Happy Father's Day Weekend

Not many daughters are fortunate to grow up with 2 dads that love them and care for them as much as my 2 dads have. As most of you know my mom and dad divorced when I was very very young and my mom remarried when I was still young. From then on my step dad was very much a part of my life. I love both of my dads very much and they are both so very different. My dad currently lives in Atlanta and we do not get to see each other very often but one thing I love about him is that it doesn't matter how long it has been since we saw each other last he always reminds how much he loves me and how proud of me he is and for those of you who know him he is very passionate about it so you know he truly means it. And most of time we are together he is the one talking :) I sure wish I could see him more often!!

My step dad, wow there is so much I could say. We are pretty close, talk everyday. He claims he is not high maintenance (not sure what his definition of high maintenance is) but he is. I tell him he taught me well :) and atleast I can admit that I can be high maintenance. He also knows a lot about EVERYTHING so he generally gives good accurate advice. In all seriousness, I am not sure he realizes how much he means to me. Mainly because he is my dad and he didn't have to be. He sacrificed so much for me and for that I am grateful! This is an older picture...he is looking a little slimmer these days :)

Thank you Dads for being such great fathers and I hope you enjoy your day!!

 I would also like to wish my husband a very Happy Father's Day! I knew when I married him he would be a wonderful husband but what I didn't realize is that he would be an even better Dad. Every time I see him and James interact I fall for him even more. Chad works very hard to give James and me a great life and I would say he is pretty successful at it. We love you!! Apparently our Sunday will consist of watching the U.S. Open and cooking something on the Egg (imagine that :))

Your first day as a Dad!

And now!

And all of us from the Stracener Scene would also like to wish a very Happy Fathers Day to Pop, Chad's dad! He has always been such an inspiration to Chad and I thank him for welcoming me into the family! We hope you enjoy your day!

And to all of our granddads, Happy Father's Day!! We wouldn't be here without you. Enjoy your weekend!!

Chicago! Chicago!

Finally here it is! It has taken me so long to finally put this together. I really need help with the blogger because when I have lots of pictures it takes me forever to upload and properly place them but I think it more of user deficiency than a blogspot one. Anyway, the 3 of us planned a little girls trip for mid May kind of a post Mother's Day celebration to spend a few days in Chicago. The 3of us have never been on a trip together, ever. We have had several family trips but never just us. We planned it perfectly to coincide with Mom's work trip so hotel and a few meals would be paid for :) KK graciously volunteered (aka jumped at the chance :)) to keep James while we were gone because Chad had an out of town sales meeting so it worked out nicely that all 3 of us would have a little break from the daily routines.

This was my 4th trip to Chicago and I still love it (in the spring-summer time that is I don't think I would enjoy the bitter cold of the winter). Let's just face it I am not a history buff or museum kind of girl and neither is Anna or my Mom. I have been to Wrigley field, the Sears tower, etc. so we did A LOT of shopping and a lot of eating!! And let me tell you Mom did a great job planning our dinners because the food was to die for and sometimes quite heavenly. The leisurely shopping and eating was such a treat for me because with a 2 yr old leisure never really happens. So here goes to run down of the trip.

The first day we head to the airport to make a 6:45 am flight so of course we were pushing it to get there on time. Well as we are rushing through the parking lot of the airport dragging our extra large suitcases at approx 6:00am, Anna stops and says "Wait I don't have my license. I just realized the teller at the bank did not give it back to me yesterday." Awesome! glad she remembered at this very moment. Reluctantly and after heavy interrogation security let her through based on her student id. And we were off!

Once we arrived, Anna and I began shopping while Mom headed off to work. One of the reasons why I love Chicago is the cleanliness and the landscape. It is not just all concrete.

Little areas like above are randomly placed on sidewalks of the busy Michigan Avenue..Along with these entertainers.

For dinner we met back up with Mom and a long time friend of hers from work, Pam. We enjoyed a delicious Italian meal and headed home for some rest.

Thursday we woke up to rain. Mom headed to the office and Anna and I slipped out again for more shopping. Anna and I had a wonderful French lunch including some of the best bread I have ever had. Thursday night the 3 of us went to Japonais for dinner. Chad and I ate at this restaurant when we went to Chicago for our first anniversary however I was 6 weeks pregnant and didn't get to enjoy the sushi or the wine. So I made sure to take advantage this time. It was a great meal and great time besides being stared down and hit on by these older men...one which had skull heads on the toes of his shoes with seersucker pants...interesting combination. By the way I do not have any pictures from our nightly activities because I thought it might be a little much to lug my big camera to these nice restaurants and be tempted to take pictures of the pretty food and really look like a dork. However may have avoided the horny old men.

Friday was beautiful. The weather could not have been more perfect. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with Mom's friend Pam so she could deliver Anna's license that my Dad had delivered to the office so that Anna could make it back to Birmingham without the hassle. We had lunch at the Park Grill conveniently located next to the "Bean"

 

We had a little photography fun with the Bean

And then we headed off to enjoy an afternoon city tour by ferry boat. Something I have wanted to do every previous trip and for whatever reason has never worked out until now.

 

This was our humorous tour guide but still didn't compete with Vince Vaughn in the movie "The Break-up".

And these were our views along the way. Pretty spectacular.

It was a little windy to say the least...

But very interesting to learn a few historical facts about the city as well as a few architectural tid bits such as the building below was designed to resemble a champagne bottle just being opened...and quite frankly it does.

That night we headed to the top of the John Hancock building for a cocktail and beautiful view. Something I have done every trip and never gets old. It is a must. Then we enjoyed another scrumptious meal at the Capital Grill.

Saturday our last day of the trip I took a few pictures of some unique buildings while shopping AGAIN.

For James...

I took this one because it is where I enjoyed such a fun evening with 7 of my closest friends during my bacherlorette trip 4 years ago. Most of the night Dino, the general manager, took care of. It is one I will never forget!  

We came across this in a restroom along Michigan Avenue and it reminded me of our potty training days and wish there more of these out there. Little potty for the little ones. Genious! If only it was also germ free. I am a squatter 100% but kind of hard to teach a 2 year old to squat and not touch anything.

Then sadly we headed to the airport.

Only to find out that our flight had been delayed.

We have to stay longer...

Luckily we were not delayed too long and made it back to Birmingham safely. We had a wonderful trip with no arguments (accomplishment for the 3 of us together for 4 days straight in one room with one small bathroom). We are already working on next year's trip or I am anyway. It was a blast and a perfect break! Thanks mom for putting it all together!

Amazement

You know when you have your first child you envision all of these happy and proud moments like the first time he/she takes their first steps, the first time he makes a big play in a t-ball game, kicks the winning goal in a soccer game, brings home a great report card, graduates with honors from high school and then college, etc (maybe I am a little ambitious regarding James future :) anyway not really my point. My point is you think about these things and it puts a smile on your face. But NEVER did I envision being so happy and so proud the first time he would tee tee in the potty! Yes folks he went tee tee in the potty last Thursday and continued through the weekend. I must admit it truly was very exciting for all of us including James. He was so impressed with himself and so excited to make me so excited. That is how sweet he is! Every time he tee-tees it is the same facial expression that I can't quite describe. It is a look of excitement, happiness, and amazement wrapped in one. I want to take a picture of the cute face to post here so I could share but then I thought I might be arrested for child pornography since he is half undressed on a toilet. I won't bore you with all of the potty training details but as I mentioned before a week ago today he refused to sit on the potty and now we are tee-teeing in the potty. Mostly thanks to his great teacher at school, Mrs. Robyn. We still have a long road ahead but we are very very pleased with our progress!

Still working on the post from my Chicago trip but had to go ahead post this!

Little Zoo that Could

Yes I am still trying to catch up...work is busy, weekends are busy, but thankfully most of my favorite tv shows are on summer break. Maybe I will have more time at night to blog...if James doesn't exhaust me first. Anyway back to the post.

Mother's day weekend (yes I am going back that far :)) we decided to take James to the Zoo for the first time. The closest zoo is in Gulf Shores. I have been going to Gulf Shores during the summers for years and never knew they had a zoo until recently. Well it is a small zoo and nothing to elaborate about it but for a 2 year old who has never been it was perfect. And actually Chad and I had a good time too. It has been a long time since I went to the zoo. James' favorite animals by far were the monkeys because they were constantly on the move. Some of the larger and more exotic animals didn't phase him. Here are some pics from our day at the zoo.

Wait I think I see some monkey's over here

James: "Look he's playing with car"

Bird: "Hi Pal!" James:"Hehe"

Feeding the goats or goat like animals was the highlight

However this guy was a little aggressive for me. James: "He hungry"

I am really surprised these animals are not 400lbs because they are fed all day long

Chad and I had fun with this one...

I am sure we will be back because is still talking about the animals. Next time we might step it up a notch mainly for Chad and I :). I have tons more pics from the zoo that I am uploading to shutterfly. If you would like to see more pics send me an email!