we're really popular

Well, either that, or the city we live in is really popular.

Probably the latter.

Which explains why we get so many visitors.

We love it :)

Our friends Rachael and Scott came out for the weekend to visit us and pretty much hire us as their tour guides of Chicago.

But the only tour of Chicago I know how to give is either a food tour or a shopping tour.

And since the husbands weren't up for a shopping tour, our weekend turned into a food tour.

It was awesome.

stuffed french toast and bread pudding pancakes at southport

deep dish pizza and mozzarella sticks at gino's east

nutella bread pudding at the signature lounge

chicago dogs and cheddar beef croissants at portillos

garrets popcorn on magnificent mile

fried dough and gelato on navy pier

yummy greek food at the athenian room

Told you it was awesome.

We did a little sight-seeing and a little shopping in between all our eating.

But everything we did pretty much revolved around all the good places we ate at.

Cuz how can a weekend in Chicago not revolve around all the good places to eat??

Its a good thing I've got an 18-miler on my training schedule coming up this weekend...

this kid makes me laugh

Madden says and does so many funny things these days.

Maybe they are just funny to us, because we're his parents??

I don't know.

But I do know that I want to remember the funny things he says that make me laugh everyday...

He points to every single person we walk by and says really loud "Mom, who is that??" Embarassingly loud.

His 2 favorite phrases that he says about a million times a day (and it drives me crazy and makes me laugh at the same time) are "mom, what are you doing" and "stop it, mom!" But he usually says them back to back, as if its all one word.

If I'm lifting weights at home "momwhatareyoudoingstopitmom!"

If I'm typing a text on my phone "momwhatareyoudoingstopitmom!"

If Im talking to Randy when he gets home from school "momwhatareyoudoingstopitmom!"

If I'm on the computer "momwhatareyoudoingstopitmom!"

I think, translated roughly, what he's really trying to say is "pay attention to ME!"

Lately he's really into "excising" (aka exercising). He likes to do Pilates with me and half the time I can't even keep up with the video because I'm laughing too hard at Madden. He copies the movements pretty well, but the funny part is he copies all the things Mari Winsor is saying on the video so Madden will be saying "this is hard, you can do it!" and "down cross and up, down cross and up AND down cross and UP!" So my abs get double the work-out...from pilates AND from laughing hysterically at Madden's commentary.

He has an amazing memory and sense of direction. Whenever we are driving, he knows if we are anywhere in the vicinity of the candy store, the donut bakery, the movie theater, the book store with the train table, the library, or the gym. A couple weeks ago when we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in the city, we were still about 5 minutes away and I had not told him where we were going and he suddenly gasped in the back seat and said "Mom! We at the ZOO!" I could not believe it. Especially since we were in the city, where I sometimes can't even remember my way around!

Probably one of my favorite things he says right now is "I not want it." He usually says it about food or drink he doesn't want, but when we were at the zoo a few weeks ago, he didn't want to go to the gorilla exhibit because they have this HUGE massive silverback gorilla and Madden is scared of it and he kept saying the whole time we were at the exhibit "I not want it. I not want that gorilla, mom. lets go see fishies."

The other phrase he says lately is adding the word "just" to justify something he is doing, and he says it with such attitude!

(since when did my sweet little boy get such attitude!?)

When I am trying to keep him awake in the car... "I JUST sleeping, Mom!"

When I am trying to get him to eat his food and not just drink his juice..."I JUST drinking juice, Mom!"

When I am trying to get him to leave the video store..."I JUST looking at the movies, Mom!"

And last week, when Randy was trying to get him to stop roaring in his face in the middle of a restaurant "I JUST a T-Rex, Dad!"

Anytime he's excited to be going somewhere or doing something, he says "Let's DO this!" Randy said it to him one time and now Madden says it.

And another thing he says when he's excited about something is "I SO ESSITED!" This saying is usually accompanied with his "crazy face," which can be seen in the top picture above :)

wisconsin dells

Have you ever heard of the Wisconsin Dells??

Ya, I hadn't either until we moved to the Midwest.

Apparently its the Midwesterner's version of Disneyland.

Its basically a disneyland/carnival/theme park/waterworld/las vegas in the middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin.

Thats the best way I can describe it.

This is what we did while we were there:

Went on a Wisconsin Ducks Boat Tour.

Kiddies loved it!

And so did the adults, actually, it was really cool!

Visited a deer park where tame deer roam around and you can pet them and feed them.

Big kiddies loved it.

Little kiddies hated it and clung to their mommies for dear life.

Ate lots of junk food.

Got lots of quality cousin time.

(missed you Boston & Naomi!!!)

And of course played at the A.MA.ZING water park!

The resort we stayed at had a HUGE indoor AND outdoor water park. It was great for all ages and everyone had so much fun!

After looking through my pictures, I realized that although we spent about 90% of our time at the water park, the majority of the pics I took were at the deer park and on the boat tour.

Maybe thats cuz I was having way too much fun in the water with Madden to get my camera out.

So if you're not already jealous enough and you wanna see more pics of this awesome place, then click here:

Chula Vista Resort

Thanks Mom, again, for showing us such a great time!

a visit from grandma and uncle landon

Whenever my Mom comes to visit, its a jam-packed schedule of non-stop fun!

This time Landon joined her on the trip, since he was the only one in my family who still hadn't been to Chicago...

Grandma Hunt never shows up empty-handed...she always comes bearing gifts.

This time it was an assortment of Cars 2 toys.

Madden quickly became obsessed and had to take them with us everywhere for the rest.of.the.week.

See...I told you he had to take his cars everywhere ;)

...and there's another one of his cars, swimming at his feet in the middle of Crowne Fountain.

In 9 days, we managed to squeeze in:

North Ave. Beach

Kayaking

Skydeck

Navy Pier

The Bean

Crowne Fountain

The Signature Room Lounge

Cubs vs. Reds game at Wrigley Field

Early Christmas shopping for Madden

Downtown Naperville

Delicious Chicago food and treats every.single.day

AND

3 days and 2 nights at the Chula Vista Resort at the Wisconsin Dells with Summer and her 3 kids

(which is going to have to be an entirely separate post)

No wonder Madden cried when we dropped my Mom and Landon off at the airport and then asked for them over and over and over again like a freaking broken record on the drive home.

Good thing they are coming back for a Chicago Christmas with us! :)

Thanks Mom and Landon for a fun-filled 9 days!

We love you guys!