Sara & Maritza visit (part 3)

When Maritza had to fly back to CA and Sara stayed in IL for a while (staying with her daddy, who was working here for a few months), we invited Sara to spend a couple of days at our house.  I didn't take a ton of pictures of the fun we had just hanging around the house, but I did snap a few during the Halloween party playgroup play date that we hosted.

Sara borrowed a Minnie Mouse costume from Sonia's BFF, Aanya (thank you!!!).  I love this picture of Sara Mouse, Princess Johanna, and Catwoman Sonia posing in their costumes....

Tracy made cake pop eyeballs, Toni made dirt & gummi worm cupcakes, and Adalie made kettle corn (in bag in the basket).  Coolest playgroup treats EVER!!!!

These girls were seriously addicted to the cake pops....

Later that day, I took Sara for a haircut (to fix some damage she had done with a pair of scissors while she was hanging out with her daddy).  If you look at the picture of Sonia & Sara holding the cake pops, you can see a bit of the Dora the Explorer bangs that Sara attempted to cut herself.  Oh, my!  Our favorite haircutter, Miss Kateri of Kids Cuts, cut Sara some short bangs to try to blend in with the ones Sara cut.  After the haircut, we played at Kingston Park, a place we used to frequent with Sara & Maritza when they lived here.

So cute!!!  Sara really does look great with bangs....

The girls pushed each other on the swings for a really long time.

They were having a contest to see who could be the most photogenic.

I think they went down the slide like this (alternating who was in front each time) at least 50 times.

Tree posing!

Best friends forever....  We miss you so much, Sara and Maritza!

Hopefully some day we'll all live closer.

Sara & Maritza visit (part 2)

While Sara and Maritza were here in Chicago in October, we had a really lovely time at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Carousel!!!!

We spent ridiculously long periods of time ogling the monkeys and apes....  So fabulous!

These two monkeys were grooming each other right up against the window, and Sonia and Sara started pretending to groom the monkeys, too.  The monkeys seemed to really like it!

Beauty queens!!

I never get tired of watching my daughter walking hand in hand with her friends....  SO STINKIN' CUTE!!!!

Watching the baby zebra get a snack from its mommy

Snuggles!!!!

Slurping water from THE cutest water fountain ever....  It looks just like a watering hole on the savannah.

I am such a huge fan of photo booth pictures!  These two girls crack me up....

We also went with Maritza & Sara to meet up with our friends Toni & Sami, Tracy & Max, and Phil & Sofia at the world's most hilariously awesome farm, Sonny Acres.

From L-R: Tracy, Max, Maritza, Sara, Phil, Sofia, Me, Sonia, Toni, and Sami

They all held hands and looked at the guillotine (and car smashing through a barn) for a long time....

Fabulous ladies! (Thanks for taking this picture, Phil!)

The farn was full of fun photo ops, carnival rides, food, a haunted house, a hayride (with no hay, but hay is itchy anyway!), and of course PUMPKINS everywhere!

Silly girls!

Sonia's very first pony ride!

The kids went bananas over this ride....  They went pretty high in the air, but no one got scared at all!

Ohhhhhh, Sonia Balogna!

Stay tuned for part 3 of our adventures with Sara & Maritza!

Sara & Maritza visit (part 1)

Our old friends, Maritza & Sara, came to visit back in October, and we had such a wonderful time....  I think we took about 800 pictures (probably not much of an exaggeration).

Their visit coincided with my mom's visit (this was the week after our Indiana trip), and we had a fun time all going to the library for story time.  Maritza, Sara, Sonia, and I all used to visit the Lisle Library pretty frequently when they still lived there, so it was fun to be there, hanging out in the Youth Services department just like old times.

After story time, we headed downstairs to do a craft (love the hand-holding).

Pumpkins!

We had a bit of time to kill before lunch, so we went to the arboretum to visit Zach's tree.

Next, we met up with Toni and Sami at Jason's Deli.  The girls acted like they had never been apart!

FREE ICE CREAM!  We love Jason's Deli...

After lunch, we headed to Cafe N Play, where the girls had a fantastic time playing dress up and engaging in many other shenanigans.

To be continued....

Arboretum 5k & Kids Dash

Back in September, Andrew & I ran in our second Morton Arboretum Fall Color 5k with Sonia.  She loved it last year, so in 2012, we recruited some of our playgroup friends to do it, too!

All bundled up on our way to the start of the race....  Don't worry, we fixed the blanket before we started.

Getting ready to run....

Just like last year, Sonia had a blast being pushed by Mommy & Daddy in the 5k.  She kept saying, "Go faster!  Go faster!"  Oh, Sosini.

This year, we decided that she was old enough to participate in the 3-5 year old division of the Kids' Dash, which happens right after the 5k.  She met up with her buddies Max, Noel, Nora, and Evan to warm up before the race.

 
And they're off!  I think the course was only about 50 yards, or something like that.  It was so crowded that it was impossible to get good pictures.

I put a circle around Sonia's friend Max (whom I could see pretty well due to his Captain America hat) in this next picture:

I was able to pick out Sonia and Max in this next picture (I put an oval around them):

The Mischief Makers racers: Evan, Max, and Sonia!

I love that each kid had bib #1.  Ha!!

Sonia has been bragging about running the "Kid Dash" for over 2 months now....  I think that means she wants to do it again next year!!

Santa Success!!!!!

My new favorite place to get Santa pictures taken with my child is Bass Pro Shop.  Why?

- It's cheap!  Actually, it's free if you don't want anything other than a 4"x6" print, but I paid $10 for a digital copy.  You can also take your own pictures on your own camera, but for some reason I chickened out and didn't do it.

- It's fun! BPS has lots of free entertainment for the kids including a carousel, huge fish tanks, remote controlled cars to drive, and lots of ATVs to play on.

- It's a really fun store to wander around... even if you have very little interest in the activities in which BPS's typical customer engages.  I almost bought a really cute shirt.

- They sell really yummy snacks there!  Fudge, popcorn, etc.  Mmmmmm....

I told Sosini that she could forgo the lapsit and stand next to Santa this year, and she was more than happy with this arrangement.  She marched right up to Santa, told him that she wanted some stuffed Muppets for Christmas, and then posed for a picture.  The Bass Pro Shop Santa was so nice, and Sosi's smile was only slightly forced (it reminds me a bit of her school picture).  Behold:

Sonia's gorgeous dress was a gift from Andrew's incredibly awesome Aunt Anita and Uncle Bob...  Thank you a million times over, Anita and Bob!

Here's a look back at past Sonia & Santa pictures....  I feel the worst about making her sit on his lap in 2011.  Why didn't it occur to me to have her stand next to him?