The Diva Duo

We're back! A quick recap.

*mac/space a/(free jump on a military cargo ship for those who don't know the "lingo") over to Norfolk on a big C5 plane. lots of help, Val made friends with some retirees

*made our way to Chicago to stay with my parents for most of the trip.. first run in with my new best friend, Mr. Starbucks

*loads of shopping, 3 zoos, the Dunes, a billion restaurants, and lots of silly time with grandma and grandpa

*speaking of a billion restaurants.. how is it possible that I lost 2 lbs when I ate out almost every day for a month????

*got to meet our friends', the Stilwell's, new baby girl who is just a doll and eat lunch with her big brother Parker at the Rain Forest cafe! somehow I have zero pictures of this :( UGGG

*stood in line at my favorite popcorn spot, Garrett's, on Michigan Avenue.. and boy was it worth it

*caught the enormous amount of tulips all over Millenium Park in Chicago and along Michigan Avenue.

*spent five days in St. Louis with two great sets of friends- the Lough's and the Monahan's! The girls got lots of friend time in and it was our first trip ever to St. Louis!! We were so excited to meet the Lough's and the newest member to the Monahan household! We went to a big park, where the kids all stripped down and ran in the fountains, the Botanical Gardens, the St. Louis Zoo, the Butterfly House, and about 3 trips to Target after poor Val had the flu and was throwing up. Thankfully, it only lasted about 12 hours but we did infect some of our friends. Sorry guys!!! My favorite part of the trip was eating frozen custard at a famous local spot that Julie knew about. mmm!!

*flew back to Norfolk on Tuesday and sat in the airport for 4 hours only to find that we weren't getting on the flight. bummer. went to the Holiday Inn, sat on the phone with Derrick and my mom trying to book last minute commercial tickets for under $5K. bah! We did get a deal on United for under half that thanks to my hubby being in the military and got back yesterday afternoon. The trip was super smooth, no lost luggage, the kids were angels and actually slept for most of the flights!! The only hiccup being that Valerie threw up on the flight over since we were in the middle of the entire plane, but that seemed to bother the poor, young, single guy next to her more than anyone else. ;)

Here are a couple photos I snapped the first day we were at my parents'. They found an old feather boa I had for a costume in high school and played with it for a long time! I will slowly post more photos over the coming days, after I get my house put back together. Ciao!!!