Chicago is my new love

We just got back from a wonderful last minute trip to Chicago. My cousin Teresa and her husband Cameron live there and so Hans and I decided to mapquest Chicago. I did not realize it was only 5 hours away! I called Angie and let her know I was going to visit her "old stompin' grounds" and she booked a quick flight. I love last minute trips because you dont really have any expectations. We had such a great time. This first picture is Angie and I in front of Mario's Italian Ice. It is a local favorite and we had to go back everyday because it was sooo good. Angie and I have a habit of acting really silly when we are together. I usually spend the whole time laughing.
On our way to Mario's I looked down at little Austin to see him sporting a nose ring...or a puff..

When Austin went to bed our wonderful cousin Cameron took us on a night tour of Chicago. We had to go and see the Oprah studios of course!

This is a picture of the skyline from the Planetarium. So pretty!

We lucked out because the weekend we went was the start of Taste of Chicago. It was a dream come true for me. You buy tickets and get to sample the best of Chicago's 70 local restaurants. My favorite was the Vietnamese noodles.

After "Taste" Teresa picked us up and we drove to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a really interesting and interactive museum. My dad told me I "had to" go there because they have a German submarine. It was pretty awesome. This is a picture of Austin and Hans checking out the chick hatchery.

This picture is from the farming exhibit as you would have guessed. The sign above the cow said "Say Cheese" Ha ha

Austin loved the big John Deere tractor wheels. Already such a boy!

That night we met up with some other cousins, Tanya, Jim and Harper at Giordanos. It is THE place to go for Chicago deep dish pizza. It was delicious.

Now that is what I call Deep Dish :-)

The next day was mostly spent at the Shedd Aquarium. It was really worth every penny. We spent alot of time there. They had things to do for kids of every age. This is Austin playing with the fake sea creatures.

I thought my trip could not get any better until Teresa told me we were having Cafe Rio for dinner. Bliss! Thank you to Cameron and Teresa for such a great weekend!

Water Boy

Austin really loves the water. His favorite time of the day is bath time. I think we are really lucky that our zoo has a waterpark in it because Austin loves it! He does not like feeling the gound on his knees though so he crab crawls. I have a feeling he will be walking soon :-)

After the zoo he gets SUPER tired and usually falls asleep in his stroller on the way to the car. Then he takes 3 hour naps. Love it!

9 Month Update

I can't believe my baby is nine months already! Wow time really flies. I thought I would give a little update about our cute little man. Austin is a very curious little thing. He crawls around and explores everything and definitely keeps us on our toes. There are things I never thought were dangerous until he came into our lives. For instance, the door stoppers have a little white cap on them that he has figured out how to pull off.....then it promptly goes into his mouth. He is really so much fun and has a great personality. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with him :-)

This is Austin getting his first haircut from daddy. He wasn't too sure about all the vibrating going on.
Soooo cute in his little vest.

He loves to help mommy empty the dishwasher. Well really he throws all the silverware around and then looks up and smiles at me.

He loves animals. There is this really neat park that Papa Johns owns that is near our house and we love to go there and feed the ducks.

This is Austin and the duck sizing eachother up. Austin holds his own.

Austin and I love to go to the zoo together. We look at all the animals, splash in the waterpark and play at the playground.

Austin and his friend Brock at the splash park. Austin has to wear a rash guard because he is pasty white like his mother :-)

Austin has always had a healthy appetite. Recently he has decided that he does not like baby food anymore. Nope...it is gross. We have moved on to finger foods and he will eat almost anything.....even broccoli stems

When I go into another room, Austin likes to follow me...well actually chase me and he laughs the whole time. He cracks me up