Eyes to the Skies

Our family rocked out at the Lisle Eyes to the Skies Festival this past weekend.  We're workin' double-time to get our summer to-do list all checked off, yo. Top of the list? CARNIVAL.

A summer just wouldn't be a summer without a carnival, right? 

But a carnival and festival that was selected six times as One of the Country's Top 100 Tourist Destinations? Total bonus!

Okay, it was nominated by the American Bus Association but STILL.

While the kids high-fived eachother about going to a carnival-- I was mostly excited to see the hot air balloons. I've never before seen one and there's just something pretty damn cool about having a new experience at the age of 37. 

They were much bigger than I ever thought they'd be.

We were all in awe, actually.

This year the festival celebrated its 30th anniversary and I think about the residents of Lisle and how proud they must be that their town is steeped in such a unique tradition. 

A tradition that is attended by more than 150,000 people every year. 

Seeing the balloons firsthand brought out the hidden adventurer in me, ya know, the one that mostly hibernates all year. For real, I'm a total wuss. But something about these balloons sparked something in me--I WILL go on a hot-air balloon ride. I will. I have to. It looks SO exciting. 

All the balloons were grounded, so sadly I couldn't go for a ride. But, someday.

Speaking of grounded, look at Bella and Mia who are one of four stations that are holding that black and white balloon down. That dude's got a lot of faith in the strength of my kiddos.

Strong man Chance needed to help out too.

The sound that the balloons made are what I remember most. Imagine a thousand flags rippeling in the wind-that's exactly what they sounded like. 

Every couple of minutes they needed to thrust the flame torch to keep the balloons buoyant which scared the SHIT outta my kids. And me too. Yeah, I jumped a couple times.

I love this picture because it was taken at the exact moment a torch was lit behind the camera. 

And it's crazy to me when I think that some explorers have traveled from Japan to Canada in one of these.

Dog pile on eachother!

On our way back to the carnival we stopped at some craft booths.

I am proud to say that we did not indulge in ANYTHING deep fried, although it smelled delish. 

And sidenote WHEN DID CARNIVALS GET SO DAMN EXPENSIVE??!!

And yes that is Bella shakin' her money maker while waiting in line. It was LMFAO blasting through the speakers, who could blame her?

Fancy Mia and her jean skirt satchel. 

Okay, I'm going to break it on down for you. Watching my kids' reaction when they're on carnival rides are some of my proudest mama moments.

Watching how they react is so priceless to me. Sometimes they're reserved, like Mia for instance who very cautiously lets her excitement show through.

But Chance went balls to the walls guys, he would have for sure been pulled over for drunk driving.  

Remember how moments before I unleashed that hidden adventurer in me? Yeah well, she crawled right back into her cave the moment we turned the corner and saw the Super Slide. Nope, protective mom came out instead. But after some convincing I reluctantly handed over the tickets. You see,  I thought for sure that Mia would back down the moment she climbed to the top and  I was there ready to climb those stairs after her, ready to scoop up my little girl and hold her and keep her safe with me. 

But she did it. 

And I could tell that she was scared going down, hell I was freaking out--but at the very last second when she slowed at the bottom, she allowed herself to smile.  So proud of what she accomplished. 

And so was I.

But just as soon as the pride filled my heart, it quickly turned to nausea as I watched the girls bounce around in the WORLD'S DIRTIEST JUMPHOUSE! 

Oh man, it was bad. 

While the girls frolicked, Chance oogled over the carousel.

And of course Conductor Chance HAD to go on the train, which meant another trip 

to the ticket counter. Ca-ching!

We had three tickets left and we all agreed that Chance deserved another ride. 

I could watch my kids all day as they experience new thrills.

That night Eugene and I exchanged so many looks with eachother, those proud parent looks that say with no words, awwe look honey our kids are so happy.

Because they were. As a parent I love these intuitive moments because its in these moments that I'm filled with such confidence and assurance that we're doing something right. That our family bond is unbreakable. Believe me, I don't always feel that way, but this night I did.

We ended the night with a $5 duck game, which allowed three attempts to turn over a duck and it will yield one prize. One. My kids were high if they thought I was going to spend $15 on a game so that everyone walked away with a prize. Hell no.

They each got a chance to pick out a duck and they all had to agree on a prize that they could share. 

I suck, I know. But it was our last $5 dammit. Didn't our kids realize that spending over $30 on freaking lemonade adds up?

So, they settled on a glittery baton.

Did I write settle? Oops, that must have been a typo because Mia did anything BUT settle on a baton.

She screamed the entire way back to the car that we didn't get her the pink feathered tiara. 

Thank god the soothing sounds of the fireworks drowned her out.

Summer 2012

Sum, sum, summertime!

It's four weeks into summer already. Which, btw, how the hell did THAT happen? Someone must have  dropped a roofie in my lemonade the first week of June because I can't for the life of me believe that a MONTH without school has gone by so darn fast. I mean, sure, we've been busy....but still, a month?

I'm not even tired of the kids yet.

YET.

My day will come, oh yes, it will come.

I purposely slammed our schedule with events during the month of June so that in July we can all CHILL THE HELL OUT. Which is still highly unlikely.

The first week of our summer began with the Chicago Womens Funny Festival, which also meant that so many great friends came into town to see it!

We had memorable dinner parties at home

and frolicked in the big city

The Terrace at Trump Tower

and enjoyed the type of conversation that can only come from college friends. Friends who have known Eugene and I before we were Eugene and I. Friends that have moved away but still remain a presence in our lives. Friends that you can genuinely let loose and laugh with--those are the best, huh?! Spending time with them brought me right back to my twenties--and what a great place that was.

One of those aforementioned friends is Ed, who stayed with us the week after the show. 

Which meant there was even more laughter that filled our home--and if you know Ed, you'd know his signature laugh a mile away.

Don't believe me, watch this:

My kids adore him. As we waved goodbye to Ed,

we found ourselves shortly thereafter singing Happy Father's Day to Eugene.

Which brings us to the third week of June, which was marked with play dates and swimming. 

Lots of swimming.

I'm shocked that all three are not only looking at the camera but actually smiling. 

 Last Friday, as I was waiting for Eugene to arrive home so that we could grab our trunki's and head out of town for a friends wedding, I got a call that his flight was cancelled and that there was no way he'd make it home in time for the wedding. Three kids at a wedding by myself? Uuggh. Doesn't it just make you want to twitch?

Their suitcases were already packed and ready to go. 

 We promised the kids hotel swimming and my kids LOVE claiming their new hotel "homes," I couldn't strip them of that. So I packed the kids up and since Peoria was on the way to the wedding, I picked up a friend that was planning on attending the wedding anyway.

They spent the next morning tasting EVERYTHING that was offered at the continental breakfast (classy) and wreaked of chlorine from hours spent swimming in the indoor pool.

And by the time I finally got all three kids asleep for naptime, I had to wake them up 30 minutes later to get them all dressed for the wedding.

Taking care of three kids at a wedding was exactly as I thought it would be. I couldn't tell you how many times Mia inadvertently lifted my dress flashing my spanx to everyone. 

But thankfully I had friends in every direction willing to help out.

My kids ate Skittles all night long (dude, I was outnumbered) and took their sugar high 

to the dance floor. 

It turned out to be a great night, actually. 

Congratulations to Alison and Derrick!

We are all headed to Vegas next week to visit my new nephew and I can't wait to see our California and Vegas family again. But mostly? I can't wait to smother that little baby with our love, which I will most definitely do the MOMENT I see him. I'm coming for you Morgan!!! 

Oh and I plan to gamble. 

WHEEL. OF. FORTUNE.

Ding, ding, ding!

Palos Ink'd

Last September our family volunteered a "temporary tattoo booth" at the S.O.S. Children's Villages annual Balloonfest.

The girls had such a memorable time putting tattoos on other kids that they've been asking to do it again and since "volunteering" was on our summer to-do list, I organized a little tattoo booth at our local Concert-in-the-Park last week.

What a great night it was!

The preparation began days before, when we had fun creating the banner. I say fun, when really they argued over who gets to draw on what space, who draws the pink flower, who draws the girl and how the banner MUST show directions to Pixie Hollow (WTH?) and a WHOLE LOTTA whining. 

So we let Chance in on the action to act as the great mediator. It worked.

When we arrived, cruise director Bella got us all set up. I've never before seen anyone so excited to tape up a banner.

They browsed the selections and picked out a tattoo for Chance so they could "refresh" their spraying, rubbing, and peeling skills.

Yep! Still got it! They were ready for their first customer. 

Bella began chanting (over and over again LOUDLY) 

"Free tattoos. Come and get your free tattoos" 

and Mia would chime in two beats behind Bella and repeat it, just a tidge-bit quieter, though. 

And sure enough, the kids came.

Some were new faces and some were our neighborhood friends. Like sweet little Piper here, who adorably called out the name of every tattoo, finally deciding on the dinosaur.

And then Bella went into her schpeel, "now don't be afraid if the water is cold, it'll just be a second" assuring every customer that they're in safe hands. 

It was precious actually, she's such a born leader.

And when they'd peel it off everyone was excited! 

The girls took turns taking breaks from our booth to get their face painted.

and to get some popcorn refills.

Chance realized quickly that patience wasn't his thing and decided to spray 

everything and everyone in sight. 

Even Mia was applying the tattoos, ALL BY HERSELF! She kept telling me that she could do it without my help and sure enough, she could.  Here she is proudly pointing at her work (btw-I love watching her independent self grow these days.)

As a family, Eugene and I are always trying to teach our kids the importance of "giving back." One way is by volunteering our time and our effort into something, like this simple tattoo booth, which was ridiculously easy to put together, fyi. It just took a little forethought and a phone call. The best part is that they had fun. I mean, they REALLY enjoyed it, making our effort feel that much more special.

And we're hoping that a lot of these little things will add up to something great later on.

"Everyone can be great because everyone can serve"   - Martin Luther King Jr.