Monday, October 28, 2013

Growing Girl

Willow has been a wonderful baby. 
She sleeps very well at night--
yesterday she went down around 9pm
 and didn't wake up until almost 5am!
 
She was 9 1/2 weeks at her last doctor's appointment.
She weighed 11lbs 9oz and was 22.5 inches long.
Her stats are all average for her age...
...but this sweet girl ranks far above average with us!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Ahhhh, Atlantis!

We were lucky enough to go to the Bahamas last week for Grandma Lynn's wedding! We stayed at the enormously impressive Atlantis resort and could not have had a better time. All four of us (along with the rest of the group) enjoyed ourselves beyond expectation. Mila keeps saying she wants to do our vacation all over again. Us too!

We didn't take many pictures of the wedding because there was a photographer. We'll be sure to post some good ones from that night once we get them. Here are some photo highlights from our trip:
 Dr. & Mrs. Anthony Pedela
 Celebrating with a big dinner at Luciano's 
after the wedding.
 Mila and Daddy dancing in the hotel lobby.
 We all took a sunset cruise around Paradise Island on a catamaran.
 Mila had her face painted at the Atlantis Kids Adventure
(a little break for Mom and Dad and a lot of fun for her).
 Good times in Marina Village.
 Willow's first dip in the water!
 The ocean was just as clear and warm as the pools.
 Willow loved looking up at all the beautiful scenery.
 Mila was Daddy's Girl for most of the trip.
 Thanks for watching Willow, Grandma Lynn!
 Here's Daddy as he dared take this STEEP plunge down the scariest slide…
Mommy did NOT. 
 Baby girl was so great during the whole trip.
She even slept during all the plane rides. 
 Good thing we brought Mila's Puddle Jumper...
 Grandma Lynn on her wedding day about to open
"Something old, something new, 
something borrowed, something blue".
 The pools and slides at Atlantis are awesome!

 Willow enjoying the view off our balcony.
 So glad Daddy got a waterproof case for his phone!
 The lazy river wasn't so lazy…
there were rapids, waves and slides--the river goes on for nearly a mile!
 About to go down "The Drop" slide in a double tube…gulp!
 "Why do we have to go back to Chicago? Why?"
 The aquarium at Atlantis is beyond compare. 
 Look closely! That is Mommy on a slide 
that goes through a shark tank!
Sandy Vandy rolling around on the shore.
We had such a wonderful time together…
great memories filled with family--old and new, sunshine and seawater…
We miss you already, Atlantis!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Apple Pickers

What good is having a family in the fall if you don't go apple picking together? Just kidding. But seriously, Mommy and Daddy discovered that neither one of them had ever been apple picking and decided to do something about it.
We headed to Northwest Indiana's County Line Orchard 
since they claim to be the closest U-pick farm to the Loop.
 County Line is a fairly big operation with a restaurant, 
petting zoo, kiddie train ride, corn maze 
and a huge market shop and bakery.
We paid the $1 each admission fee and hopped aboard 
the tractor wagon, which took us out to the apple trees.
 Mila loved searching for the perfect apple.
 I believe we picked Gala, 
McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples.
The Honeycrisps were all cleared out.
 Like most of these places, 
we heard it gets CRAZY busy on the weekends...
 ...so we went on a weekday afternoon 
and it wasn't at all too crowded.
 There's lots of extra fun ($) to be had on the grounds,
but we stuck with apples and one train ride for Mila.
Oh, and scrumptious cider doughnuts of course!
Obligatory picture by the pumpkins :)
We love fall!