Back to School! YAHOO!

The first day of school is always the day after Labor Day around here. This year it was Tuesday September 6, 2011. Since Scarlett only goes to preschool Wednesdays and Fridays, it was just these two cutie pies going.

Scarlett made sure to get into a picture anyway

We are SO happy that Sofia landed in Mr. Rossi's class again this year for 2nd grade. JACKPOT! He is an awesome teacher and Sofia loves him. So do we!
Grayson landed in Mrs. Zentz's kindergarten class. We couldn't be happier about this assignment either. Sofia also had Mrs. Zentz and she is an AWESOME teacher as well. I don't think there is a better literacy coach alive. I imagine Grayson will be reading fluently pretty soon.
Doesn't everyone look cold? Yep! It was barely 60 degrees outside for the ceremonial bell ringing and flag raising.
On Wednesday, Scarlett was THRILLED to go to preschool. She has Mrs. Francis, of course. Grayson has had her for the past two years. We lover her too. Scarlett had a fabulous time and sang her little heart out all afternoon. They do a LOT of singing in preschool.

Scarlett in front of her cubby. Her name is on the little sunshine tag.

I'm happy for the kids to continue back to school, but I really do not like the chaos of the school year. I'm already looking forward to next Summer. In the meantime, I'm grateful for teachers we already know and love and a fun filled school year.

I'm not 32. I'm 29 Plus 3!!!

Yep. Another birthday happened last week. I hate it when that happens. On the upside though, it was on Labor Day (which sometimes happens), so I got the day of work! WOOHOO! I spent the morning just relaxing, hanging out, and reading. For lunch, Tadj and I took the kids to Red Robin (birthday tradition for all of us) and then the kids and I went to a cheap show. We saw "The Zookeeper" and I was glad it was only $2 because it was really dumb. The kids liked it, but Scarlett fell asleep. Tadj stayed home to make this awesome cake which we took to the Aminis for an end of Summer BBQ and bonfire (the kids had school the next morning). They also invited their neighbors, Amy and Shaun(??) and their cute little girls. The kids met new friends and we had a FABULOUS end to the Summer. Too bad it was only 60 degrees... brrrr.
Sofia helped me "pretend" to blow out the candle... Angie actually tried to put 32 candles on the cake, but it was so windy we couldn't even get ONE to stay lit.

Chicago Pooped us out!! - August 19, 2011

Yep. It was a SUPER busy day. We did a LOT of walking, saw a LOT of things, and couldn't wait to find our pillows at the end of it. None of the kids wanted to sleep on the floor (Scarlett really wanted to the first night), but we figured out if they slept in the bed sideways, the could all fit. Sofia's getting a bit too tall, but this may work well for the next year or so.

American Girl Doll Store and Lego Store - August 19, 2011

We left the aquarium to head back uptown (downtown?.. not sure) and get some dinner. We were headed to the Cheesecake Factory (which was super busy, so we just picked up dessert for later) and our bus dropped us right in front of the American Girl Doll store. I had told Angie that we WOULD NOT be walking into that store, but it was too late. The girls saw it, so after dinner all the girls went to the girlie doll store and the boys went to the Lego store. This is a Lego Woody. Very cool.

Sofia is not at all into dolls, but she really wanted an Ivy and a Rebecca doll. I told her if she's still interested in them in November then add it to her Christmas list. I think she's already forgotten.
Scarlett, on the other hand, LOVED these "bitty babies". They're a soft baby version of the American Girl dolls. They sure were cute, but Scarlett literally has 30 baby dolls at home very similar to this one. I don't think it will end up on her Christmas list, but in a few more years, I think a Molly or Kanani doll just might.
Not only could you buy the dolls here, but they also had a salon for your doll to get her hair done. The stylist actually teaches the little girls how to do the doll's hair. Pretty outrageous prices, but fun to watch. There was also a doll hospital and a restaurant. We'll be back to this store. It was a lot of fun.
I was surprised, but neither of my girls whined about not going home with a doll. I was so proud of them. They were perfectly content to window shop with me and make mental Christmas lists, and take home catalogs. I did buy Sofia a couple of books, but she has still not read either of them. I don't think she was REALLY all that interested in them, but had fun dreaming about them with me and Scarlett.

Chicago Shedd's Aquarium - August 19, 2011

After we left the Field Museum, we met up with the Aminis at the Aquarium. Had we realized how long the line would be just to get in, we would have gone there in the morning. No joke, Tadj and Joe waited in line for us for over an hour. What great guys! Angie and I sat on a bench and wrangled the kids. We only paid for the basic admission (some packages run up to $75/person!) and skipped the dolphin show, jelly fish exhibit, etc. We were glad because it was BIG and the kids were tired out.
The museum was divided up by different bodies of water throughout the world... i.e. Amazon rain forest, Carribbean, Oceans, and in this one was Michigan bodies of water... very cool.
We would have gotten better pictures, but the flash of a camera makes the fish "nervous" and we're not allowed to use them. Oh well. The pictures might not tell the story very well, but our minds remember... it was VERY VERY VERY neat. We LOVED this aquarium and can't wait to go back.



This center part of the aquarium had a scuba diver putting on a show and feeding the fish. She communicated with a lady OUTSIDE the glass through a microphone and we could ask her lots of questions. She told some cool stories too. This bottom picture, she was out of food, but grabbed handfuls of little rocks to drop down and get the attention of the fish so we could take good pictures. Too cool.

Chicago Field Museum - August 19, 2011

We got to visit SUE at the Chicago Field Museum thanks (once again) to our wonderful Detroit Science Center Pass. We DEFINITELY got our money's worth from that pass this year. This museum would have cost our family $120 in admission alone. We got in FREE!! Our first stop, of course was the giant t-rex, SUE. She is the most complete collection of dinosaur bones in the world. Her head is too heavy to place on the body (this one's fake... along with just a couple other bones) so it was in a second exhibit upstairs. Very cool.

We tried to take the kids around through the educational areas of the museum. Tadj and I found the exhibits on different cultures and history interesting, but the kids DID NOT. We took them to the kiddie area where we... made crafty things out of scraps...

dug for dinosaur bones...

had a puppet show...

played noisy instruments...

and had story time.

Overall, this was a neat museum. Best of all was the free admission. I would NOT have paid the $120 to get in. Also there was a McDonald's in the basement. They are literally EVERYWHERE in Chicago... at least 2 out of 3 museums we visited and the train station. Anyway, it was convenient this day.

We ate at Ed's - Chicago - August 18, 2011

When we arrived in Chicago, I had a text from Angie telling me they were on their way to Chicago!!! What a surprise (the BEST kind)!! Their floors weren't done yet, so they weren't allowed to go home. Chicago seemed like a good detour to them... and us too. They caught up with us at dinnertime. You can't go to Chi town without a stop at Ed Debevic's. I warned the kids that the staff would be rude... but because it was funny. Sofia thought it was Hilarious! Our waiter came to the table and asked "What do you jerks want?" - Sofia laughed hysterically. The other kids were thrown by it. Joe played right along.

We all got hats. Doesn't Angie look cute?

Our waiter, Frank, danced a couple of times in the window sill. SUCH fun entertainment. The kids all jumped out of their seats and danced too. They were SO cute - especially Bella and Scarlett - those little ones can really shake it!