Starve Rock

At the end of February we went on a little family vacation to Starve Rock with my family. My Aunt Susie was so kind to let us use her cabin up there, which is on hotel grounds. It was so much fun swimming in an indoor water park and going on rides at the indoor amusement park while snow accumulated on the ground outside. The cabin had three levels made up of a bunch of rooms and a full kitchen. Between my Mom and I we cooked all of the meals, which was nice so we didn't have to eat out. We stayed up late playing board games and snacking on goodies. It was the perfect getaway to get us out of the winter cold.

Uncle Denton & Brooklyn @ the indoor water park,

which had a lazy river, wave pool, and a variety of different water slides.

Olivia went on every ride she was tall enough to go on!

Brooklyn was only big enough to go on the carousel, which she loved.

This picture isn't the best quality because I only had my small camera,

but Olivia looks so little on the ride. She had no fear! She just wanted to go on everything as many times as she could.

We had such a great time and it was fun to getaway for a couple nights and just relax.

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's day we stayed in and enjoyed a whole day of heart treats!! I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch, and Valentine's cookies for dessert. We watched Charlie Brown Valentine and enjoyed hanging out. Aunt Kate & Uncle Denton also slept over the night before Valentine's day so they could celebrate with us. Olivia especially loves Valentine's day, because of all the treats she gets to eat:)

The girls opening a few little Valentine's Day surprises....

Toy Story 3 On Ice

At the end of January, my Mom took all of us to see Toy Story 3 on Ice! When we were kids my parents took us to see all kinds of ice shows, plays, and musicals. I have always enjoyed going to them and I look forward to taking my girls to many more in the future. Olivia has been crazy about Toy Story 3 ever since she saw the movie in theatres when it first came out-so we couldn't wait to take her! It was nice that my sister Taylor came home for the weekend from college so she could attend the show with us. As an added bonus, we only live 1o minutes away from one of venues in Chicago where they had the show. It was a lot of fun being there with my family and it brought back many happy childhood memories. Both of the girls really enjoyed the show:-) I think that Olivia's favorite part was getting her first very own snow cone!!

Getting ready for the show to start....

(sorry Denton I didn't get you in a picture)

....Intermission....

And for old times sake....lol!

A little bit of this & a little bit that

In the middle of January Brian surprised me with a trip to Miami for just the two of us!! We never had a honeymoon so we (or at least I) decided this would be it! It was our first time leaving the girls, but it was time. The girls stayed with both my in-laws and my mom. We were gone for 4 days and it was just right, because after 4 days away from our girls we were anxious to get home and see their little smiling faces. Miami was a blast!! We had so much fun just relaxing and not having an agenda. We stayed in a hotel on the beach in North Beach and we rented a new Camaro, which was the car that Brian drove when we first started dating. While in Miami we enjoyed romantic dinners, went shopping, and even got to go see a movie (which we couldn't remember the last time we had done). It was so sweet of Brian to put the whole trip together without me even knowing it! He absolutely loves surprising me:)

Okay so I know I am a dork but I had to post a picture of Brian on his 1st day of school, because it is sort of a family tradition that my mother started when we first went to preschool! Since becoming a mom I have definitely followed in my mom and my grandmother's foot steps of taking a lot of pictures and capturing every special moment I can on film. Brian had to wear his uniform in order to check in at school so that made the picture even cuter!

(He literally leaves everyday with this many bags between school and the NROTC program! lol)