Legoland

B.W.'s birthday gift was a trip to Legoland.
The kids aren't too fond of spiders so they were very theatrical at the thought of a spider this big.
Ready to take on Darth Vader.
Lovebird loved this elephant. For her there weren't too many things to do but she just loved riding in the stroller and taking it all in.
The girls enjoyed the "Girls Only" area.
The kids took a little class on how to make the Sears tower.
Cuddlebug had a little help from daddy.


Everyone had a great time.

We then headed to Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner. We timed it just right and the restaurant wasn't busy at all which meant the noise was about 1/10th of what it normally is. It made for a much more enjoyable dinner!

30th Birthday: Day 4- Superdawg

So on our way back home it was pouring down rain and only 2 degrees above freezing which made for some stressful travels. But we weren't too stressed to detour to try Superdawg. So because we do not see the need to have cable we end up watching PBS when we aren't watching Netflix at night. One of our favorite shows is the Hot Dog Special where they document all these great hot dog places all over the country. After the kids watch they always want a hot dog which is kind of funny since we don't really eat any pork. Hebrew National hot dogs, now that's another story! Superdawg is one of the places that we thought would be fun to try someday and so we looked it up and realized it was on the way.
The kids loved trying to "dig" their hot dogs out of the never ending fries.
Ahhh a real beef hot dog! So I'm not one who would order a hot dog but I must say that these were pretty good.
We then headed back to the interstate to make the trek home. Because of our shopping purchases and the humongous stroller in the back we had to put a van seat down so B.W. and Curly Bear had to sit right next to each other. Thankfully they did fairly well and when I looked back this is how they had fallen asleep. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Mayberry's house to pick up Mosheh and then headed home to relax for the rest of the day.

30th Birthday: Day 3- IKEA and Rainforest Cafe

So Lovebird fell in love with the comfy hotel beds.
This day was set aside for some major shopping and all major shopping needs to involve IKEA. We found these great wardrobes for when we redo our master bathroom. After IKEA and our 50 cent fat-free frozen yogurt cones we headed to Woodfield to do a little more shopping. B.W. bought a Lego set that he has been looking at for some time. I think that helped make up for his time spent at American Girl. We then headed to one of our favorite places to eat.
Rainforest Cafe! So Prince Charming and I have become addicted to a few dishes here not to mention the awesome desserts. The actual "rain forest" atmosphere can be quite loud and distracting at times but our addictions always let us overlook that. The meal was ended with the traditional volcano. Lovebird slept through our entire meal so it proves my point of her needing NOISE to nap good.



After our shopping we let the kids swim for a little bit and then it was back to the room for baths and then a movie. Cuddlebug got to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iPad since the movie didn't interest her. It was a fun and exhausting day.

30th Birthday: Day 2- American Girl

So for Curly Bears birthday she bought a Lanie doll with her birthday money and then we told her we would take her to the American Girl store. Well..... pregnancy, summer craziness, our Florida trip, and then the "Vacation Flu" of 2010 kept us from ever going. So we decided to stop by on our way to the hotel while we were in the city for my birthday.
So do I really need to tell you that she was excited. This picture says it all.
She finally made it.
I was so glad they had a display of her Lanie doll. And yes, her and Lanie are matching for this trip.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. B.W. was such a great sport and a great big brother. He tried to share in Curly Bears excitement and walked around with her and pointed out some of the cool things that were there. I know he would have much rather been at the Lego store.
She made her decision for her purchase and was so excited. We will be going back at some point, maybe her next birthday, for a "Just Girls" trip. To be quite honest, I can't wait to go back and have more time to look around and eat at their cafe. That store is pretty amazing! Someday if we ever go to New York with daddy for business we'll check that one out too. Curly Bears favorite thing to tell people about her daddy's job is that the office is right around the corner from the American Girl store.