A visit from Trent + Loden + 3

[Makai, Lena, Ellyza, Sydney]
Trent and Loden drove up from Kentucky this weekend with all three of their kids to celebrate March Madness…..

 ….. and St. Patrick’s Day! But mostly March Madness.

It blows my mind a little bit to think about how Ellyza is the same age as Makai and they have two additional kids! This was my first time to meet Carter and he is such a roly poly happy nugget!

On Saturday Trent and Loden had lunch plans, so we met up with Jen, Chad, Quinn, Cousin, Kristin, and Jeremiah and Joy later at The Piggery. Makai loves Quinn so much. He’s like his definition of cool! In return Makai does everything Quinn says. This is why they get along!

After lunch, Kristin told us to stay seated and she took Makai and Quinn to Merryman Park around the corner. It was chilly, but sunny and they had a great time.

Quinn was sitting by some green lights and it made it look like he had green hair!

Woody caught himself some pulled pork!

Aunty Kristin won all the kids over by ordering a turtle sundae! [Lena, Kristin, Ellyza, Makai]

The next morning before Trent and Loden left, we met at Commonwealth for brunch. Jill and Brian and Halle were able to join us and Ed too!  [Sydney, Ellyza, Halle, Quinn, Makai]

Trent and Loden had to peel out after eating, but the rest of us hung around a bit. Jill and Brian took Halle, Quinn and Makai to Fellger Park for a while and then to Paciugo for gelato. When we got home we all crashed for hours. So tired! But so much fun to see so many friends over two days!

Celebrating Halloween 2016

(null)Makai’s class, all dressed up!

FullSizeRender-22Some of Makai’s classmates in the Halloween Parade.

FullSizeRender-24 Ms. Lauren with some of Makai’s classmates.

FullSizeRender-23Makai celebrating with his classmates. 

(null)Makai + Avery.

We celebrated Halloween a few different ways this year. Makai celebrated at school with all of his friends and classmates. There was a Halloween parade outside and then a big party inside. Makai was also invited to Avery’s birthday party, where some of the kids dressed up.

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We also went to the Halloween celebration in Roscoe Village with Loden and Ellyza, Joy, Jeremiah and Lena. Big improvement this year was the addition of a beer tent!

On Halloween day, the neighborhood kids trick or treat. We didn’t go out into the neighborhood, but stayed home to pass out candy. Makai put his costume on and had so much fun seeing all the kids come to the door!

THREE

(null)Makai and his friends Oscar and Ezra

FullSizeRender-14Birthday boy!

(null)Makai with cousins Johnny + Rory

FullSizeRender-17Makai, Oscar, Joy

(null)Cubs Win sign! Quinn, Makai, Halle

FullSizeRender-18Stephanie + Mom

FullSizeRender-13Stephanie, Halle + Jill

(null)Larry, Amanda, Dad, Stephanie, Rachelle, Richard, Makai, Dallas, Jessica, Mom

(null)Makai + Trent

(null)Dallas + Davin

(null)Amanda, Richard, Makai

For Makai’s third birthday, we did a joint party with Trent and Loden, whose daughter Ellyza turned two just days before Makai. We had a joint part last year too, and it turned out great, so why not do it again? This time we chose to have the party at Beat Kitchen, where they have a super cute room you can rent on the second level. The theme of the party was Mickey and Minnie Mouse, since both Makai and Ellyza are obsessed with Micky Mouse Clubhouse.
(null)Makai being silly in the Photo Booth.

(null)Loden + Rachelle

FullSizeRender-6Quinn + Halle

(null)Ellyza + Lena

(null)Ellyza + Lena

(null)Makai + Oscar

(null)Derek Duck

(null)Dylan Goofy

We set up stations around the room. One was a Photo Booth, complete with a backdrop and a ton of props.

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(null)Halle + Quinn

Another station was the Art Studio, where the kids could color and draw.

(null)(null)Lena, Ellyza, Konrad

FullSizeRender-21Makai, Ellyza

FullSizeRender-7Oscar, Makai, Ellyza

Another station was the Music Corner. And right next to it was the Tattoo Parlor.

(null)Brendan, xx, Ellyza, Derek, Oscar, Makai, Ezra, Lena

(null)XX, Ellyza, Derek, Dylan, Makai

FullSizeRender-20Ellyza, Dylan, Oscar, Makai, Lena

(null)Trent + Brian

(null)Quinn + Jen

FullSizeRender-12Makai (+ Halle)

FullSizeRender-15Stephanie + Makai

We had a pinata shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head and instead of morbidly bashing it in, we got the type where each of the kids grabs a string and pulls and one of the strings opens the whole thing up and the candy and toys spill out.

FullSizeRender-10The Boogers

FullSizeRender-9Dylan, Makai, Derek

(null)Makai

(null)Quinn + Halle

On Sundays, the Beat Kitchen hosts a concert for kids. So, after some fun in the room upstairs, we all headed down to listen to a band called The Boogers! The band was so much fun. Like a punk rock kids band. And since it was so close to Halloween, the band kept throwing tons of candy out into the crowd. The kids loved it.

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IMG_9496Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Ellyza + Makai. 

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FullSizeRender-8Stephanie + Makai

Makai told me for many months before his birthday that he wanted a Mickey Mouse cake and a Micky Mouse candle. Luckily, Kristin was happy to help make this happen. Her cake was awesome and tasted great!

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After the party, we all headed over to Jen and Chad’s new house to watch the Cubs win and to order more than $200 worth of Philly’s Best!

Richard, Chad, Trent, Kristin, Brian, Dallas

And then just a couple photos of Makai Facetiming with his family on Dallas’s side and opening gifts from them!

My Sporty Spice Week

(null)(null)(null)(null)On Thursday I went to the United Center to see the Blackhawks take on the Flyers with Becky. It was my first Blackhawks game and my first NHL game in 13 years. The Blackhawks lost, but I still had a fun time!

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(null)In the meantime, Jess, Sara and I had been discussing going to a Bulls game. We tossed around a lot of dates and looked up a lot of different ticket prices. We finally settled on St. Patrick’s Day, which happened to be the day after the Blackhawks game! So, I was at the United Center two nights in a row! This time the Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets.

(null)I took Friday night off and Dallas went out for March Madness. I forgot it was even March Madness until a week or so before. On Saturday we all met up at Brownstone for brunch. Dallas left a few hours later to play ping pong, but Makai and I hung out all day to “watch” basketball. In truth, I didn’t really watch much basketball. We even had a side trip to the park with Ellyza and Lena. But I did notice Makai Mason, the star player on Yale’s team.

TWO

IMG_1212_edit_600IMG_1209_edit_600IMG_1234_edit_600IMG_1236_edit_600IMG_1239_edit_600IMG_6867_edit_600IMG_7937_collage_edit_600IMG_8006_edit_600For Makai’s second birthday, we did a joint party with Trent and Loden, whose daughter Ellyza turned two just days before Makai. Loden set up an awesome ball pit, I did Daniel Tiger decorations and a coloring activity. The guys bought beer and we split decorating, food and the cost of renting the party room behind Four Treys.
IMG_7914_collage_edit_600IMG_1230_collage_edit_600IMG_7990_edit_600IMG_8002__collage_edit_600I made cupcakes and tiger tails (pretzels dipped in candy coating and drizzled with chocolate) for desserts. Makai got really upset when we were singing happy birthday. I think just because so many people crowded around. It’s his party, he can cry if he wants to!

IMG_7958_edit_600IMG_7975_edit_600Makai and Ellyza also really enjoyed these blow outs!

IMG_1246_edit_collage_editIMG_8004_edit_600When I was getting party supplies at Party City, I spent enough money that I could get a free pinata, which was good and bad! All of the big bags of pinata candy were things that a two-year old couldn’t eat, so I ended up picking up some things I knew Makai and Ellyza would like: chocolate covered raisins, fruit snacks and chocolate marshmallow candy. The kids took turns hitting the pinata but at the end we just pulled the ribbons on the bottom to make the candy fall out. And then I was mocked ridiculously because all the adults saw raisins fall out!

IMG_1214_edit_600IMG_8010_edit_600IMG_1221_edit_600IMG_6881_edit_600IMG_7909_edit_2000IMG_7923_COLLAGE_edit_600IMG_7944_collage_edit_600IMG_7938_edit_600

IMG_7979_edit_600IMG_8014_edit_600IMG_8022_edit_600IMG_8025_edit_600IMG_8039_edit_600IMG_8050_edit_600sunglasses_edit_600We had a great turn out for the party and a good mix of kids and friends without kids. Everyone had a great time. Brian DJed for us and Todd surprised us by wearing a custom shirt with Makai’s picture on it! I was happy that my entire immediate family made it to the party, even if none of Dallas’s could, and also that so many friends came to celebrate.

IMG_8018_edit_600IMG_8171_edit_600IMG_8173_edit_600After the party, a bunch of our childless friends went to Riverview to play darts. We also went because we needed to eat and joined a bunch of our friends with kids for dinner. It was nice that we could all be in the same place.

IMG_7908_edit_600IMG_7905_edit_600IMG_8156_edit_600IMG_8170_edit_600At home we celebrated and may parents and brother gave Makai gifts. After everyone left we also gave Makai our gifts from mommy and daddy. Makai is really getting the hang of presents and getting excited about them. At daycare all the kids made a huge birthday card for Makai.