two of the stooges came to visit

and it was a non-stop party!  we ate way too much, stayed up way too late and had so much fun.

amber and tyler didn't land until 11pm, but that didn't stop us from a midnight BWW run.  Delish--but made me so sick to eat that late at night.

the next day we went to pizzaria piccola and had some delish pizzas and fredo.

even tyler loves the fredo

                                                                                       followed by a little BR

and then on to the zoo (who knew zoos were so depressing as adults?!)

 the boys went on the slowest zip line in the world

 then we saw some dead animals

 tyler loved the topiaries

 and the giraffes

 amber and i loved the elephant

 and the camels (duh!)

 tyler was the butterfly whisperer

 don't mind us greaseballs!  they had to keep the butterfly enclosure over 80 degrees and 80% humidity

 i want a whole album of pictures of amber kissing animals

 tyler in action

 after the zoo we went to the movies.  amber and i got carded at the mall by a hilarious old security guard.  the boyz saw captain america and we saw that one movie with that girl from easy A and michael scarn and ryan gossling... not what i expected.  then we met up for a late dinner at the mall.

 the next morning we woke up early-ish and went to kranky al's for donuts and muffins.

 breakfast at kranky al's

 we made it to chicago and the boys when back to school shopping and amber and i met the funniest make-up artist named Iesha.  she was crazy!  if you're ever at the nordstrom off michigan ave and looking for some entertainment and eyeliner find her near the clinique counter.

 then we headed over to vosges chocolatier to sample some tasty treats and have tyler swipe all of their free samples.

 then we headed over to giordanos for a real chicago slice.  i almost passed out because i was so hungry! so i didn't really enjoy that part of our little trip, but it was fun and delicious.

 then we worked off our pizza by walking all over the city: visiting a few anthropologies and a pinkberry and finally ending at millennium park.

 the bean was very cool

 tyler had some of the best poses that we saw

 the amphitheater was also very cool

 tyler also got very into planking... i can't believe we didn't think of this earlier...

you have to look at this picture closely to see how high up tyler got to plank

the next day we went to six flags and had the best time ever!!

we even got to stop for lunch at sweet tomatoes and had a foreign family take our pic

 i wish our eyes were open

 lovin it!

 their last day here we had a little lunch break at jimmy johns for tyler, chipotle for amber and myself (i'm so addicted right now) and then a little culvers.  we tricked tyler into a trip to cosmo prof for some nail polish... amber really has quite the collection.  we are working on our ombre tutorials... i'll let you know when they hit the web.

 for their last night we went out to Devon seafood and grill.  my friend kate from worked hooked tyler up!  we all had a fabulous dinner (crab steak etc.) so good!

 i'm really glad kate knew what planking was, otherwise this would have been very awkward

 planking outside

 on a rock

 in gapfit

and then of course a leon's treat for dessert.

we loved having tyler and amber in town.  come back anytime!  we will keep your file saved on first blood.

come visit again!

technology will lead you into a lake

this morning i was suckered into going on the relief society temple trip, but of course i would go because 1. with the temple being so far away i definitely don't go enough and 2. when your friend texts you like 20 times in a two day period begging you to go, you just go. (hahaha, only for jenna)  so we meet up at 8:30am for a little bagel snack and then we head down to chicago to make the 11am session.  well, let's just say our gps devices were acting up and we arrived at our destination a little late, only to realize that we were at some random park under a train park and ride in a weird ethnic suburb of chicago. what?

 this picture does not really capture the ghetto-ness of our location.  imagine a few shopping carts full of garbage and one with a surfboard, a few broken down cars and a bounce house/ possible seen of a shooting.  it was crazy!  cop cars everywhere, ambulances and sirens blaring.  we eventually made it to the actual temple (which is located in a very safe neighborhood, don't worry mom!)

we ended up all finishing at the same time and we reunited in the dressing room.  phew!  here are most of the girls that were at the temple.  we took this picture moments before some crazy storm hit so we booked it to corner bakery and had a nice relaxing lunch.  we finally made it back to milwaukee at 4pm!!  i've never had such a long temple trip, but it was great getting to catch up with some of the girls in relief society.  i bet jenna will never drive with me anywhere again!!

it was my birthday!!

and my mom came to visit and to celebrate my birthday and david passing his board exam.  it was so much fun and as expected, i was beyond exhausted by the time we dropped her off at the airport.

 we started the night by going straight to mr. b's for a fabulous celebratory meal.  so delicious.

 my mom tried her had at some photography-- this was the best out of a few blurry shots and an accidental video?  i love when that happens.

 then we woke up a little early on saturday and headed to the honey pie cafe for some great french toast and a little taste of milwaukee.  the crowd is always great for people watching here.

 my mom loved it.  you will too!  (come visit)

 then we went down to chicago and walked around and went on an architectural boat tour.

 gang's all here!  (humidity + rain does weird things to my hair--half straight/half curly all the way frizzy?!)

 of course as soon as we boarded the tour boat it started raining--but we braved the storm to the city from a totally different perspective.

 it was very cool seeing all of downtown without having to walk for miles and miles or having to brave the crazy traffic.

 the tour's midpoint was at navy pier.  we have yet to visit this park in our years in the midwest, but we might next weekend when tyler and amber visit.

after the tour we walked around and waited in some lines and my mom just really wanted a picture by the original portillo's.  (she loves the place!)

we also went a little crazy at le creuset and i'm thinking i might need a few more shelves for all of my beautiful pots and pans.  (thanks again mom!  i'll post when david makes soup in his special soup pot).  we did a little baby shopping for the grandbabies and we stayed up late chit chatting and having hilarious text convos with my aunt carma.

it was such a great weekend!  i can't wait until my mom's next visit.