Fun Evening!

After quite a steady, heavy 10 inches of snowfall - I jumped in the car and headed to Wicker Park to pick up Gina and head to the airport. Her hubby and little nugget were flying back home from Cali. She had a bit of car trouble, and we did NOT want her preggo butt stranded in snowy madness while her family waited after a long day of travel. I took the opportunity to snap away and get some practice in :)

Here's Gina, waiting not so patiently for her peeps to show up....

Awww - the little nug :) Audrey's soooo sweet!

Some shots of Midway



On the way home, it was so snowy and pretty! As I was walking home I shot some scenes around the 'hood. Nighttime snowy shots make me happy! The first is a self portrait :)

So. very. tired.

But I must stay awake. I've got more photos to edit :) Right now though, my back is killing me. I can't decide what its from though. It could be:

a. Yoga
b. Blow drying the window insulator thingy
c. Crafting on the floor because I don't have a table
d. Spending to much time sitting at the cafe table on the computer without a proper chair
e. I'm getting old

Take any combination of the above and you've got an achy back.

What I wanted to report today, quickly, is that it was Liam's first time playing in the snow. He's seen it before, touched it even - but it was his first time getting all geared up in snowpants, boots and everything. Oh, I didn't mention that he's actually sick right now. Yes, he's sick and I took him outside. Hey man, all the sites I looked at online say to spend some time in the chilly cold air to reduce swelling and irritation in his throat and lungs. So that's what I did. He didn't cough really the rest of the evening, either.

I don't know what was more fun, watching Liam play or watching Pat play with him. I've said it time and time again - he's such an amazing father. Its so intuitive to him! I very much enjoy watching the two of them together. OK, enough mushy mushy talk. Here's some pics :)

Orchards a go go

We're visiting Indiana this weekend hanging out with Shannon, Patricia and Michael whilst their parents are off in West Virginia white water rafting somewhere.....we spent last night keeping our Friday Game Night tradition alive with Clue, and we also taught the kids how to play Yahtzee. It was pretty fun!

Soooo......today we had the bright idea of going to an orchard / pumpkin patch because Pat and I really, really wanted some apple cinnamon donuts. On a Saturday. So we loaded up the car.....took the scenic route through Gary.....and 45 minutes later we ended up at a wonderful little orchard with a MILLION of our closest friends. Three giant parking lots. All full with cars from Wisonsin, Illinois and Indiana. Craziness I tell you. Craziness.

Shannon and I fought our way through the crowds to get some cider and donuts - and we didn't even bother to go to the kiddie farm or hay ride because everything cost a gazillion dollars. Liam was kind of sort of cranky because I think he's coming down with something....either another molar or a cold or something. Anywho - I'll be damned if I was going to drive all that way and not get a few photos.




It was a beautiful day, and the drive back was much quicker (we took a different way). There was also no major fights between kids. And, the donuts were pretty delicious - so all and all it was a good day :)

Lunar Eclipse and Yummy Snowflakes.

As I was driving home last night from my ACI Meeting, I was able to get a peek at the moon during its eclipse. Very cool! I made it home at around 9:00pm, and after searching for about 15 minutes for a part of my tripod, I scooted out to the courtyard to sit in the cold and try to snap a few photos. It was a rare occasion, because I had the camera completely in manual - but it actually turned out OK. I was bummed the moon didn't turn out white, but then I realized DUH! It was during the peak of the eclipse when the moon was SUPPOSED to be orange!! I'm a dork sometimes!



Then this morning, it was snowing sooooo prettily (is that even a word?)!! Seriously - big, fluffy, slow falling snowflakes. It looked like a movie. Or a snowglobe. It just made me happy. I know, its difficult to find the beauty in freezing cold weather in February......we're all pretty sick of it by this point (especially since most of the snow that's been on the ground has since turned to slippery slickity ice). But this did it. It was falling SO lazily, that you could pick out a nice big snowflake clump, follow it, and catch it on your tongue with relative ease. When's the last time you've done that?? I highly recommend it. I promise, its guaranteed to put a smile on your face!