Five Favorites: Chicago

This round of favorites with Hallie is centered around my upcoming weekend...

in Chicago!

I am heading to visit my sister and do a little wedding planning, and here are a few favorites I'm looking forward to:

{1} This place to eat.



{2} Dress shopping here.


{3} A walk down the block to get some of this for the hubs and maybe a little of their new gingerbread flavor for me :).




{4} Mani/Pedis all around.  Maybe one of these colors?



{5} And, maybe a little shopping down this avenue...


...and Mass here!


It should be a great weekend!

Don't forget to see other favorites at Hallie's place!

Zoo

After the North Pole, we headed to the resort to swim for a bit and get ready for the zoo the next day.

 ^^^the view from the room

 ^^^helping PaPa with the parking so we could enjoy breakfast at the fabulous Over Easy

 ^^^across the street - a lovely restaurant that I'd love for my sister to re-design for our hometown (hint, hint)

 ^^^right before we got to feed the giraffes, and immediately upon entering the zoo, we ran smack into a strategically placed toy store.  Carter wanted to touch every.thing.  I kept telling him it was time to feed the giraffes and we could get a toy after we finished at the zoo.  His response:
"Momma!  I am going to looove the zoo.  But, you need to be patient with me!"

 ^^^Carter and I got to feel the African winds in a special wind tunnel.

 ^^^Peter was almost smashed by an elephant.

 ^^^Then we took a break for some Dippin' Dots.  Everyone enjoyed :)

 ^^^perhaps my favorite picture of the trip

 ^^^going through the bear cave.

^^^and one more carousel ride.

The zoo was beautiful and so fun for the kids.  It was cool enough in the mountains to really be able to enjoy it, too!

The North Pole - In August

This past weekend, we loaded up with my parents in the Yukon and took a quick trip to Colorado Springs.  The boys were in heaven at The North Pole.  A perfect little amusement park for boys their age/height.

 ^^^here comes the choo-choo

 ^^^all-aboard!

 ^^^the candy cane slide was a blast

 ^^^Carter comes by his facial expressions honestly

 ^^^Carter's favorite ride - motorcycle mania

^^^ I looked down to see this.  Gross but I had to take a picture.  Nothing like licking a rail that's been touched by a million kid hands.

 ^^^naughty or nice?

 ^^^not your typical kid.

 ^^^giant bugs were a bit hit

 ^^^what's an amusement park without a carousel?

^^^a day of focusing on the little ones and their little joys!  Well worth the drive!