Wednesday, July 8, 2009

4th full of fun!

4th of July in the City - we haven't been in the city for the 4th in 5 years. It was about time to see what the city had to offer. The extra added bonus was Michael and I had Friday off - so we headed into the weekend with lots of fun activities planned. We had to start off by dressing Lyla up for the occasion (Thank you Grandma Debbie)

Day 1: The perfect day to hang out on our rooftop.

Don't let this picture fool you - she kept them on for 3 seconds before she ripped them off.
That night Michael and I started to hear lots of BANGS so we quickly closed Lyla's door, grabbed the video monitor and went upstairs to find....
...a 360 degree display of fireworks - we didn't even have to leave the house. Without sounding too hooky - it was absolutely AMAZING! We will definitely have a rooftop 4th of July party next year. Seriously everywhere you looked there were fireworks. FABULOUS!
Day 2: To the lake and the zoo.
Daddy went to the driving range while Lyla and I went on a long walk. My thought was if we went on a long walk she would nap and wake-up just in time for the zoo - my plan worked - but I was bummed that she slept through this...
And even more sad about her sleeping through this - I discovered a bird trail - but it's not going anywhere - we will definitely be back for another visit!!
Next up - daddy joined us for the walk along the lake to the zoo. We entered through an entrance in the back and look what we found. All the times we have been to the Lincoln Park Zoo...I didn't know they had a carousel - HOW FUN! Lyla LOVED it. She held on tight and had a perma-grin the entire time!
The zoo was off to a great start BUT would Lyla squeal and squirm at the animals again? With her feeling secure on my back we hoped for the best.
SUCCESS!!!!
We decided whatever animal she enjoyed the best we would reward her with a stuffed animal to remind her of her "favorite."
It was a close call between a tiger and monkey...but the monkey prevailed!
And look at her go! She must have thought since she was carrying her monkey that she should put in a little more effort...YIKES!
And off she went with her new friend...

And when we tried to take it off - we had to put it back on...

And Day 3: More rooftop fun and lots of chasing Lyla around the house!

Here is our little gymnast in the making...

And here comes that chasing part...getting into boxes...
Getting into the refrigerator...
Getting into the cabinets...
And I could go on and on and on...
That took FOREVER so I think I'll wrap things up - this may have been the longest Blog posting yet...Whew!

4 comments:

Donna said...

Love the photos! We need to get Lyla and Tyson together again soon. So fun!

Anonymous said...

I love her new friend Mr or Mrs. Monkey around the neck. She loved it too. Too cute pictures. Love Grandma

Casey said...

The photos of Lyla and the monkey are the best...what a cutie!!!

Unknown said...

OMG - I hope her cheeks are ready for all the kisses she's going to get from me this week!!!!