Chicago part II

So much too do!! First day was spent on Michigan Ave- of course! Shopping at some great stores- including The American Girl Store and Lego!! Dinner was delicious with our Chicago style deep dish pizza. Afterwards we went to Second City- a hilarious comedy club.

Chicago

Ok- so it's March now and I haven't updated my blog since February 15. Pretty sad. I guess I have so many wonderful pics of Chicago that it was overwhelming me showing the pics and writing stories. I went to Chicago February 19-22 with my mother-in-law, Kathryn to visit my borther-in-law, Graham, and his wife, Whitney. Of course my best friend, who is a flight attendant- Taylor, came along for the ride on our first day. It was bitterly cold, but it was a welcomed change from our balmy 80 degrees in the middle of February. I must admit that after two days of seeing snow and walking around in 20 something degree weather with a wind chill of -30, I was missing my Texas heat. We crammed a ton of stuff in those 4 days that we were there. I have been to Chi-town before, but it is by far my favorite city! When Clark and I were first married I begged him to please let us live there. He kept telling me that I wouldn't be able to last one winter there and that I would be begging him to come back to TX. Yeah... he's right. I wouldn't have lasted very long. I get cold in TX in July- go figure!

***On a side note***

Anyone who has an IPhone can relate. These stinking phones don't travel well. The battery runs out of "juice" so quickly. I spent a lot of my time in the Apple Stores (long story) or eyeing an outlet at each place we went too (restaurants were the best because the phone would be charged by the time we were done eating). Why did I care about the battery- navigation purposes. :)

Updates

I will post pics soon... had to inform everyone that

1. The front of Emery's crib is BACK on. You read it right. After at least two weeks of no naps and hardly sleeping at night (I would be the one to get up with her... for at least 2-3 hours each night!) I convinced Clark that taking off the front was NOT a good idea right now. I am happy to say that she is napping well and sleeping in again (she was waking up at 7:15ish when she used to wake up at 9am).
2. Our fish, Arnold and Edwina, are still alive. Clark is waiting for the "fish funeral" and I am waiting to see how long I can actually keep one alive!
3. I will be going to Chicago this coming week!! Thursday through Sunday- no kids! I am going with Kathryn (Clark's mom) to see Clark's brother (my brother-in-law)and his wife. My best friend in the entire world will be joining us for the first day (she is a flight attendant- gotta love the airfare perks!) My sweet Mom will be helping me with the kids while Clark is at work. One of these days I want to take a trip with my mom and sister...

Ice Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream!

The kids and I met with my parents at Baskin Robbins Sunday afternoon. Emery and Huston were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Bob plus they got some ice cream! My parents and I were all sitting around this little kiddie table talking while the kids were busy eating their treat. Huston came out of nowhere and announced to my parents face- "I am very happy right now". He loved every second of his time with his grandparents. There is a photo of H with my parents- I think I caught my dad in mind sentence. Emery was all smiles the entire time. Then as we got up to throw away our trash my parents and I were talking while the kids took our Wet Ones to clean the table off and all the chairs. Aunt Elise should be proud! They were tidying up after themselves. Now if only I could get them to do this at home without being asked...

Elmo Birthday Party

We had a birthday party on Valentine's Day. It was actually the weekend prior but it was rescheduled to February 14 due to sickness in their family. Anyway, it was a fun birthday party. The kids had a great time! As you can tell by the caption and pics that it was an Elmo theme. My friend April's little girl Kendall turned 2. April went to the dumpster of several electronic stores to find some huge boxes. She then painted them with a Sesame Street theme. The kids LOVED it!! THe also had a pinanta and plenty of candy for the kids. :) Of course our year old camera has recently decided to do some funky things. One of them is taking black and white photos at a random whim- hence the random black and white photo thrown in. We have lots of pics of Emery because Huston is in the "stop taking so many photos of me" phase. I have plenty of pictures where he has his back to the camera. Happy Birthday Kendall! We had lots of fun at your party!

New Additions to the Allen Family!

Since Huston has an allergy to animals it is hard not having a pet in the house. Huston has been asking me for a pet. As a Valentine's present to the kids, they each got to pick out a Betta fish. Huston (of course) wanted a blue one and Emery (according to Huston) wanted a red one. So, we have Arnold (Huston's fish) and Edwina (Emery's fish). Welcome Arnold and Edwina! (Let's see how long these fish last...)