Perspective

I am passing along this blog called "the Journey". It is on my blog list on the right. I haven't added any new ones to my list in ages--in fact I have removed them. This one touched me so much that I knew it needed added.

It adds a different perspective to life, it shows what is important. This girl has turly given her life to the children and people of Uganda. I will say that in my mind, Uganda has seemingly been that place far, far away where people suffer. For me, there was not a true picture of any of it--the good, the suffering, the abuse.
Again, for me it was probably hearing that Brangelina have adopted from there and so on. What this girl is doing is so far-reaching and so uncharacteristic for a person of her age and so God-led. Read. You will be encouraged, stirred, and challenged.

Sitting

Here I sit in the quietness. Every once in a while, I hear a page turn from the other room (Aliyah reading). The girls are in bed, and I'm pretty sure Aliyah will fall asleep with a book or books in her bed.

Tufsey is sleeping in the other room. He is under the weather again =(. He is highly susceptible to anything/everything. We are hoping to be able to help him by giving him some plain probiotic yogurt and water once Josh is home. Yes, we do love the kitty.

I am contemplating the week and looking forward to the weekend. I miss Josh and I wish he was home. With it getting dark out so early now, it feels lonely this week.

We had better success today at the cursive writing. Once Aliyah is able to practice it more, it will come with time. Keirah is still pretty happy about school. She reminds me of her letters/sounds later in the day--it's cute. We attempted to squeeze in what we could of school before going to work this morning. When I got off, we went to visit Josh for dinner. I gave Aliyah the option of doing her math speed drills in the car as well as her math test. Actually, she loved it! She had all of the drills done in no time and the test as well. She was all finished before we even pulled in to get Josh.

I briefly looked at my Snapfish book project and then closed it. I can put it off longer. They have free shipping until Sept. 10th now. I typically do Shutterfly, however I have a $30 credit to use with Snapfish. I'm trying to decide if I want to do a summer book and then the girl's birthdays or if I want to try to squeeze it all into one.

Plans for the weekend...well hopefully a date tomorrow night. Josh is participating in a golf outing on Sat. and then has to work. He starts vacation Sunday and we'll see from there.

We decided on a project for spring...a new fence--at least on two sides. We bought a fence a couple of years ago and some portions of it are HORRIBLE--namely two sides! It simply did not hold up. Our choice is an arch top white vinyl one. It is taller than the one we currently have so that will be great. My first choice would probably be a black wrought iron or aluminum, however they are pretty pricey. The vinyl will be pretty and low maintenance and that will be great. The other side that we aren't looking at replacing will most likely be completely or pretty close to covered with honeysuckle vine. Taking the fence out would probably ruin the garden wonder of the honeysuckle vine. Once it covers the fence...it's staying.

Life feels busy

Who knows how to sum up the week thus far aside from crazy busy. The girls have started schooling which means we have as well since they are homeschooled.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it. It just makes schedules fuller. Not only work, but before or after work there's schooling to be done. Add to that cleaning the house and tending to the day to day and wow--it feels packed. This year's challenge in school for Aliyah is going to be cursive writing. This subject has been taking the longest.

Tufsey has been pretty energetic until today. I don't know if he is having a tired day or is relapsing back to illness. We are going to give him some droppers of C L O and yogurt tonight. We have been mixing it with his food, but he probably needs more of it to help build up his system. He is still eating, just seems run-down.

I'm making a Snapfish photo book --I mean I started making it. I'm just not in the mood to do it I guess. It needs to be finished before Aug. 28th so I can get free shipping. Looking at the pictures reminds me that I still need to finish my posts about Chicago.

The tile project is looming right in front of us. Hopefully it can be completed with ease and in a short time.

These are the days where I can tell that summer is closing out. Fall is beautiful, however I know what it brings behind it--winter--which I hate. I know when the crickets are chirping, mosquitos are biting, locusts are humming, days are waning, that we are at the tail end. I will miss my garden and days/evenings outside. Shortened days mean less chance for a bike ride.

Vivacious

We spent a good portion of yesterday cleaning/organizing the house. I think that in the summertime we tend to spend so much of our time outside that we care to spend little indoors. We do clean during the summmer--don't worry. Things just tend to get a little more chaotic in the closets/drawers. The house smelled wonderful!

The porch got some cleaning love as well. I cleaned the floor. Soon, we will have the porcelain tile down =). The same goes for my kitchen. We are excited!

On the Tufsey front, his sides are beginning to fill back out. He has a voracious appetite and is drinking like normal again. The meows are back as is purring. Since he is so active again, it is difficult to give him his magic Tufsey treatments. He has gained a lot of strength back--close to 100% now. Josh mixed in the magic with his food this morning so that was great. I took him outside this morning to hopefully do his duty. He wanted to explore. He finished up and tried to sneak away.
He is ever so active and is watching out the door when we leave/trying to get out as well. Josh petted him last night and he flopped down and rolled over so he could get some belly scratching. Oh yes, his fur--looks beautiful again. He has been working very hard to clean himself and get off the residue of all of his Tufsey treatments. I think the Pedialyte has been tough for him to get off his paws. They are slowly returning to the bright fluffy white.

The girls are eager to begin school for this year. Keirah is so excited to start pre-school. I feel like there are a few things I need to get done before that happens--like the Snapfish photo book that I need to do from summertime. Since the days are shorter now, maybe I will get it done one of these evenings when they finish up their school work.

Happy Gorgeous Sunday to you all!!

C L O & 9 Lives?

Here is the saga of Tufsey...

So, I posted Aliyah's letter to Tufsey on Thursday morning. Tufsey was heavily knocking on death's door late Wednesday when it was written. He wasn't moving around--simply sleeping and barely opening his eyes. He hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in over 24 hours.
Since neither Josh nor myself felt we could euthanize him, we chose to let him live out his final hours with the family he loves and who loves him. I had a migraine on Wednesday night and went to bed earlier (around 10). Josh and the girls stayed up a bit longer remembering the happy times with Tufsey.

When I read Aliyah's letter on Thursday morning (pretty early)--I was crying. Josh went out to check on the porch thinking surely he had passed. Miracle of all miracles he was still with us. We figured it would be possibly just a bit longer.
My mom called around 8 in the morning to check on him and told us that she and my grandma thought we should attempt giving him cod liver oil in a dropper.

We didn't do anything and she called back again. We agreed (after all what was there to lose). Grandma brought down the C L O and Josh gave him several droppers of it. Tufsey began responding. We still didn't know what to think since we were told he probably wouldn't be able to fight off the fever that he had.
We gave him a few more doses throughout the morning and he wanted to go outside and walk around. Okay...he hadn't moved out of his bed the day before.
He showed interest in his food, but simply could not eat. Grandma then decided he should have some special yogurt. We went ahead and gave him the yogurt in a dropper, C L O, and doses of water. We later picked up Pedialyte at the store for him as well. We continued this throughout the day at various intervals. Tufsey continued to show improvements and even ate about 3 tiny bites on his own (with a lot of difficulty).

Friday morning came and Tufsey was even more alert than before. He was given the new regiment of magic Tufsey treatment before Josh went into work. My mom came and gave him the regiment early in the afternoon.
I came home from work and Tufsey was sitting up watching out the porch door. He wanted to go outside so I obliged. (he is no longer allowed to roam anymore)
I was able to give him a dropper and a half before he jumped out of his bed and walked away. While I was with him, he began slowly eating his food. It was dry food which he normally prefers, however he tried.
I picked up the girls and we picked up some kitty tuna at the store. We brought it home to Tufsey and he began eating--miracle of all miracles. He ate and ate and ate. Following that, he began cleaning his paws and face. He hadn't done either in probably 3 days. He ate some more.
Last night, Josh gave him some more droppers of the Tufsey magic potions. Tufsey, ate some more. He arched his back when we petted him and stretched--all things he hadn't done in days.

This morning we got up and as soon as Josh opened the back door, Tufsey jumped up and MEOWED. He hadn't meowed in days. I was putting his food in his dish just inside the door to the kitchen and he jumped in and began eating. He ate some dental treats and regular treats and milk in addition to his tuna. The new development as I began writing this...he was drinking water on his own again!!

Obviously, we know he is feeling better and is eating on his own accord. He will not be allowed to roam due to his illnesses and the likelihood of getting sick again which his body has MAJOR trouble fighting. He has his home on the porch and if he does well this weekend, we will probably get him a litter box for the times when we are not home to take him outside.

Aliyah is amazed that he is feeling better and we have tried to tell her that he could easily get very sick again--we just do not know. Tufsey is doing his normal Tufsey things and wants petted---rolls to his back for more and watches our every move. He really needs to fatten up. He wasn't big before and without food and water his sides are sinking in as well as his cheeks. Hopefully with his new regimen of stuff, he will feel at 100%--at least we would hope.

Josh remarked that there never was a cat like Tufsey the cat. We love him and it's obvious he loves us.

Sorry, I haven't updated and made you think he was gone. We simply didn't know he was going to even make it when I posted.
I guess maybe grandma just knew something that could help a kitty that none of the rest of us knew.

Happy Weekend and hopefully some more happy days for the kitty.

Tufsey--a letter from Aliyah

This is Aliyah's goodbye letter to Tufsey. I will add my thoughts or comments in parenthesis.

Dear Tufsey,

You know I've been reading a lot of books to you this summer, and you that I love cookies. And that I like people coming to my house. And sometimes things turn into disasters and that's OK. Even though it's not fair, and sometimes when I try to do things for you, it turns into a disaster--like feeding you and playing with you.
I have a promise for you when you die. I will never leave you. And I have another promise to you, that I will never leave you alone without Whiskers (his mouse toy). And I like it the most when you curl up, wrap your tabby tail around yourself and go to sleep. You first came to our house, and your kept coming back and we decided to keep you. And I have something for you before you die, that I will bury your toy with you since it's the only thing you'll play with. I will never forget you and always know where you are. I love you.

Aliyah

Yes, this made me cry! She also had to read a book to him.

Sick Cat

We have determined that Tufsey is not feeling so great. He has been lethargic and has little to no appetite. In addition, he just lays around sleeping and does not respond to anything we do. He also seems to be losing weight.

Aliyah is trying to make him comfortable so she covered him with a towel and she has this lullaby music playing for him. It's cute how she tries to take care of him.
Fortunately, he has an appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon. This was scheduled already so that he could get his shots and all of that good stuff.

I'm ready to see him get back to his usual self. He did drink some milk a few minutes ago so we are glad about that.

Contemplations

Mondays after a full weekend are sure interesting. I could have used a major nap today, but that did not happen =). Instead, I was very unproductive this evening.
Maybe I will go visit the lonely laundry. My beloved did some laundry before he left for work--bless him!!

The kitty is either just tired or sad or something. He has been around all day that I am aware. Maybe the rainy weather has kept him on the porch, I don't know.

We had an interesting dinner. After I could take no more, I got up and left--that's all I will elaborate on that story aside from the fact that it wasn't anything to do with the girls or Josh.

No watering today--yay!! We have gotten a decent amount of rain. Hopefully the grass will stay a pretty green.

I need to finish my Chicago postings...maybe later this week. A Snapfish book of our trip needs to be put together--maybe tomorrow. Aliyah needs to write t-you's...when I find the t-you notes. I need to quit procrastinating--right now!
I'm not very interesting today am I?? Nope.
Have you ever wondered why people do or don't do things?? I have. Anyway, enough of dragging out my boring post. Bye as I get off my lazy side.

Jam Packed

WOW--we can totally tell summer is quickly on its way out. Why? We had to squeeze in so much stuff into one weekend.

I took the girls to the pool on Friday night (I originally thought they were open til 7). After driving through construction, we arrived around 4:15 to find out they were only open until 5 =(. Well, after driving all the way there and considering the pool was closing Saturday, the girls still wanted to go. Luckily, we saw some friends there and made the best of the 45 minutes at the pool. Afterward, we hit up McD's for some dinner. While in McD's, I could see this place that looked like a mini-golf place. It turns out that it is an ice cream shop and mini-golf. They serve soft serve AND hand dipped. They had 28 wonderful flavors of dipped. IT was awesome and pretty reasonable as well.

Saturday morning came early after staying up late on Friday night. We got up early to hit a few garage sales. We went to the grocery store and then got ready to go to Aliyah's 1st/2nd grade swim party. It was a blast and perfect swim weather. We basked in the sun and cooled off while she swam around like a fish.
We went straight from there to the other pool that we love to visit as it was the last day of the season. This has to last us until the end of next May when they open again. It's always bittersweet. We had a blast and stayed until about 10 minutes before they closed. Aliyah saw some pink goggles which we purchased. She informed us that it was like a whole new world in the big pool.
From there, we changed and headed to dinner. We ventured out to a different restaurant for us--The Flat Top Grill. It was awesome!! I love it when we find new places that we like.
We came home and got things together for Aliyah's party. She was excited in true form!

Sunday morning came early as well since we still needed to get stuff ready. We went to church and then immediately following we went to a picnic with our class. Just as everyone sat down to eat all of the wonderful food, the wind picked up and the rain started. It was a total washout! We finished eating, sat around for a bit and then headed home. Once we got home, we got ready for Aliyah's party. She was so excited. She loved everything that she received and was very excited to eat cupcakes--she had 2!!
We went to dinner with Josh's family. Yes, we went back to Flat Top Grill. It was great once again. Thanks for making the trip to be here for Aliyah's party!!
It is Sunday night and I am thinking that I need to get some laundry started. Nevermind...it will still be here tomorrow I am sure of that.

Exciting Week!

This week has been busy since before it started!! Since it is birthday week that adds to the fun.

We started off with Josh's birthday on Monday. We had a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse--everything was so yummy!

Tuesday was a day off and we chose to spend the day at the pool. There are only a couple days left before it closes for the season --big boo hoo from us! It was so relaxing. We added a little sun color to our skin. We all even played in the water jungle gym thing. It is hard to describe. There are all of these gadgets and gizmos that squirt water, buckets that spill over on you, a GIANT bucket that dumps on the people below etc... It was quite fun. We had some people come over for small group in the evening. Root beer floats were yummy!

Wednesday was Aliyah's birthday. She has been so excited for so long about it. She woke up early and went downstairs to watch a movie. She got the biggest smile if anyone told her "Happy Birthday". Since everyone is so busy and this birthday falls in the middle of a work week, we will have a little party with family later.
Aliyah and Keirah enjoyed playing with Aliyah's new doll.

Today was just Thursday and that meant work for both of us as usual and catch up on stuff at home for me. It was kind of nice to simply water my flowers, water the yard, straighten up the house, catch up on the checkbook etc...

The weekend is full as well, but that's fine. We are living summer the way we love to--plenty of fun!

Oh yes, my garden received 1st place in the city garden contest. We were very excited!! We didn't even know until my mom called us and told us it was in the newspaper. The money is going toward my new kitchen floor to be installed in a couple of weeks by handyman Josh.

Hope your week has been fun as well!

Happy Birthday, Aliyah!!!

It's almost hard to fathom how quickly time has passed since the birth of our firstborn. On August 12, 2002, our teeny tiny girl was born. She tipped the scale at 5 lbs. 6 ounces. She was full term--induced 9 days before my due date.

She quickly let us know she had made her entrance as she tried out her lungs. It seems she hasn't stopped since. Whether talking about whatever interests her, asking questions, making funny animal noises or whatever we are blessed by Aliyah. She is very sweet and loves to help mother her little sister. At times, little sister mothers Aliyah.

She has great interest in animals, babies, science, math, laughter, and reading. There has never been a dollar wasted on a stuffed animal or book or really any toy with Aliyah. She loves them til they are tattered, torn, and look very LOVED and continues to love them.

Sometimes we wonder if she is part fish. She loves swimming. Whether it is playing on the water jungle gym, playing with little sis in the kiddie pool, learning how to better swim in the swimming pool, or riding waves in Lake Michigan or the ocean--she loves it all! As a result, she is very tan!!

She loves her kitty, Tufsey and her family! She is quite the cuddlebug and sweetie pie. Many would think she's 4, but nope--she is now 7!!! Hello to 2nd grade!!

We love you, Aliyah and thank God for the wonderful blessing of you!! Happy 7th Birthday!

Chicago--Day 3

From the time we began looking at the weather for our trip, day 3 always predicted rain. With that in mind, we planned to do touristy things during the periods of rain. We woke up on day 3 to the beautiful morning sun streaming into the window just like every other day. We got ready and decided to take a boat tour.

Our hotel was located along the Chicago River so we had a few options with boat companies. Being the deal finder, I had BOGO coupons to both companies by our hotel. The one we chose first was sold out for the first cruise so we went over to the Wendella Boat Co. We took the 90 minute architectural river/lake cruise. I must say that for as mild of a July that we had, it was shaping up to be a warm one that day. The tour was awesome. Getting out onto Lake Michigan was my favorite. I love big open bodies of water like that. I told Josh that this was for me. That is one luxury I/we would love to own one day--a boat to cruise Lake Michigan!
The cruise was full of beautiful picture opportunities so I snapped away. We got really close to the Chicago Harbor lighthouse. No one lives there, but it does function--automatically. The city of Chicago used to rent it out for a whopping $1 per month. The person living there had to make sure the light was always working. What a cool place to live for $1 per month. In a place like Chicago (or anywhere for that matter), that is quite a steal on rent. Well, the city got fed up with the constant partying with scantily clad people at best climbing the walls of the lighthouse. So, now the light is automatic and no one lives there. One other thing that I thought was cool is that you can see Michigan/Indiana from the lake. Three states at once =).

We finished the boat tour and headed over to Sears/Willis Tower. It will always be Sears to me. Still, not a drop of rain in sight. Sears/Willis is located more in the financial district. The Wall St. area of Chicago. We crossed over LaSalle St. which is what is called money canyon. More $$ trades on LaSalle than even Wall St. No, none of it flew out the windows to us =). Upon entering the lobby of S. Tower the line was very long!! We quickly found out that it was 1 1/2 hours to get to the top. What else do you do in a line that long, why take a pic of Josh with the Prez. To me, I have been to Sears T as well as Hancock. Once you have seen them and/or flown over the city, it's pretty much the same a.k.a not that much of a thrill.
I was glad that we would get to try out the new LEDGES that just opened. I am not afraid of heights and I like thrilling things. We eventually made it to the top after a 60 second ear popping elevator ride to the 103rd floor. Upon arrival, Keirah had fallen asleep in her stroller. Imagine that. We immediately made our way to the ledges and stepped out. Cool--yes, scary--no! It made for great views/pics. Our conclusion was that if you aren't afraid to go to the top and look out, the ledges are no different. They retract every night, btw. Being at the top afforded many more picture opportunities of various landmarks. We got back in line to head back down. Fortunately, that line moved quicker.
We could not find a bus to head back to our part of the city, so after walking forever it seemed we got a cab.
We chilled out for a bit and then met our former neighbors at PF Changs for dinner. It was nice to catch up with them. We walked around the city and took the girls to Riverwalk and let them all run around.
Oh yes, did I say that it didn't rain a drop all day!

Happy Birthday to my Soulmate!!

Baby, this is for you...

Happy Birthday to the most amazing husband--August 10--the day of the birth of my best friend.

It's funny, but I look at the picture your dad posted from 1993 and I must say...not bad then, but you've only gotten better!! I must say...the shorts look like boxers and you needed to eat some more!

I love you more than words could say.

Have a wonderful, wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2

I'm back again. August has come around in true fashion. After a summer of mild weather (it spoiled us really), the HEAT is on and so is the humidity. I can take heat, but with today's humidity I did not do much outside.

Day two in Chicago was quite fun. We started early and beat the crowd to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Turns out, we beat the animals to the zoo also. Most of them were in hiding I think. Even though our children LOVE animals, they didn't want to spend long at the zoo. We made the decision that we would NOT be going to visit Shedd aquarium on zoo day. Somehow we couldn't justify spending $70 plus to visit for an hour or so.

We left the zoo and went to the Oak Street Beach. The OSB gets high marks from me! If you didn't turn around to see the skyline, you wouldn't know you were in Illinois. There are beautiful palm trees and a cafe right there. We ate lunch there before testing out the water. The sun was great and we got some color. Unfortunately, I failed to put sunblock on my nose. Therefore, I still look like Rudolph. The water was cool and refreshing!

Dinner was yummy at Quartino's (italian). The downside to Quartino's for me was that I could not decipher most of the menu. They made it more fancy sounding than the dish actually turned out to be. The funniest thing about Q's is that they have bathroom valets/attendants.

Josh took Keirah to the restroom there and she was assisted in handwashing by the B V. She brought back some candy to the table. On the rest of our trip she thought that every time she visited a restroom at a restaurant, she would get a piece of candy.

We spent time walking around the city. Chicago is gorgeous at night with all of the buildings lit up!

Enjoy a few pictures from Day 2 and stay tuned for fun on day 3!

A few notes: I have no idea who the people in the pics are below at the beach, but just overlook it =).

Keirah is potty trained, however she wears a swimmer at the beach/pool to assist in keeping her bottoms up and to make sure she doesn't moon the beachgoers. As you can see, she needs more than just a swimmer =).

August

Wow, it is August. That means so many things...pool is closing soon, school is starting soon, days are getting shorter & hotter, the month is really full of birthdays and stuff etc...

Josh and I got to take a long bike ride today. I couldn't tell you how many miles, but my quads were killing me. We got home and Josh put the car tire gauge on my tire to find out it only had 15 psi of air. That's about 1/3 of what it needs. No wonder the ride killed my legs. I had to work so hard to pedal. Not that I didn't need it, I'm just saying. You see, we pumped up my tires beforehand (so we thought) with this new tire pump that we just purchased. I kind of found it odd that the tire was at correct pressure after 2 pumps (according to the gauge). We even let some air out because we did not want them to be overfilled. Turns out, the gauge on the new tire pump does not work.

Also, Josh told me the most hilarious story about his awesome fashion sense of old. Maybe I shared this before, but I'm too lazy to look back + it's late. He told me that he had an outfit of iguanas. He proceeded to describe the shirt and I said "NO, not puffy paint". He told me yes he had a shirt with iguanas outlined with puffy paint. I reminded him that he was male and he said (to make matters worse) this was in JR HIGH!! He had coordinating shorts made of iguana fabric. I bet he was the coolest!

We got the Diva's birthday present today. The Diva is the youngest. She has been asking for a Dora bike for several weeks now. We purchased it last night because it was the last one at Target. Why is she a diva? She has to have all of her accessories (hair bow, jewelry, lip gloss, purse, and has asked for earrings as well). I get quizzed if I am not wearing things like earrings or painted fingernails etc...She truly notices everything! This morning, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday besides a bike...her answer...an American Girl doll mommy with blond hair. I think she calls it a mommy because it looks more grown up than the Bitty Babies that she has right now. Oh BOY! I doubt she will be getting that one. She tells us the name is Mia. Um, Mia is no longer available. Aliyah informed her that they already have Mia and do not need another one. Anyway, Diva also loves loves loves her big sis and wants to be with her at all times. Lucky for her they are homeschooled.

Well, I am glad that the weekend is almost here! I still miss being on vacation!

Chicago Day 1

We got up early on Sunday morning. For me, it was slightly over 2 hours of sleep. Why? Someone was shooting off very loud fireworks all night. Also, some neighbors were having a party and were loud.

Anyway, either way I was fine and very happy to be on vacation! The train was a bit late, but that did not matter a whole lot because we made up time on the train. All of us snoozed a bit at some point on the ride. We arrived in Chicago 15 minutes early!!

As is typical, there was some large event going on in Union Station. It was Disney's Christmas Carol. It looked cool, but I'm not into Christmas in July--sorry.

We took a quick cab ride to our hotel (same one as last year). We were able to check in and get a great room view.

We decided to walk to PF Changs since it was still a bit early. We had plans of visiting the Pier and the beach. The walk only took like 10 minutes. Lunch was very yummy and much needed. Since we thought they had discontinued the free trolleys, we took a water taxi to Navy Pier. Turns out they hadn't discontinued the trolleys completely, just scaled them back A LOT! Aliyah was pretty animated on the ride. She was cheering about everything we saw. The captain told her to have fun on the Ferris Wheel.

Again, as is typical there was another event going on...the AB Clydesdales were all on display at Navy Pier along with their stagecoach and dalmation. I have seen them before (obviously a different group of them several years ago). Josh and the girls on the other hand, haven't seen them. They are MASSIVE, beautiful, muscular, and amazing. What do you know, I left my camera in the hotel room--duh! We enjoyed looking at Scott, Curly and others. It seems like it would only take about 1/4 of one Clydesdale to pull that Stagecoach =).

Navy Pier was busy and we only stayed a short time to look at one little shop. We took the short walk to the Ohio St. Beach to check out the water. It was a bit chilly, but we managed to enjoy it. We got to ride the trolley back =).

Following a quick nap, we were back out in the city again. We visited American Girl and picked up the items that were on Aliyah's birthday list as well as a few books that she wanted to read.

For dinner, we went with familiar and chose Chili's. It was tasty!

Since everyone was pretty tired and I was battling a cold, we headed back to our hotel. We chilled out for the rest of the evening and enjoyed the gorgeous view from our hotel room. Every night, we made sure to keep the curtains open every night to take in the gorgeous lights and sights of the city. We were on the 27th floor overlooking the river. In the picture, you will see NBC tower on the right, the Hancock building in the background (white line across the top), Tribune bldg. etc...

Stay tuned for the rest of the fun as well as many more pictures!