Summer fun Part II

More pictures of our summer fun.....

In August we celebrated my niece Annabelle's 3rd Birthday @ her Birthday party at a park.

Pinata time!!!

At the end of the summer session of Olivia's dance class they had an Observation Day & we got to sit in and see what they learned over the

summer:-)

Olivia is to the left of her teacher in the black leotard & silver sparkly skirt.

Tap time!

Here is a short video of the tap portion...

In our family there are a few August Birthdays including both GG (Brian's mom) & Nana (my Mom) so for GG's Birthday we had a family lunch with everyone, because she had to work on her Birthday.

Another trip to the zoo!!! This time along with Daddy, Aunt Nicole, Uncle Brad, & Annabelle.

On Nana's Birthday we had a Birthday dinner at our house. Brian made delicious tacos & Aunt Kate brought cookie cake for dessert.

And of course as the tradition of this year continues...Kate & I bought my Mom her very first pair of TOMS.

And since Nana loves her coffee, we made her a mug with the girl's

picture on it.

Looks like Brooklyn wants a pair of TOMS.

At the end of August, Taylor (one of my best friends) won tickets to the Colbie Caillat concert @ Lincoln Park Zoo and took me as her guest. We had such a great time & loved the music. Even the opening act, Andy Grammer, was really good.

Summer fun Part I

As summer comes to an end I thought I would post some photos of all the fun we had during our first summer back in Chicago.....

It seems like we have been nonstop on the move these past few months probably since living in Chicago we only get a few months to be outdoors so we really take advantage of it. The weather has been beautiful this summer & we have been enjoying every bit of it. From going to the zoo to celebrating Birthdays and everything in between. We have had so much fun this summer :-)

In July Olivia performed at the Park Ridge Fest with her ballet class so we decided to make a whole day out of it. We went to her performance along with our families that came & then we enjoyed tasting food from all of the local vendors & shopping. They had entertainment for the kids including a fire truck, train, bounce houses & slides.

On July 10th we celebrated my little brother turning 13 @ Dave & Busters.

Family trip to Brookfield Zoo with GG & Papa.

Olivia has no fear....she is petting a hissing cockroach!

At the end of July we went to the Journey concert with Brian's family-they are long time fans of the band.

At the beginning of August my mom had the family over to celebrate my Grandpa's Birthday & see my sister off to her second year going away to college.

In August, we went to the zoo with my cousin Shannon and my sister Katie & we had a great time. The day we chose was the absolute perfect weather for a zoo day:-)

Family Vacation

When Brian got home from OCS we decided to go on a family vacation. While he was away I planned a little road trip to Ohio. We drove the 5 1/2 hours to visit Kings Island, an amusement park that has an entire Peanuts Gang themed children's section. Olivia has always been a big fan of the Peanuts Gang (even her third Birthday party was a Lucy theme) & I couldn't wait to take her there. On our way to Ohio we stopped in Indiana at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. It worked out great, because the museum was the half-point between home & Kings Island so it gave us a chance to get out of the car for a couple of hours. The museum was made up of four floors and had tons of fun hands-on exhibits for the kids. It was so big that we spent the entire afternoon exploring it.

Family photo inside the entrance of the Children's Museum of

Indianapolis.

The girls posing in the dinosaur nest.

Olivia the Archaeologist!

Inside one part of the museum the kids were able to play with water, sand, and all kinds of other fun things.

One of my favorite parts was the Barbie exhibit. They had a bunch of dress-up clothes for the girls to put on and then a runway complete with paparazzi photographers. Of course, the Giaretta girls rocked that runway!! lol!

Aye Matey! Olivia especially loved the Dora & Diego exhibit; that was right up her alley.

And on the top floor we rode a carousel that was from 1917 & still worked today.

We arrived in Ohio & checked into our hotel the first night & then went out for dinner at a local steak house. The next two days we spent at Kings Island where we rode the rides, met the Peanuts Gang, watched shows, & had so much fun :-)

I loved that the girls could go on rides by themselves & Brooklyn was so brave she rode all of the rides she was tall enough for.

The only unfortunate part of the trip was that we chose the hottest few days of the summer to be at an amusement park. The weather was in the 100's & hot! Olivia was thrilled to see all of the Peanuts Gang so it was definitely worth it. She even got to take home her very own Lucy Van Pelt doll while Brooklyn chose a Sally Brown doll. We had a great time on our road trip & I look forward to many more summer vacations.