Fun in the Sun

Charlie got a ton of use out of her swimwear this weekend. On Saturday we spent the morning over at the Jernigan’s and she had her first taste of a nectarine and a frozen yogurt ice pop. Good thing she finally got in the kiddie pool after Ethan and Henry started splashing around!! I realize that I have to check my cleanliness issues at the door during the summer…meaning that she’s going to get dirty, and I just have to suck it up. I cringed when she got watermelon down the front of her Old Navy swimsuit, so you know I have a problem with messiness. Ah well…just have to get over it, right??

A Trip to Paris

After we returned home and dried off, Auntie Em stayed for an afternoon of gossip mags and relaxing. No one left the apartment until dinnertime, when Emily, Vann, and Charlie scouted out a true Parisian-style dinner in honor of Mimi and Poppy’s trip to France. Did I mention they left on Thursday for a MONTH?? Too bad they didn’t stay here with Charlie and let us go, ha! 😉

Oh my, dinner was AMAZING. A stop at Provenance, this quaint little wine/cheese shop right in our ‘hood produced such delicious munchies as crusty bread, grapes, goat cheese, black forest ham, the most amazing bucheron cheese (another type of goat cheese) you’ve ever put in your mouth, olives dipped in herbs, and finally, some chocolate gelato. We decided that even if we couldn’t fly to France (or Italy for that matter), we’d bring it to us. I forsee a Parisian dinner in our home once a week, it was that good!!

Thank you, Auntie Em, for spending the day with us, we love you!! And Congrats, Daddy, for your awesome accomplishment!! We are so proud of you!!

Happy Graduation, Daddy!!

Yesterday Vann “graduated” with his Masters of Science in Communication from Northwestern University…well…almost, as he still has about six weeks of classes to complete!! For some reason, NU only has one ceremony, and yesterday was the day. It started out beautifully, and Auntie Em (my BFF who you frequently see on this blog) accompanied us to join in the celebration. Unfortunately, Charlie is going through a major Daddy phase and wasn’t happy unless Daddy was holding her. This wouldn’t have been a problem if Mommy was graduating…but luckily, Auntie Em took Charlie outside and played with her for most of the ceremony.

Although we certainly hadn’t recruited Emily as the babysitter, it did give the two of them the chance to spend a little time together and Mommy was able to catch all the speeches that Charlie wouldn’t have been able to sit through. They snuck in at the end, and it was so cute to see Charlie sitting in an auditorium seat like a big girl, although when she saw Vann walk across the stage and yelled, “Daddy, Daddy!!” at the top of her lungs, we knew it was time to go. At that point, it had really started to rain, and if you were in Chicago yesterday, you know what kind of rain I’m talking about. Let’s just say that we saw a lot of women with ruined shoes!! The School of Communications hosted this wonderful champagne brunch afterwards, but because of the monsoon, it was a muddy mess and all of that delicious food went to waste…we managed to down a couple slices of bagel and lox but were deterred by the huge puddles of mud that were collecting on the ground. Instead, we drove over to the Dixie Kitchen and had an amazing N’awlins-style brunch.

A Really Hot Day

On Thursday Charlie and I spent the morning with Emilyn and Olivia, and their Mommies, Ms. Kim and Ms. Alisha. What started out as an impromptu playdate turned into a full-fledged summer extravaganza out on Ms. Kim’s new deck! We stayed outside as long as we could stand it, but it got really hot and we were worried the girls were going to roast. It would have been a PERFECT day for the pool!! The three of them had a ball, though, and couldn’t have been happier.