Katie Marie Photographie.

And then we loaded up the car and headed out to Opry Mills! A day of indoor play to combat the heat + misty rain was just what we needed. Carousel rides, train rides, Rainforest cafe lunches, tree frog souvenirs (Bennett has entered a big stuffed animal phase), a stop at the cookie shop, a little tennis shoe browsing, double stroller snuggles, you know all the essentials.

 Which led to a car nap on the ride home ... SUCCESS!

And we wrapped the day with this big girl, holding her own bottle. What have I told these children about growing up?! Don't they know that is strictly off limits!!

 Saturday we headed downtown to stuff our faces in food truck heaven. Over 40 food trucks packed the house on 4th and Demonbreun for a fun start to the day.

 Little mister headed straight for the Rita's Ice Cream truck.

Momma and Daddy opted for something a little more filling and landed on King Tuts Moroccan food.

 Once our bellies were full, we walked down to broadway and decided to have a little fun in the city we live in. Little Lou joined us, but didn't much care where we went. She was just snoozy lousy.

 We headed to the second floor of Crazy Town for some live music, drinks and snacks. Bennett and I owned the dance floor and we said a little thanks for putting our beers on the menu!

After we'd danced our socks off, we headed next door to Savannah's Candy Shop  to let little man fill up a bag of candy. Candy stores are so fun with kids. The saying "a kid in a candy store" is so true. His little eyes light up and watching him meticulously study all the candies to ensure he gets his favorites its so adorable.

From Savannah's we headed to Wild Horse Saloon.  The upstairs bar was closed, but all of the game tables were open, so we had the whole floor to ourselves and played all the games.

And then a little three year old caught the eyes of a young little lady downstairs on the dance floor and insisted we go dance too. Truth be told, I've been to Wild Horse before, but its often always been late night and the dance floor has looked much different. However, during the day it is so family friendly and kids have complete run of the dance floor while all of the adults eat and chill. Perfect little combo for a Broadway visit.

 And then Lainey got on stage! Insert crazy eye emoji here. Next Nashville star, Miss Lainey Lou everyboddyyyyyy!

We capped off the night visiting some friends and then came home to tuck the littles in bed while Hubs and I ordered some late night grub and binge watched TV.

Sunday we had just a regular ole chill family day and it was the perfect end to a great weekend. We ran errands to prep us for our upcoming trips and got all of our last minute items. And then we giggled and played and watched Lainey eat everything in sight!

This morning we woke up bright and early because I had a scan *say a prayer we get a great phone call with good results* and then today we are putting together all of our things and will soon be hitting the road for lots of adventures! Can't wait to share lots of updates with you guys soon! Have a great week errrrbody!