Forgive me...

I am so very sorry for the lack of posts this past week. It was a busy weekend. Zoey and I pay for it by getting sick. We're still sniffling and coughing. I honestly think this heat has played with all of us lately. Thankfully, it's not as hot. We took the girls on the first train ride to Chicago on Sunday! Last time we attempted to ride it, there was no room for our big family. We were all so bummed but, at last, the train had a few rows left when it arrived at our station. The girls waited with such patience and when it finally rolled in, they each squealed! The twins yelled "Choo-choo" and Aaliyah was jumping up and down. It was so cute. We boarded and picked out a seat. It wasn't near any windows but, we did have the doors. When Aaliyah felt it move she said to me "It's moving! We're going fast!" She was very excited. Hailey made daddy stand by the doors and mommy wasn't crazy about it but she loved pretending she was the conductor pulling on the string to blow the horn. When the real horn on the train sounded, both of the twins looked at me with excitement. It was such an adventure. Zoey sat with Aaliyah for most of the ride and the two of them had a blast saying their ABC's and counting. They were goofing around with another little girl in an adjacent row. We got to the city and got off the train. Walking through the station, these girls thought they were big stuff! They walked all by themselves, even up the stairs (holding someone's hand of course. Mommy's still scared from the accident they had!) and walking through the city. We walked until we spotted a popcorn shop called Sticky Fingers. It was a cute, small, delicious smelling shop. We were the only patrons when we walked in. The girls took full advantage of that fact and oogled the popcorn behind the glass and moo-ed at the cow-themed decorations. We ordered freshly made caramel cashew popcorn, grabbed some pop from the neighboring 7-11 and walked to Millenium Park. We found a bench and sat down to munch on the popcorn. So YUMMY! It will be a must-stop place for our family visits. The girls had no concern for the other people walking through the city. They must have thought they ran it. That kind of makes mama worry but Daddy reassured he had them. He likes to give them independence as I squirm in my seat....but he's ready to pounce at moments notice. Once we took a break, we headed to the big face wall waterfall thing in the park. The girls were in shock to see it. If I could of bottled that moment up, I would have. Their eyes were so big and gazed over with delight. The twins were in water heaven. Aaliyah waited with her hands to her mouth for the face to spit out the spout of water. When it finally happened, her face was priceless. She was a mix of freaked out and tickled to death. After a while of playing in the faces, we walked the wet gang over to the bean. Another cool thing for them to discover. Hailey's natural reaction to the bean was to lay down and look at her self in the reflection (for those who do not know, this is a sculpture in Millenium Park that is odd shaped, like a bean and made from mirror-like materials. A big hit in the city! Zoey was exploring fearlessly through the crowd looking for just the right spot to lay down and where does she pick? Right in the middle of a highly trafficked spot. She got lucky and no one ran her over. Aaliyah was busy trying to hold the massive bean up on her shoulders and making silly faces while laying next to Hailey. It was such a blast watching the girls discover and explore these new places with such confidence. It lets us know that we're doing pretty good...if nothing else, too good. We left the sculpture and walked over to the open area of grass where orchestra's play. The girls needed some space to just run it out and boy did they take off. Mommy sat there laughing as Daddy chased after 2 toddlers at once. I wonder if he'll ever just split in half one day =] It was about time for us to catch our train so we started walking while eating Mike & Ike's (bribary!). We are so proud of our big girls. Each one of them. They amaze us at how well behaved and fun they are when we just let them take the reins. On the train ride home, Zoey dosed off on Daddy while Aaliyah watched out the window. Hailey and I sat together and passed the time. She is so funny. At one point, she was standing up on me and looking back at a grey-haired man. He must have reminded her of her grandpa cause she crossed her arms across her chest and gave him the "look" that most of us know of her. She stared him down through her eyebrows practically. She's something else. Once we arrived at our stop, we headed to our car and went home. It was a long but fun evening in the city with our girls. Now, we've been sick all week. Zoey is on medication to clear her up and I'm still getting better. We've been sick, lazy bums all week and the other 2 are dying of boredom. It's friday, beautiful and cool outside. I plan on playing around out in the backyard while I clean then going to meet our aunts for dinner at McDonald's playplace! I say they deserve a night out and a treat to some mickey d's after our week. Hope you've had a good, healthy week everyone! Enjoy this weekend!