Gearing up for Fall...

I have been really craving Fall lately, guess I am just getting tired of this heat. We talked about trying camping again this weekend and I am sure glad we decided against it. It is going to be another hot weekend. I figured that I haven't written in awhile so I figured I would write 31 things that I love about Fall, since today is the 31st.

1. The sounds of leaves crunchy under your feet
2. The cooler weather
3. Hot Chocolate...with marshmallows of course
4. Thanksgiving...yum pumpkin pie!
5. Chili in the crock pot
6. Craft show with my mom & sister...got to get a head start on Christmas shopping
7. Christmas shopping...I am a little bit of a freak about this.
8. Fall decorating
9. Family photos for our Christmas Card
10. Black Friday shopping with mom and sister...hopefully I can go this year :)
11. Pumpkins...can't wait to go pumpkin picking with Kaylie this Fall
12. The beautiful Fall leaves...I am still hoping we will get them this year.
13. Halloween...I love seeing the kids are dressed up and I can't wait to take Kaylie this year! She will be adorable in her costume.
14. Halloween decorating...I love any reason to let me decorate the house.
15. Christmas decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving...I take after my mother that is for sure
16. A warm hoodie on a cool morning.
17. I can't wait to put on a pair of jean again...I love Jeans
18. Wearing sweatpants around the house
19. New tennis shoes...I always seem to get new ones at the beginning of Fall
20. Apple crisp from fresh apples
21. Walks right after dinner all bundles up
22. Snuggling with my two favorite people
23. UNI Football Season...Go Panthers!
24. Hot Apple Cider...thanks mom for the trick :)
25. Bonfires with great friends
26. Soccer season...Zach decided to get back into coaching
27. Fall colors are pretty...wish I could pull them off
28. Fall candles...look the flickering of a candle too
29. No more frizzy hair...got to love this one!
30. My tv shows start again and we have new ones to add...not like we don't have enough.
31. Family time...I can't wait to spend this Fall with my little girl and hubby...looking forward to enjoying all these great times with the two of them.

50 Things...Progress Report!

I figured I should post the progress report of my 50 things...

Start Date: Saturday April 21, 2012

End Date: Tuesday September 3rd, 2013

1. Experiment with sidewalk chalk paint
2. Lose 20 more pounds (6/20)
3. End every night in prayer (7/500)
4. Buy a cute new swimsuit
5. Go camping with Kaylie and Zach
6. Finish Kaylie's 1st Scrapbook
7. Complete Kaylie's New Room *Working on her new bed now!
8. Organize all the photos on my computer *Waiting for Zach to organize his
9. Go on a spontaneous, unplanned weekend with Zach and Kaylie
10. Go to Chicago with Zach & Kaylie
11. Build a sand castle with Kaylie
12. Make a new mom friend
13. Bake cookies with Kaylie *Cake Pops Count right!
14. Play in the rain with Zach and Kaylie
15. Get a pedicure
16. Have regular movie nights
17. Do a girls day
18. Read a book fully The Intentional Family, completed 7.23.12, started on 50 Shades of Grey now!
19. Pick a pumpkin with Kaylie
20. Take Kaylie to a BIG zoo
21. Go Tubing with friends
22. Buy veggies from the farmer's market and make dinner with them Italian Chicken
23. Take Kaylie to the Aquarium
24. Get a tattoo in honor of Kaylie
25. Make homemade Ice Cream
26. Go on a romantic weekend gateway with Zach
27. Plan a family reunion
28. Take a photography workshop
29. Work on more graphics projects
30. Do another 5K walk
31. Complete our first  Relay for Life
32. Take a Quickbooks/Accounting Class
33. Take Kaylie to her first waterpark
34. Read with Kaylie more
35. Make a wishlist on Amazon
36.Get $1,000 in our savings
37. Payoff the Durango
38. Clean out my cookbooks
39. Have another child
40. Be a home-owner
41. Pay off our debt to my parents
42. Go to an apple orchard
43.Go look at Fall leaves
44. Finish the Irish Fest Program Completed 7.19.12
45. Make our own Christmas Traditions

46. Make 3 things from Pinterest (2/3)

• Shrimp Penne
• T-shirt Tank Top

47. Do a craft with Kaylie once a week for three months 0/12)
48. Host a dinner party 
49. Stop biting my nails 
50. See a New Movie starting with each letter of the alphabet
A:American Reunion
B:
C: Contraband
D:
E:
F:
G:
H:
I:
J: Jack and Jill
K:
L: Lincoln Lawyer
M: Moneyball
N:
O: One for the Money
P: Princess Protection Program
Q:
R:
S:
T:This Means War
U: Underworld:Awakening
V:
W: We Bought a Zoo
X:
Y:
Z:

Chicago Vacation

Our Travel Bin 

We took Kaylie to Chicago this last weekend. We were going to Zach's Cousin Morgan's wedding so we decided to make it into a family vacation.

Lincoln Park Zoo

We started out on Friday morning around 6 a.m.; Zach, Kaylie & I were in our car and Zach's parents & sister were in another car. We grabbed breakfast and headed on our way. Kaylie was great in the car, probably because we were very prepared. I took some advice from Pinterest and made a travel bin. I got things from the clearance and $1 bins at Target. I got a notebook & crayons, a beach ball, pool toys, a Duplo set, ColorWonder Markers & pad, Mickey books, and we made sensory bottles. I then wrapped a few of them so that she had something to open up. She loved this and she has gotten good and unwrapping presents...she will be ready for Christmas I am sure. Zach also got our tablet set up with Mickey & some Disney movies. She loved this!

Napping with Daddy

We ate lunch in Elgin, IL around 11 a.m. and headed on our way. We got to the hotel about noon and got checked in. Once we were checked in we headed downtown Chicago. We decided to start our trip out at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a free zoo so we thought it would be fun to check it out. At first, all the animals were hiding, but we finally got to see them. Kaylie loved the animals even though she was very tired because she only got a 45 minute nap.

The Everman Family

Mickey!

After the zoo, we decided down to Navy Pier. It was an interesting experience since it was rush hour on Friday night in downtown Chicago. We parked down at the Pier and walked down the Pier for a little bit. Bubba Gump's was our choice for dinner that night. It was good, Kaylie feel asleep on me so I had a hard time eating. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and went to bed pretty earlier. Kaylie slept the whole night in the hotel without waking up...first time ever.

Dancing at the wedding

Saturday morning, we woke up and ate at the hotel. We then decided to take Kaylie swimming for a little bit. After that Zach, Ashley, Kaylie & I went to the mall that was just down the street. We went to the Disney Store and got Kaylie a Minnie Doll & little Princesses. Kaylie didn't seem to be feeling well so we got her back to take a nap, which she ended up taking on daddy. We got ready and headed to the wedding. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor wedding. We had a great meal and got to dance a little. Kaylie had a blast even though she seemed to have a stomach bug.

The Bean!

Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early and ate at the hotel. We packed up and then headed back into town again. We decided that Willis Tower was the first stop so we parked down by the tower and headed there. It was quite fun and Kaylie was fearless of course. She sat out on the sky deck and didn't want to leave. I was happy that Zach finally got to see the city from the Tower. We then headed to Millennium Park and saw the bean. Kaylie loved this because she kept seeing the baby in it. It was lunch time so we ate at the cafe there at the park. It was pretty good and Kaylie finally was feeling better and ate all of her hot dog.

Zach & I at the Fountain

 After lunch, we headed to the Buckingham Fountain which was on the way to the Shedd Aquarium.We were all starting to get tired so we didn't stay very long; we continued on  to the Shedd. We walked along the Lake which was beautiful. We got to the Shedd and there was a huge line because was a little scary. Luckily, we had a stroller so we got to skip the line. The Shedd Aquarium was an amazing place and Kaylie loved it. She loved the Aquatic Show the best, which was my favorite too because there were Dolphins. They are my favorite! We then headed back to our car, Kaylie finally feel asleep on the way to the car. We then headed on our way, it took us about 45 minutes to get out of Chicago because we ran into traffic. Kaylie did great on the trip back again, she played with her toys and watched movies. I turned the tablet off right around 8 p.m. and she feel asleep shortly after and slept all the way home.

At the Aquarium with Papa!

Willis Tower...our fearless child!

We had a great trip and it went much better than we thought it would have. It was harder to take a trip with a 1 year, but it was a lot of fun too.