Miscellaneous

About two weeks ago, I saw a very dear friend of mine from middle school - her name is Daniela. We had not seen each other since 1998 so it was very nice to finally get together. I did not take a picture of her with her family. I have to do that next time. We went to a Thai restaurant that is located in downtown. The food was really good. Yums! Hopefully, we will see each other again soon.


Here is the thief. Well, they did give me some really nice sunflowers. I guess they think that makes it fair for them to get my tomatoes. Next year I have to do a better job with my tomatoes. So, I don't mind them eating them this time :)


Daniela gave me a Lego's train for Arianna. Her grandparents were helping her with it.


She loved it. Thanks, Dany. Ah, the umbrella that comes with the train was her favorite part.


Oh, here is the umbrella that I was just telling you about.


The next day we went to Brookfield Zoo. I took advantage of the free pass from the library. It is amazing how much they are charging now days. It is 24 dollars per adult with all the extras, or 19 dollars with 3 extras tickets to things like the carousel, butterflies, or the bus/train tour. And for kids, I think the cheapest I saw was 14 dollars. I guess the best way to go is to get the membership, if you go 2 or 3 times will be a better deal.
Arianna's favorite part was the primates. Mmmm, I wonder where she gets that from! Although she called them monkeys. Mike was trying to tell her the difference between monkeys and apes!


We stopped for a mini snack. We took our own lunch, just some peanut butter sandwiches and crackers. That way, we can have a nice dinner somewhere else.


I love the giraffes.

It was a very sunny day. We stayed for about 2-3 hours. Then, decided to go. Arianna was getting tired and the place was getting super crowded. By the time we left, they had closed the entrance since there was no parking spaces anymore.

Love to take pictures of trees. What do you think of the light coming through?

I almost did not notice the peacock. It had 2 babies following her.

New post to come soon

So, we had quite a bit in our plates lately. Mike got me a new laptop since my old one is pretty much dying. The poor thing worked for a long time. So, it was screaming for retirement. So, as soon as I get connected to the motherboard where all the pictures are I will post a few outings that we did and Mike's graduation party. It was super so before I forget I want to thank everyone that cooked, baked, cleaned, etc.. Your help is immensely appreciated. I will be more detailed in the actual posting of the party. But, thank you!!! Also, due to the new computer and somehow I lost tracked of some blogs that I used to follow. I was able to save most of the links, but about 3-4 are lost forever :( Oh, well. Such is life.
And last, I want to thank God for all the help that he has given us.

Outings

We recently went to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was not that bad, but it was still crowded and as always a few rude teenagers. But, Arianna loved the train set and the airplane. Here we are already ready to go, that is why she is in the stroller. She loves to walk or run otherwise.


Arianna loved to run on the airplane and when she saw the "TV" she sat down and started saying "tv, tv". The funny thing is that she likes the tv for the noise, not really to watch it.


Can someone tell her that calling from an airplane costs an arm and a leg?

This is an aerial shot from the second floor into their awesome train models display in the first floor. We were in the same spot for awhile because Ari wanted to see the choo choo.

Who does not like to play with lego! They have a nice exhibition about them. Look the wonderful colors. I guess if you were into modernism, that is a way to decor your house.


I took this picture in honor of Mike's old job. He used to work in the Sear's Tower long time ago now. I know it has another name now, but we still like the old name :)


If seems that everything we go to the museum, I take a picture of Mike in this same spot. So, here it is to tradition!


We went to ARIE or RIE or something along those lines (Ann or Mike knows the name). Anyway, it is a sporting store and Arianna loved this bike so much that she wouldn't come down. We stayed there for awhile, left and come back again.


Sunday breakfast was in McDonald's. They were having a party and Ari got a balloon as well. She likes to go there and jump around like a monkey, then she gets to excited and starts screaming. No low voice for this child.

I wonder if she is complaining to the big guy!


Showing some excellent moves.


Yes, daddy. I am ok. I just like to be all over the place!


In one of the get together, my friend Myrna has a nice swing/slide on her yard. I did not think that Ari could use this type yet, but she proved me wrong. Now, we have a better idea what to get her in the future.

Thanks to Tony once again for painting Mike's office. This was the second time around. The first color (painted about 3 yrs ago) was not exactly what he wanted, but this time, we got the right color.


I did not get the best shot of the doggie and the light was about to change. But, for a split second I was envious of this dog. He looked thoroughly happy to be enjoying the wind on his face. He was so excited :)

Reunions

Last weekend, I got together with some friends from my college days (Rosalva is a dear friend since high school) L to R : Me, Rosalva, Myrna, and Ana. It was a nice day for a get together. We had plenty of food and our kids enjoyed as well!

Here is a picture with our first babies. Well, I am the only one that has one. Rosy has 3 kids, Myrna has 3 kids, and Ana has 2. So, we took the picture with our oldest children. Ari was more interested in running to the slide than having a picture, so she was playing with her mouth and fidgeting like crazy.

We had not seen each other in awhile (since last year!) so we got together at this Japanese Steakhouse at Orland Park. Food was good. Friends were great. Glad to had seen them. Hopefully we can get together to go antiquing or go to thrift stores. Next time we are going for some yummy Thai!

Backyard possibilities

This is one of the new Morning (or is it Mourning?) Dove that started to show up in our yard. We used to have a pair, and now we have about 5-6! There are not bad, at least they don't try to eat the vegetables and they keep in the back of the yard.

I saw this flower, does anyone know what it is? I have not seen it before, and I did not plant it. So, if it is a wildflower, it is very pretty.


I am hopeful that my "lovely" squirrels keep ignoring these tomatoes!


I cut one of the purple green pepper, the other one is not ready yet. we will use it to make a yummy salad.


These roses reminded me when I used to dance and had a huge red squirt with lots of waves. Oh, those were the days, when I was young and fit.


I took this picture a day before a squirrel will take the red tomato. Oh, squirrel! This is when I have a love-hate relationship with them!


My best deal of this summer came when I bought this plant called Wishbone. I paid 1 dollar. It was a small thing and I thought it was going to die, but it has grow at least 5 x the original size :)


Dahlias. Lots of dahlias. Love them.

More dahlias. The little dahlias. Tiny little dahlias.

Sunflowers. How about this, the squirrel gave us a gift! I did not plant sunflowers there, and suddenly one comes up! Thanks squirrel.

Change is in the horizon...

Here is a picture of my darling's cute sandals. She loves the flowers, and to play with them, but not to wear them. I guess she needs to get used to them :)


Ari loves to draw her hand. She loves to draw in general, crayons, chalkboard, pens, you name it. We already have her first art work in our couch! We don't even know when she did it!

Daddy and Ari are eating some yummy Oreo cookies. Maybe we should do the commercial. They look so cute together.

Resting after eating all those cookies. I guess that will be the pose if we had any stars to look at.


Ari and her bears. She loves to put them to sleep. There are blankets everywhere, in the house, the car, the crib, etc... The good thing is that she does not care for just one. She does have some favorites, but we have plenty that she likes.


Once the bears are sleeping, she hushes us and then in a very loud voice says " They're sleeping. Shhhhh." I guess the to be quiet part applies to her parents only.

A bedtime story. She likes to have some books read to her before going to her bed. Sometimes when Mike is busy, I try to read to her, but she really wants him at this hour. Maybe after I read during the day, she wants someone else.

"Oh, no. You caught me!" Yeah, what is it with toddlers and fridges?


Went to Carmax to give us an idea how much will it cost to buy a used car if we need to get a second car. We need to start planning since there is a high chance that I will be going back to work in the near future. It was a very hot day, so we did not stay to long, but saw a few possibilities.


I guess that is what life is, a bunch of possibilities. So, here it is to positive changes.

Time to go back to the car. It was getting too hot, the baby had some pink cheeks, but she was drinking lots of fluids.


The big brownie that I made for Mike in our Anniversary. It has a crunchy top, but really soft- chewed interior. Yum.

Another year together :)

Happy Anniversary #8 to my mama and papa! :) Love, your squiggly.