What a GREAT trip!

Here they are, the two ladies who made this trip happen! Thanks Gram and Grandma, we had a super trip!

Traveling in style from Midway to the hotel! A refrigerator full of sprite and water, riding sideways and backwards, what an experience!

It was cold and they were hungry!

So we ate lunch at restaurant on Michigan Avenue. Can you tell we were cold, a round of hot drinks for all!

We arrived!

Emma's Kit made the trip but was, well, how shall we say this, without clothes. Emma didn't want to carry her so she suggested Ellie should "get " to. Ellie refused as did I. Kit stayed in the coat check until Emma purchased a new outfit for her.

There were so many lovely displays to look at. It is really fun to look at all of the different dolls. Each American Girl is from a different era in time and there are wonderful displays for each doll.

Ellie got a Bitty Baby. She named her baby Nora. Emma bought some new clothes for her baby Brooke.

Gram, Nora, Emma, Brooke and Grandma.

This picture was taken right after the one above. Ellie was done and ready to head back to the hotel.

At the hotel she rested and refueled. As did the rest of us.

A special delivery was made while we were resting! Cupcakes for ALL of the girls!

Ellie was determined to get a picture of Nora with her eyes open. So she held them open for the photo.

The cab ride back to The American Girl Place for dinner. Ellie decided that her new bunny slippers were the perfect shoe choice for a nice dinner out. Gram suggested she look in the mirror to make sure she looked ok. Ellie studied herself in the mirror and then said "Yea, I look goood".

Ellie and her bunny slippers literally drug Nora around the store while amused patrons stared on. This little girl is one of a kind.

So is this one. Happy at dinner!

We originally planned this trip in September but it was postponed when Ellie got sick. The trip was in celebration of Emma's sixth birthday. Emma explained this to the waitress and she got a candle in her dessert. Ellie now refers to this as when "Emma pretended it was her birthday".

The flowerpot dessert was a big hit.

Sunday morning came too fast and we had to go home. The cab ride was a cozy one!

Happy smiles all around after a wonderful trip to Chicago!

The Circus!

We had a great time at Zing Zang Zoom the circus! It included all of the expected parts of a circus-- elephants, clowns, acrobats, tigers, and a cannon! Fun, fun, fun!

A clown had just fallen into a pool of shaving cream. Classic circus antics!

John gave the circus a double thumbs up. Teagan was just happy to have a sweet drink!

Don't you just love pearls at the circus? Plus a sticky cotton candy face. Perfect combo!

That's a tiger on its hind legs. It was kind of strange. At one point there were tigers on all of those stools. They were beautiful but I was nervous the whole time...not for us but for that lone man in there.

No circus is complete with out this elephant stand!

Practically Perfect.

The girls' teachers have confirmed what was already suspected, our children are perfect.

Ok, so they didn't say it quite like that but the first parent teacher conferences were great. Both girls are doing very well and have incredible teachers. We are very, very happy!

We celebrated with dinner at Dewey's!

Happily Ever After!

Lisa and Igor had a beautiful wedding! Everything was just right. The girls loved being flower girls and did a wonderful job! It was a late night, the wedding was at 7 and the reception lasted until after 2...we didn't! We left around 11. A great night!

"Your daughter is going to wear what your daughter wants to wear"

and she's only 3. Last night we went to Lisa and Igor's wedding rehearsal. Ellie does not agree with me that when it's cold and raining long sleeves and tights are appropriate. After arguing about this, Ellie put her hands on her hips and told me what she thought.

The flash on the camera isn't working (hopefully the battery) so the pictures that I took last night leave a lot to be desired but you'll get the idea. The wedding it tonight!

Missing Gus...

Each day is a little less raw. We're able to laugh about all of the crazy things Gus did. Laugh until we cry. This photo is from October 2006--he has his Halloween bandana on. The night before he died we got out all of our Halloween goods, we put his bandana on him.

The girls 3 years ago! What beautiful baby girls!

On another note, a lovely woman who blogs at nieniedialogues.com will be on Oprah tomorrow. She has a remarkable story which I'm sure Oprah will tell beautifully. I plan to tape it (yup, setting the VCR!!) so that I can watch it later.

If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.

Marjorie Garber