Lily's Trip to Chicago with Granna and Papa

Granna and Papa wanted to take Lily on a trip for her 13th birthday, and they let her pick the destination.  Lily picked Chicago because she loves this city, and since she already knows her way around, she was able to do a lot of the planning.  Here are some of the highlights of the trip from the pictures I saw.

The three of them went to Shaw's for dinner one evening where Lily enjoyed this delicious garlic shrimp.  The waiter made her a special drink too which was lemonade with mango puree; she loved it.

Shaw's also surprised her with a slice of chocolate cake wishing her a happy birthday.

One morning they went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  There were many cool exhibits to explore like the circus, German U-boats, weather, earth revealed, genetics (with baby chicks), bicycles, and ice.  

Such clowns.

All three thoroughly enjoyed going to see Blue Man Group.  They are so much fun to watch perform!

Can you go to Chicago and not go to Garrett's?  No.

Grandpops and Grandma Jan joined them for dinner at Pinstripes one evening which was fun.  Lily enjoyed her burger and parmesan fries.

They stopped by Sprinkles one evening just before closing.  They decided to order from the cupcake ATM instead.  Lily got a salted caramel cupcake.

Amazing picture from the side of Adler Planetarium.

This is such a fun place to explore.

Lily is very thankful that she had the opportunity to go to Chicago with Granna and Papa.  She had a great time!

Lily is a Teenager!

I can't believe Lily is 13 now!  These years have absolutely flown by.  We are so incredibly proud of this girl and the young woman she is becoming.

Grandpops and Grandma Jan sent her these beautiful flowers to say happy birthday.

Lily's friend, Molly Kate, came home from school with us and spent the night.  We had dinner at Willy's and then came home for a slice of cookie cake.  The girls stayed up super late just hanging out and having fun together.  Lily loves being with her friends, so this was a wonderful way to spend her actual birthday.

I asked Lily my annual questions to see what some of her favorite are right now; I think it's fun to see how this changes over the years.

Color - Pink

Movie - Lion King (the new one)

TV Show - Jessie

Book - The Thing About Jellyfish

Drink - Dr. Pepper

Memory - Our time in Italy over Christmas last year

Friend - Molly Kate and Avery; can't choose just one

Bible Verse - Proverbs 31:25

School Subject - Math

Food - Soft Pretzels

Activity - Hanging out with friends

Place to Go - Disney World if it can be anywhere, but the Aquarium if in Atlanta

Game - Suspicion

Restaurant - Willy's

Animal - Otter

Most Thankful For - Friends and family

Goal for the year - Read the entire Bible, starting in January

Lily has so many great qualities.  She is such a loyal friend.  She is hilarious and clearly has inherited her father and grandfather's sense of humor.  She is inquisitive and you can see wheels turning in her head a lot.  She is naturally smart and enjoys learning.  I love listening to her play the piano or sing; she is very musically talented.  She is trustworthy and reliable.  Ryan and I are so crazy proud of her.  Here's to a great year!

NYC Mother Daughter Trip, Day 5

We couldn't believe Thursday had arrived; it was our last day!  We went to Junior's for breakfast; it was so good again.  Next door to Junior's was a store specializing in Broadway shows.  They had the marque posters out for all the current shows, so we had to get these two.

We walked back to Times Square; it's unbelievably crowded all the time.

We walked back to Carlo's as well, and this time I couldn't resist a slice of his rainbow cake with lots and lots of sprinkles.  It was quite delicious.

We walked over to test out Gulliver's Gate.  It was actually really cool.  It has so many scenes from around the world, but everything is shrunken in size.  It was a really neat way to see so much of the world!

Finally, it was time to leave the city and take a taxi back out to JFK.  We both liked these cool little iPads on lots of tables so you play around or order something to eat.

We made it home safe and sound that evening.  I put together these pictures of the steps we took Sunday through Wednesday.  We walked A TON.

This was a wonderful trip where we made a million memories in honor of Lily's 13th birthday.  I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to do this.  Taking a bite out of the big apple with one of my favorites was fantastic!

NYC Mother Daughter Trip, Day 4

Wednesday was another fun-filled, beautiful day.  We started off at Best Bagel for breakfast, and I'll admit, they were really good.  We both had plain bagels with blueberry cream cheese.  Yum-o.

We took the morning to walk down to Chelsea Market which was neat to see.  It reminded me a lot of Ponce City.  It's where Food Network is headquartered, so we were hoping to see some famous chefs, but unfortunately, we didn't.  Oh well.  It was still fun to walk through all the specialty shops.

After the market, we decided to walk back on the High Line.  This gave some fabulous views of the city.

When we made it back to Times Square, we realized there was another smaller Sugar Factory.  We couldn't resist!  Lily had the same "Lollipop Passion" but I tried "Ocean Blue."  Both were still delicious.

After taking a small break at the hotel, we walked back over for Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  It was neat to see all the patronuses on the wall.

We had to represent Ravenclaw too!

Part 1 is about 2.5 hours long.  There's a couple hours break in between, so we walked over and had dinner at Becco's which was a pretty tasty Italian meal.  Then we walked back over to the theater to enjoy Part 2 of the show.  The special effects throughout were unbelievable.  I'm so glad we were able to go see this.