Shoreline Tours & Navy Pier

Today we spent the afternoon at the Navy Pier and took a boat tour on the Chicago River. The kids loved the big boat and I have a freakishly shaped sun burn to show for it.

As we took the boat tour Josh and I said that we'd both love to live in Chicago. It truly is amazing to see all those tall buildings and the hustle and bustle of the city. Chicago is such an amazing city. But then we changed our minds when we got stuck in rush hour traffic.

Tonight we had pizza delivered to the hotel and the kids got another chance to go swimming in the pool. We've crammed a lot into just a few days and I can't believe it's already time to head home tomorrow.

I think we may need to take the next few days to catch up on sleep, though.

Museum of Science & Industry

We are in Chicago for a few days with the entire Krueger side of the family. Today we went to the Museum of Science & Industry and everyone is WIPED! Josh and Lauren just had a blast. Well, Ella did, too...when she wasn't sleeping. I swear they were like little pinballs bouncing from one exhibit to the next and thankfully we had eight adults to watch them because trying to keep track of them on my own was enough to send me into a panic attack.




Conductor Josh and Lauren!









This is a face of a child who just stole her mother's ice cream cone...after eating her own dish.




Me and Lauren right before takeoff!










I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow but I believe it's the Navy Pier!

Another Milestone

I have officially lost Lauren now! I had taken a break from weighing myself because the daily fluctuations had been making me neurotic. So...I had my annual physical this week and as of last Wednesday I have lost 40.4 pounds!!!

Here I am holding the weight I've lost!



As I struggled to pick her up in order to take this photo I still can't believe I've lost that much weight. My next milestone is 50 pounds and my goal was to lose that before the end of summer. I think I'm gonna make it!!

Poolside

After hearing the weather reports all week for today I decided that maybe the kids needed a trip to the pool. Well, I thought sitting poolside all day would be fun and the kids would enjoy a little splish splashing as well.

With Ella's sensitive skin I figured that her and Daddy could nap for a few hours and Josh, Lauren and I would head out to the pool early so that Ella and Dustin could join us later.

The sun was intense today! I slathered as much sunscreen on the kids as possible and covered myself as well as one can. Boy did we have a blast! And BOY are we wiped!! Even as I type this my eyes are only half open and I am mentally counting down the minutes until bedtime. (Seventy one minutes and counting....)

I didn't get too many pictures as we spent most of the time going down the waterslides and jumping in to make big splashes(does that ever get old for three year olds?).

Nonetheless, it was a success and no one wanted to leave. Well, I wanted to leave, but only because I had three kids making a scene about having to leave.

Nanners

I'm home with the girls today and tomorrow since our daycare provider is on vacation. It actually worked out for me because Lauren ended up waking me up six times last night complaining of an earache. Of course we took her to the doctor this morning and she has an ear infection.

By the time Dustin got home with her from the doctor's office they both went right to bed and Ella woke up from her morning nap and was ready for lunch. I made her favorite: cheese sandwich and bananas.

That girl really loves her "nanners"!

Three Car Pileup

I was on the floor with the kids the other night and the girls were bound and determined to "get" their brother.

Before he new what was coming.


When Ella got the idea.



When Ella made her move.


Then she lost her steam...and had to take a break.


Then Lauren thought she'd join in.


And then they both got tired.


But it wasn't over until Ella got hurt and wanted to come tell on someone.


After a quick snack they were all back at it!

Baby Picasso

Ella has become quite the colorer. If I try and keep her busy for ten minutes I give her a piece of paper and a crayon. But in this case...she got those things on her own and kept herself busy for fifteen minutes.

Peace Treaty

Our house has entered a new phase. Most times when you come to our front door it sounds like we're watching some war movie at ghetto blaster levels. And that's before I've even opened the door. The children fight. Fight a lot. And it's driving me crazy.

They also tattle. A lot. So this is how a typical evening goes....

Josh pushes Lauren's button.
Lauren tells.
Lauren pushes Ella's button.
Josh tells.
Lauren pushes Josh's button.
Josh tells.
Josh pushes Ella's button.
Ella screams.

Well...it's that sequence twenty more times and then Ella goes to bed and after that point it's just back and forth between Josh and Lauren.

So the other night when I heard silence while making dinner I figured they had either killed each other or Josh had hog tied his sisters and he was playing the Wii. I was shocked and appauled when I saw this:





I literally walked out the front door and came back in after I had checked the address on the front of the house. The kids thought I was hysterical and I thought they had finally figured out the power of working together.

Thankfully, before they realized the power of three against one, things returned to normal and the blood shed began again.

Runner #2397

I did it! I did it! I did it!!

Yesterday not only did I check something off my Bucket List, I fulfilled a dream of mine and saw three months of hard work pay off.

I ran my first 5k!!



I set three goals for my first 5k...

Goal #1 - Finish. And I did!!

Goal #2 - Run the WHOLE thing. And I did! Now...I could have walked it faster than I ran it but the point is I didn't walk.

Goal #3 - Finish in under 45 minutes. And I did!!

Before the race (with my littler motivator):



Right before the finish line when I saw my family:



That beautiful finish line:




When I think about how far I've come since April 6th I can't even WAIT to see what I can do in the next three months. I carried 37 less pounds over the finish line with me on Sunday! THIRTY SEVEN!! I am three pounds away from losing Lauren! That's just CRAZY!

Last night Dustin and were laying in bed and he asked me what my favorite part of the race was, thinking I was going to tell him it was crossing the finish line.

But that wasn't the best part of yesterday....it was when I was about three blocks away from the finish line - when I saw my family on the corner. I saw my husband and I raised both my arms up in victory and from two blocks away he came out in the middle of the road and raised both his arms up, too. I wish I could have frozen that moment because it was absolutely amazing! It makes me cry just thinking about it.

I saw my son clapping his little hands off and Lauren screaming, "Mommy!" My in-laws, my brother and my training buddies were all there and the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming. Three months ago I struggled running 60 seconds...yesterday I ran just about 45 minutes.

I have given birth to three amazing children, I have graduated from college, I have done a lot of things in my life that I have been proud of...but yesterday was priceless.

It's been over 24 hours later and I'm STILL on a runner's high. ;-)

Now on to the next one!