Chicago

I have the most awesome mom EVER!!! This past week she took Dani, Maggie, Jax and I to Chicago for a Girls (+ Jax) trip.  So fun!  Here are some highlights of our trip:

Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's: Maggie demanded two ice cream cones for herself, and Jax rather liked his empty cone!

Our best night was when the kiddos both fell asleep and we got to eat our Chicago pizza in peace and quiet-just the grown-ups!

Here we are enjoying our kid-less, delicious, Chicago pizza!

We went up to one of the tallest buildings in Chicago (probably the nation?) And it was beautiful.  It was neat to learn about Chicago and some of its history.

We did a whole lot of walking, which means we got a whole lot of great views!

There was a free zoo there in Chicago and Jax absolutely loved it!  So glad he could go to the zoo and really enjoy it for the first time with his Grammy!

More walking, and more views!

Millennium Park was really neat.  Lots of sculptures and neat things to look at.

Love this picture of my little Jax.

One night we decided to skip dinner and eat ice cream at Ghirardelli's instead! Yummy!

Thanks Mom! You are the best!  I couldn't ask for a better family or a more fun trip!

Great greats

Sooo.... Awhile ago I mentioned my genealogy blog.  Well, that past few days I've gotten really addicted to doing research again.  After emailing a few strangers online, I was finally able to connect two people I've been working on for a long time.  I wanted to see what work has already been done on this new line I added, and HELLLLOOOOOOOO! Um, all the work is done.  DONE.  You think I am kidding?  Let me introduce you to my 28th-great (thats great 28 times) grandfather.  You may know him.  His name is.. let me look here to make sure I have it right...

Charlemagne: Emporer of the Holy Roman Empire.  He was born in 742. Oh yeah.


Oh that's not good enough for you?  Well, let me introduce you to my 50th-great grandfather.
A man who goes by the name of Gaius Julius Ceasar.  He was born in 100 BC.

Oh wait a second.. I skipped right past the time of Christ.  I better make mention that uh, my great-something grandfather (didn't count that one) is the brother of Christ!  Crazy, huh?

I am telling JD all this while he is trying to study with his friends.  This is what he said to me: "Wow.  In three hours, we didn't even get through all the notes for one class, and in those same three hours you have completely finished your genealogy."

Well, not completely finished, but it is pretty cool how far back the line goes.

Have you caught the genealogy bug yet?

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Cherry Blossoms everywhere in Washington DC!

This Monday I got the chance to go with some good friends to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival.  We made a stop on the way to DC at a little neighborhood in Maryland called Kenwood.  They have planted hundreds of these same trees along all the roads in their neighborhood.  It was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.  Really.  It was so breathtaking.  And pictures don't really even do it justice.

 To make the day that much better, is was a whopping 85 degrees!!! Wahoooooo for Spring! It was such a wonderful day to sit and relax, have a picnic, let the kiddos run around, and take a nice stroll under the canopy of blossoms.

DC was quite a bit crazier than the nice quiet neighborhood we started in, but there was a lot to see, and was fun to walk around.  The kids were all so good to sit and relax in the strollers all day long.  

The weather was absolutely perfect.  Seriously, what a wonderful day with good friends.