City Adventures

We woke up today (Saturday) with no plans!  Since soccer starts next week, we knew this would be our last free Saturday for a very long time!  School also starts on Monday so I wanted one last thing checked off our summer bucket list.  So we decided to hop on the train and have a city adventure!

As expected, they loved the train ride!

Our 1st stop was Millenium Park!  We wanted to check out Maggie Daley park. It was great!!!  It's HUGE...and how cool is it to be playing right in the middle of the city.  I didn't get many pics but the girls could have stayed all day!!!We also checked out the bean!

Next we headed over to Eataly for lunch! We had pizza, cheese and salami, and adult beverages!  Libby also ate A LOT of bread...and brought 4 pieces home for the train ride!

As we were leaving Rob decided to get the prime rib sandwich which everyone talks about!  "Life-changing" is how he describes it!  Apparently we are headed back soon for another sandwich!!

Next stop was Dylan's for candy!  We told them they could each pick 5 pieces for the train ride back.  That took 30 minutes!  There's a lot of candy!

We finished our day strolling along the river walk.  Rob and I definitely want to head back to the winery there!!!

All day long the girls couldn't stop talking about how the benches on the train move back and forth...so they were super excited to get 2 seats back to back do we could make a "couch".  Abigail also got my camera and took a cute pic of her sisters!

Spontaneous days are the best...and we made the best of this free Saturday!!!!

Summer Loving

This summer was about relaxing!  We tried not to overbook activities or playdates!  We spent our days riding bikes and swimming!  Often we were the 1st into the pool!  The older girls also enjoyed bike riding on the prairie path while I ran with Libby!  It was perfect!!!

Pre-Vaca tan

Post-Vaca tab

Libby wanted to be up close and personal at concert in the park!  My social butterfly!

I officially have 1 day left of summer....and I can't wait to enjoy it!!!

Ralph's World

Ralph from Ralph's World (kid singer on Disney Channel) came to our library and we went to the concert.  Libby is definitely my most social kid and was dancing the day away!  It was so cute.  The other two were "2 cool".  My favorite song was "M-O-M-M-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E (and V-I-N-O)!". Teaching the kids the important things... And the kids learn to spell! ;)

Washington D.C.

As a kid, we often stopped in Washington D.C. on the way home from Ocean City!  Not only was it only 2 1/2 hrs away, but it made the end of vacation seem less painful when you were headed to another destination.  So we decided to stop in DC on the way home.  For about a year, Abigail has been asking to see the White House so we wanted to take her to see it.  Julie, Joe, and kids already had flights booked so they couldn't join...and Kate and Vern had already left to visit Vern's family, so it was just us and my parents!

D.C. was definitely not without a little difficulty.  My parents got stuck in CRAZY traffic (we took an alternate route) and didn't get there until like 2 hours after we got there.  Then they couldn't park where we parked because it was a secure building being so close to the White House and they had too much stuff in their car (they searched our car).  So Rob, the kids, and I did the monuments before they got there.  Then, with my parents we saw the White House and Arlington.  The one thing I always remember about DC and it was true again is it is HOT!  It was literally the hottest I have felt in a LONG time!

I love Washington D.C. so much and hope that I passed on a little bit of my love to my hubby and kids!

I love this picture in front of the White House.  Libby fell asleep in the stroller and missed the White House!

Vietnam Wall

Korean War Memorial

This was definitely my favorite memorial this time!

Rob had never seen the Lincoln Monument so we this was stop one.  He was really impressed!

I love this picture of my little loves!!!!

Of course everyone on the mall lawn was doing those ridiculous pictures where they hold the Washington Monument in the palm of their hand.  It's so annoying yet entertaining to watch!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is always a highlight!

We sure did a lot in a short day! After Arlington National Cemetery, we drove about an hour and a half to our hotel where we spent the night swimming, enjoying cocktails, and reminiscing about our WONDERFUL vacation!!!!!

Down at the Boardwalk!!!!

My absolute favorite thing about Ocean City is the boardwalk!  It's a couple miles long full of cheesy tourist stores, arcades, and restaurants.  It is full of all sorts of people!  We LOVE the boardwalk! 

One morning we took the kids bike-riding on the boardwalk!  Another morning, my dad, my sister and I ran on the boardwalk.  One day we took the kids to play arcade games and pick out souvies.  Another visit, we went to ride rides and eat Boardwalk fries!  Every visit is GREAT!!!!

One of my favorite views is the Salt-Water Taffy store Dolle's.  We started going to OC with my grandpa Joe and my grandma Dolly.  So we always made my grandma take a picture by the Dolle's sign.  4 generations of Muskovichs have now been to OC and even though my grandma wasn't there this trip, we definitely thought about her, especially when we saw Dolle's!  It will always mean a lot to me!!!

 Here are a few pics from some of our visits there!

The best way to see the boardwalk is on Daddy's shoulders.

I think Rob was getting all religious!  :)

Italian Ice

Playing arcade games

Eating dinner one night:  Fries and Funnel Cake

Leigh LOVES Thrasher's Fries!

Skee-Ball

Caitlin crushed it at B-ball!

This picture is one of my favorite from the trips.  Leigh was so excited to see Winnie the Pooh..and Winnie smelled and looked like he had just stumbled out of bar!  Kids are so innocent!!!

My grandma Dolly always took a picture here!

A great stroller-holder.  She was the lucky one who didn't have to go on the fastest merry-go-round.  Me and Joe did NOT enjoy it!

Riding Bikes!!!  We forgot to ask how to stop it!

The little ones were so cute in their basket!

Grandma and Grandpa having a GREAT day!

It was HOT!!!!