Lights Festival Parade

Tonight Ryan and I decided to brave the cold and take the kids to the Lights Festival parade
on Michigan Avenue.  It was freezing out, but we bundled ourselves up and made the trek
downtown.  We made it there about an hour and a half before the parade started.
We parked the car and walked over to Michigan Ave to see if people
were already saving spots for the parade.

 Sure enough, people had already started lining the streets.
We found a spot and attempted to stay warm despite the ridiculously cold wind.

It was brutal, but the kids did really well and were super excited once the parade
started and they saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse leading the way.
Joe was convinced Minnie waved right to him.

This was the boys first time seeing giant balloons at a parade, but because of the high winds they had to keep them low to the ground.  Still pretty cool though.

 We also got to see Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Goofy, Chip and Dale.
The boys loved seeing all the Disney characters.

 And no Christmas parade would be complete without a visit from the big man himself.

We were definitely blocks of ice by the time we got to the car,
but the boys had fun and really that makes it all worth it.
It was a great way to start the holiday season. 

GOvember

Every November Lively Athletics, a store in downtown Oak Park, hosts the GOvember

challenge.  The past couple years I have either been pregnant or nursing so I wasn't able to

participate.  This year even though I was nursing, I decided I was going to give it a go.

There were three different levels:

Ernest Hemingway - run all East West Streets in Oak Park (approx. 40 miles)

Betty White - run all North South streets in Oak Park (approx. 70 miles)

Ludicrous - run both - EVERY street in Oak Park

The plan was for Katy, Jessica and I to run the Betty White challenge.  Katy had the routes

all planned out.  We started on the first of November and ran every single day, even
weekends.  Once we started running though, I couldn't stop...and I couldn't stop with just the
Betty White.  I not only wanted to do it all, but I wanted to finish first!  The winner got a Lively
headband, a $25 gift card, and most importantly, bragging rights.  Thus began the blur of my
November.  I ran every morning with Katy and Jessica after we dropped the kids off at
school.  Some mornings it was just the three of us, other times we joined up

with more girls doing the challenge.

After we finished our group run doing North-South streets, I would go on my own and knock

out whatever East-West streets I could.  I'd pick the kids up from school, feed them lunch,

have them nap, then it was out to try to knock out a few more East-West streets.  I had my

mind set on finishing as quickly as I could.  Anyone who knows me knows when I put my

mind to something, I am going to get it done.  I give you, the completed Ludicrous map...

18 days and over 130 miles.  By the end my left quad was so tight that I could barely walk

down the stairs, let alone run.  I had to walk my last 7 mile route so I could finish and turn in

my map.  I was so excited to walk into Lively and find out that I was the first to finish!  I was

genuinely proud of myself.  Having a baby less than 5 months ago, pushing a single if not a

double stroller 95% of my miles...it was quite an accomplishment for me.  And one I couldn't

have done without my favorite new running buddies.

Baby Pandas vs. Toddlers

I want to preface this blog post by showing a video clip from YouTube of a zookeeper trying to clean the pen with four baby pandas inside.  She can barely get one under control before another one is into something else.  It was all over Facebook awhile back and I remember
laughing at the craziness.  In case you've never seen it...

 Fast forward to today when we were at Costco.  The Christmas toys are now on display

and Owen and Joe spotted the ridiculously large teddy bears.  They immediately went and

jumped right on top of one that was out in the aisle.  As Ryan tried to wrangle them up to get

them back to the cart, I couldn't help but think back to the baby panda video and laugh at

the funny similarity.  Ryan would have one heading in the right direction, but then as soon as
he went to get the other one, the first one would go running back towards the big stuffed
animals.  At this point I could have gone to help him out, or I could do what any other humor
loving mother would do....I pulled out my camera.  Unfortunately the video only
covers the tail end of the whole debacle. 

Simon's Park

Owen's best buddy Simon moved to Ohio at the end of October.  Although for a few days

Owen thought Simon just went to a hotel to live, I think he now realizes that he's not coming

back.  When I asked them what park they wanted to go to today, Owen and Joe chose

Simon's park (Beye school playground).  Simon lived two houses away from it so we visited

him there often.  We are all sad that Simon and his family moved away, but we're

happy they'll be closer to their family and wish them all the best.

Multi-tasking

Who wants to have to choose between holding Miles and playing your game

when you can just do both at the same time??

 

Daddy Bedtime Stories

Though I don't know what goes on in other households, I think I can safely say that Ryan is
one of the most helpful, hands on dads I know.  Bedtime is a perfect example.  Ryan gives
Owen and Joe their bath every single night...unless he isn't home of course, which isn't
often.  Then together we get them in their jammies and take turns reading bedtime stories.
I love seeing him cuddled up with all the boys as they're getting ready for bed.
With Thanksgiving approaching, it reminds me how much I truly have to be thankful for.

Happy Baby!!