an interesting morning adventure

So I was looking for something fun and free for Ellie and I to do earlier this week. I was online scrolling through the options and ran across Lakeview Cemetery. Supposedly one of the prettiest spots in the city, resting spot to important people such as President Garfield and Eliot Ness, who brought down Al Capone. So, off we headed to explore the cemetery, right in the middle of the city, picnic packed, sunscreen on!

It was glorious! I had no idea this little gem existed. What a peaceful morning. We will definitely be going back. So sit back and enjoy the pictures. There are bunches.

Ellie found a walking stick to help her up the big hills.


One of the hundreds of beautiful statues.

I want to be buried is something like this. Fantastic!

On a rock, cause we always end up on a rock somewhere.

Wade Chapel. Tiffany (of Tiffany Lamps) designed the entire interior of this chapel. One of only 4 in the country done exclusively by him. Very cool. The volunteer on site was very interested in filling us in on all the goodies and let Ellie shine a flashlight to highlight the work. She thought that was cool.

The Tiffany window inside.

Next we headed to the Garfield Memorial.

But first we had a little lunch. Our current fave are these little pretzel balls. Delicious!

Kissin'

The memorial from our lunch spot.

Great little carving on the side.

Ellie looking up in wonder.

Climbing up the step to see what was inside.

The man himself.

Great shots I captured in the stairwell. For some reason, I LOVE THESE!

The city from the top of the monument. By the way, there were spaces up there that Ellie could totally fit through and fall to her death. We didn't stay long. I took this pick with a death grip on her arm.

Checking out other areas of the cemetery.

Playing hide and seek. Sacrilage? Perhaps. But you have to admit, it is a great place to play hide and seek. I did keep her from jumping and climbing on the headstones. I mean, I do have some morals.

Took this while I was hiding. Just another great statue.

An infant boy was buried here. I told Ellie it was a baby and she get really sad and reflective.

"Can babies really die mommy?"

Oy. A conversation for another day.

So, if you have a cemetery in your town, pack a lunch and go. It's well worth the trip.

sprinkle sprinkle

Just a little more simple summer fun had this weekend.

I thought this was brilliant. She said she would be right back and came back with an umbella!

Drinking the yummy sprinkler water. Gag.

Tootsies.

why...

is it IMPOSSIBLE not to eat the cookie dough?

Yesterday Ellie and I made oatmeal cookies. The recipe only called for butter and 1 egg. The eggs are fresh from a dude Chris works with and have been in our fridge awhile. They could be suspect.

I ate the dough anyway.

And I ate it all sneaky cause I don't want Ellie eating suspect cookie dough (when do you let kids eat raw dough anyway? E hasn't yet).

I looked pathetic, curled in the corner with my wooden spoon, trying to hide my bad habit.

"What are you doing Mom?"
"What? uh, um, nothing, it's nothing! Just look away!" as I pull the bowl and spoon closer.

We shall see how suspect those eggs are.

the mall - in numbers

Today we went to the mall. Here it is broken down in numbers:

tanks of gas filled - 1

slice of pizza eaten - 1

crunchwrap consumed (couldn't resist, I can actually feel my butt growing) - 1

Hello Kitty headband bought - 1

times to potty - 2

shoes ellie tried on - 24

sweaters ellie tried on - 1

pants ellie tried on - 1

laps ellie ran in H&M in underpants - 1 - don't ask, long story.

times in and out of the stroller - 12

books read - 7

cups of drool lost over Edward Cullen poster - 1.5

times Ellie's hair was mentioned by strangers - 4 (yes, it is blond. yes, it is curly.)

stores mommy got to go in - 0

phone calls taken - 2

texts sent - 13

times Ellie got knocked down in the play area - 2

songs sung - 5

laughs from strangers due to songs being sung loudly while walking down mall - 15

number of future mall trips I am looking foward too - as many as possible!

God bless my girl. I love her so much.

a little stressed

Man. I hate being stressed. Especially when I don't need to be. This house stuff is enough to drive a girl batty. But now that it is in my head we are moving, I want to gettheshowontheroad. I know I am driving Chris crazy, but I just can't help it.

Stressors:
Keeping it clean. Inside and out. Weeds are my new arch enemy.
Wondering if the phone is going to ring for a showing.
Knowing we are priced a little high but not being able to do anything about it. We aren't being greedy, we are just trying to break even people! And I should add, we are not priced high for the house, but we probably are for the market.
Needing to have an open house, ASAP.
Finding a house yesterday that I love and hoping it doesn't slip away before we can snag it.
Worrying if we can afford this new house. Kind of a scary time to be making any huge life changes.
Worrying that I am becoming addicted to HGTV. My new favorites are Real Estate Invervention (Mike Aubrey ROCKS!) and Property Virgins, even though I have had my house buying cherry popped.

Things I need to remember:
We don't have to move.
I have found a great school for Ellie if we are still here in 2 years.
I will be working in 2 years and bringing in some $$.
This is a great house!
There is someone out there who will love my house just as much as I do. And maybe even pay for it!
The house I fell in love with yesterday has been on the market awhile.
This is not life or death.

Ugh.

HATE. BEING. STRESSED.

HATE. OVERTHINKING. EVERYTHING!

This look sums up exactly how I feel.


Wow. It was kind of therapeautic to write that down. I feel a little better.

top 10 pool moments

10. Diving off the diving board like a kid again. Of course, I lost my bottoms and got water up my nose but it was so worth it.

9. Spending time with my good friend Liz.

8. Watching Ellie chow down her snack at break time.


7. Getting yelled at for taking pics at the pool. What is the world coming too? Are there that many perverts out there?

6. Watching Liz walk around the pool with baby Bella in the sling. She is such a good mama.

5. Watching Ellie go under water and blow bubbles. What a brave girl. Need swim lessons ASAP!

4. Totally getting hit on by a teenager. Seriously. At first I just thought he was being friendly but he was totally flirting with me. Oh yeah. I still got it. Can you say MILF? Totally made my year. Going to say totally one more time. Totally.

3. Getting a great pic for future blackmailing: Meet the nose picker and the hobbit!


2. The completly satisfying exhaustion that comes from a day at the pool.

1. Spending a great day with my best girl.

a date

Ellie went on her first date last week. We have known Dominic his whole life so we were ok with it.

He came and picked her up and she immediately was in charge telling him where to go.

Then he got a little fresh...putting his arm around her.

She thought that was pretty funny.

Then there was some hair stroking.

and a little closeness.

Gonna have to keep my eye on these two...

my first harvest

And they were delicious! 12 seconds after this pic was taken, they were in my belly.

Get in ma belly!

simple summer fun

Nothing makes ellie happier these days than hopscotch. How much simpler can you get?

4th fun

We are not 4th people. We never have been. I mean, we are patriotic to a degree, GO AMERICA! but for some reason, have never really gone big for the fourth. This year was no exception.

That being said, we managed to have a busy day. We spent a little time at the zoo. Ellie showed her red, white and blue spirit. (Oh, and those would be matching monkey tattoos on her knees.)

We walked on a log. My husband is HOT!

We grilled. Because, seriously, it is unamerican not to eat a hamburger on July 4th.

We played dollies,

and then we did venture out to see some fireworks. Look at the gorgeous sunset we got right at the lake!

We got a great family shot. This was day 5 of the "Cough of the Century" and I was exhausted. I hadn't slept more than an hour at a time for 5 nights. More on that later.

We cuddled,

We ran from the scary Daddy monster.

We got a great shot of Sascha's baby blues,

we caught our first ever lightening bug,

made funny faces for Sascha,

and finally caught the fireworks!

All in all, not a bad day.

As for my cough. I think I have turned a corner. This cold, or whatever it is, has totally kicked my butt. I managed to get about 6 hours of sleep last night and am feeling better. I haven't exercised in a week people, and that is not good. I did get a smallish walk in this evening and feel much better. No running yet, but all in due time. I love that fact that I am finally at the point where if I don't move, I hate the way I feel. Yea!