A Birthday for Mama

Nov 6
The weather on my birthday was amazing!  We took advantage and went out to Rock Springs to hike around and we geocached (not sure if geocache is a verb??) for the first time!  It was so so fun!  The perfect way to spend my birthday :)!

Love this girl!  And she loves selfies!

Family birthday selfie on my birthday!  Love these 4 :)!

Some pictures from Rock Springs!  We found the pine tree forest and the kids loved exploring!

3 kids and some tall trees

Photo courtesy of Ethan

They found a teepee made of logs

Ethan, Atley, Nora

I downloaded a geocaching app and we decided to try it out.  Basically, you follow the directions and map to find a treasure of sorts.  Then you take out what you find and replace it with something for someone else to fine.  Ethan and Nora both chose a few small trinket type toys to put in the container. It was really fun, and I think we will do it again!

We had to go off the path!  Searching in all the trees.

They found it!  In a hole between the trees.

Checking out their loot

Trick or Treat

Oct. 31

We hit the streets for some serious trick or treating on Halloween.  The weather was beautiful, which was a nice change from recent years.  So, we put a bowl of candy on our porch for trick or treaters and all went out!  It was so fun and the kids ended up with quite the candy haul.

Atley, Ethan & Nora- ready to go!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Cheerleader, Nora 

And Atley 

Ethan for the Bears & Zach for the Chiefs 

Atley, checking out the skeleton dog next door.

Wowziers! That's a lot of candy!

Boo at the Zoo

Oct 17- Boo at the Zoo
Tate & Lyle (Jared's work) has an annual Boo at the Zoo night and it's always a good time.  This year was no exception!  We ate dinner and then made the rounds to the animals and treat stations.

Corn dogs and mac & cheese!

Atley enjoyed it too!

Football player and some cute cheerleaders!

Ready to go!

Nora got some fun face paint

Ethan's face paint

Atley even got some :)

First treat station

Some kids and some zebras 

Spooky train ride

A fun (and warm) evening!

Can't leave without the carousel ride

Atley loved it

Ethan and the cheetah

Before we left, Nora got cozy with this creepy guy!

Birthday in Chicago

On Oct. 29, Nora and I headed to the train station to have our night in the big city.  I had been looking forward to this day/night for a long time!  It is so special to have one on one time with my kids and it doesn't happen as often as I would like.

Excited to get on the train!

We got to Chicago around noon on Saturday.  We took a taxi (which Nora loved) from Union Station to our hotel.  After we checked in, we walked down Michigan Ave. to Water Tower Place.  Grabbed a quick lunch and then went into American Girl Place!  It was overwhelming!  We walked all over the store, looking closely at everything.  After a little while, Nora picked her doll.  She chose a "Truly Me" style with blue eyes and caramel colored hair.  I let her pick out a couple 

little accessories and we were finished.

Just hanging out on Michigan Ave!

 

Finding things to play with in the American Girl store

More store fun!

Big girl with a bigger bag!

Nora named her doll Rosie (with no help from me) and we walked back to our hotel to play with her for a while before dinner.  Dylan's Candy Bar happened to be right next to our hotel, so we stopped in there for a look :).  We decided on pizza for dinner, and when in Chicago, Giordano's is a must!  Nora loved riding in taxi cabs, so we took one to dinner and enjoyed every bite of our pizza!  (The Cubs were in town playing in the World Series, so Cubs fans were everywhere and LOUD 😒😉.  And there were a lot in Giordano's.)

Like a kid in a candy store :)

Playing with her new doll "Rosie" in our hotel room

Enjoying some delicious Giordano's

While around town during the day, we saw horse drawn carriages and Nora wanted to ride in one.  So, we literally chased one down, and when someone else beat us to it, we decided to just walk back to our hotel.  But then we turned the corner and saw them all lined up ready to go.  So, off we went on a 20 min ride around downtown Chicago.  It was so beautiful and chilly!

Nora wanted to take a carriage ride around the city...so we did!  It was so fun!

After we made it back to the hotel room, we finished a movie we had started on the train, ate some candy and snuggled in.

Snuggling with my girl in our big bed!

Candy before bed was not a good idea...crazy girl!

Sunday morning, we got up and went up to the pool to swim.  The pool was beautiful!  After swimming, and getting ready, we checked out and made it to our lunch reservation at the American Girl Cafe.  It was really fun, and Nora enjoyed all the little details.

See!  So pretty! (This is a photo from their website)

Ready to swim!

Lunch with Rosie at the American Girl Cafe.
And we even got to keep the little cup and saucer for Rosie.

Just like celebrities :)

After lunch, we had enough time to go to Shedd Aquarium for a little bit.  We enjoyed exploring all the little aquariums!  Then it was off to the train station to head home.

Waiting to go into the Shedd Aquarium 

Cloudy Chicago skyline

Last cab ride for the weekend

At Union Station ready to ride the train home

We had such a great time.  I loved spending so much quality time with Nora!!

(Also, sorry for the messed up text and pictures...I got tired of trying to figure it out.  And I needed to make dinner 😉)