A tale of two loves and one CRAZY day!

Elle feeding her doll, we call her "dee", a cheerio.

Elle feeding her doll with her new tea set :-) Lots of tea parties yet to come...

As a child I was a tomboy who LOVED her dolls and shopping. Go figure, I would catch frogs, climb trees, and tear around on my bike, and then turn around and go play with my dolls :-) I still have all of my dolls and my doll cradle. They are primarily the only toys that I saved from my childhood. I am surprisingly happy and proud to say that Elle suddenly has my love of dolls. We walked in the LEGO store (notice my love of dolls is equaled my Bernhard's love of LEGOS) on our way to Chicago and Elle found the only corner in the store with stuffed animals and dolls, sat down and giggled with glee. The fact that we were surrounded by bright colored legos did not seem to occur her. She carries around her little dolls, feeds them, sleeps with them, tries to give them baths etc.

Now, my other love, is, "da, ta, daaaa," SHOPPING. I do believe that I inherited a love of shopping, more specifically bargain shopping, from my mom. When we walk into a store we don't even notice whats in the entrance of the store, we veer straight to the back, the s-a-l-e racks. Whenever all of my female family members would convene, we would storm the mall and shop all day. I loved it, and still do....however, my shopping has changed a bit.... Rarely do I step foot into a "me" store. I now get excited about sales and clearance racks at Gymboree and Hanna Andersson :-) All you moms out there in cyberspace should understand!!! Now whenever I hold out some clothing for Elle she giggles and runs to hug it. She LOVES shoes. Enough said.

Sooooooo, this leads me to today. My glorious day in Chicago that turned out to be, shall we say a wild goose chase! I had decided that I would have a fun day with Elle. My agenda was:

1) Go to Gymboree I had a $25 gymbuck to spend at Gymboree (the sale started Thurs. and today is Friday...help...burning hole...in my...pocket...must spend...)!

2)Go to Lincoln Park Zoo

3)Go to American Girl Place (help, I fear delving into this expensive obsession...Bernhard actually told me to watch my pocket book! He has NEVER said that before :-0 (note, bargain shopper...American Girl Dolls, not bargains...)

While getting directions to Gymboree, Elle fell off the chair backwards next to the concierge desk. The entire Holiday Inn lobby fell to an instant hush as Elle inhaled deeply and let out a blood curdling cry. Poor dear. Everyone tried to help. Someone brought her ice and a box of Rice Crispies. The Rice Crispies did it :-) She wouldn't let me put the ice on, but the box of cereal sure helped to ease the pain! Me being the determined soul that I am, continued on with my plan for the day. After I wiped Elle's tears and she had some advil, we hopped in the car and drove the 2.34 miles to the store. She was asleep before we left the parking lot. I was paranoid about a concussion, so I was thankful that when she woke up in the store she seemed ok and her pupils were reactive. Anyway, so once we were in the teeny, tiny, city store, I discovered that 15 other Chicago moms with their toddlers were all in Gymboree too!!!!!! AND, there was NOTHING left in her size in the store. Not on the clearance rack OR in the new stuff. Go figure! We left. Better selection on-line. I'll order while she's taking her nap :-) Always thinking ahead.

Well after the morning trauma, I decided to scratch the zoo. After lunch and a nap, (her, not me. I shopped on-line in the comforts of our Holiday Inn room) I was determined to still have fun. So, I decided that we would walk the 1.5 miles to the American Girl Doll Place (I'm sure as much for me as for her...hee, hee). After 35 minutes of walking in high heel boots (all fashion here girls...hah!!) and lugging the stroller up and down steps, we arrived to read "Store closed while we move to a new location." SHUT UP! You. have. got. to. be. kidding me!!!!!! "Ok, calm down Sarah. Have a sense of humor. Let's find Build-a-Bear. That will be fun." Again, I ask you, does Elle really have a clue? No, not yet. Check back with me in a year... At this point, she truly has no idea what she missed. All she knows is that she did a LOT of people watching from her stroller :-) Well, we set off to find Build a Bear, but it was the other direction, away from the hotel. I really did not want to walk even FARTHER. So, we set off to find some dinner. By now it is almost 6, and Elle had been signing "more" to eat for the past 30 minutes or so. I almost settled for Chipotle, but thought, no I can find something better. Just then, Rain Forest Cafe! I wondered if she would be able to eat with all the stimulation, but she loved it. Absolutely loved it. She ate like she hadn't eaten in a week and she was mesmerized by the animals, and even the guy dressed up like a tree frog (phew, her first experience with that). Well, we didn't get to the actual zoo, but we got to eat in a pseudo rainforest surrounded by fish, waterfalls, thunderstorms, fake animals, and lots of other kids mesmerized by the same things.

Now, finally, with aching feet we were on our way back to the hotel. For all Elle knows, we went for a long walk and then ate dinner at a crazy zoo. So, the saying goes, the best laid plans slip right through our hands... My plans did a complete somersault right onto the floor! Oh well, the key to sanity is being able to see the humor behind it all. Vaguely reminiscent of our honeymoon. VERY LOOOOONG story, and a seriously long post in itself!! Keep laughing and save your sanity my friends!

By the way, all of you folks reading this in cyberspace, leave me a comment if you are reading my infrequent, but sincere blogging. I'd really love to know who is lurking out there :-) Thanks!!!!!!!!