Chicago in February - Part 4

We went to the Field Museum on Thursday.  6 Hours in the museum, 3 of which were spent in the Corner Bakery Cafe, waiting out naps, providing snacks and lunch on 4 different schedules, and laying low hovering with the patented puke pack (see bucket below)as one of our party was coughing herself into oblivion and making us nervous she was going to hurl all over the artifacts.  Now, in Elliot's defense, we realize now, she probably was a little too sick to be out and about (hindsight people, hindsight).  She and Samantha single handedly cleared 2 children's rooms with their coughing and then proceeded to drive their parents to the brink of crazy.   At one point, we considered leaving them with Sue, the big dinosaur above to watch over them, or possibly eat them.  Below, we allowed them 1 phone call for good behavior.

At least the view from our table in the cafe was of the skyline and the lake.  Note the fun toy on the table.   Our little yellow sand pail, acquired at a Baby Loves Disco dance.  Looks like we are fun-loving parents with a plastic toy and stacking cups.  In reality, we were happy to have this on more than one occasion throughout the trip.

This is the drum room we cleared out.  Below is Samantha cruising around in her element in Nordstrom's shoe department.
Oh! The Lincoln Park Zoo!  What a fabulous place.  Thanks Harry for the tip on seeing Mr. Singer's sing along.  We went for his show and stayed for the animals - who knew that the free Lincoln Park Zoo is better than both Boston zoos combined!  We loved the Polar Bear so much, we forgot to take a picture of him.  But he was loud.  And banging on the door.

Elliot measures her hand up against a Tiger Paw!  And then we get our groove on in the  Dairy Barn.
Oh the farm is going to be fun this summer!  

Mr. Singer, we love you too!  

Funny things Elliot Says

Samantha has a lot of words now.  Most of them unintelligible, but many with meaning.  Elliot has entire sentences and stories and is at the perfect age to capture some of the cute things she says.  Yeah, this seems like a good place to bust out some video.  But eh, I'm going to bed.  I will leave you with the yummy fast food joint we are going to for dinner tomorrow while Daddy is away, "Old McDonald's".   And when she wants to stand on one leg like the elegant pink birds, she says she is a "Famingalo".  

Comments People. We do it for the comments. Post.

Ben is off frolicking in Switzerland for the rest of the week.  We think he is checking in on his girls, so we are going to post some notes here for him.

1.  Elliot asked for water on the ride home tonight.  And then she said, "No.  honey-water mommy.  I want honey water.......with lemon!"  We have indeed created a monster.

2.  Samantha was singing into the microphone on the keyboard tonight.  Wish I had a recording.

3.  Elliot got a new tattoo.  I forgot to put it on her though.  We need to disinfect the entire house.  Don't ask.

4.  Pictures?  You want pictures?  One thing at a time.  

Chicago in February - Part 3

I have no words for the delight of this vision.  Our little Sammy J sporting her dainty, Brazillian rhinestone bikini birthday gift from Auntie Liza & Uncle Jamie!  Oh yes, its an heirloom now.  And the beauty of Chicago in February is that there is no sunscreen needed for the indoor pool!  Samantha and Elliot cannot wait to hit the pool!  

And here we have a preview of Elliot's debut appearance on "Cops".  Seriously. What is she doing here?  Other than wondering why we are laughing at her and taking pictures.  But really, not her fault, who would've thought to bring pool shoes?  She knew she needed shoes to get o the 27th floor pool.  Her boots served her just fine.  

Well, well, well, one of our rare family outings to my favorite Tapas in Chicago, Cafe Iberico . Never been there in the light of day before and we were there for lunch.  So good.  Elliot asked for more olive oil to dip her bread.  Samantha threw all her bread on the floor and we ended the meal by sprinting out when Elliot started coughing.  Not before finishing our world class sangria though - made for nice naps back at the hotel (for us, not them). 

Yay!!  A little fun time with friends, Chicago pizza and cupcakes!  Two Little Tidbits and we were hosted at Harry's fun house one night.  Harry is quite the reader and kept piling on Ben to read him stories.  And how did I manage to NOT get a picture of the Crystal's curiously cute pregnant belly?  I was going to out her in the blogosphere, but have no goods.  Drat!

Funtime in the big-girl bed!  Our suite had a pull-out couch.  We put the mattress on the floor for Elliot and put Sammy in the pack and play.  They loved playing on the bed and sleeping next to each other.  Even on this huge mattress, the first night, Elliot fell off, wedged her HEAD under the pack and play and slept on the floor.  I was so afraid of waking Samantha that I did not want to lift the crib off Elliot's head, so we slid her out from the side.  The wedged that pillow you see there prevented it from happening again.  

Wrong!  This is wrong Wrong WRONG!  Elliot's first Starbucks.  Did you know that Starbuck's has kiddie drinks?  A special size, a kiddo temperature and all?  We created a monster.  We had to tell her that only the Starbucks in Chicago have kiddie drinks - none of the Boston ones do!  Ahem.  Don't correct us.