We went to Chicago

with JUST lani.
we dropped ayla, brigg and willow off at jennie and sean's.
(and can i just say...it's ONE thing to watch 2 of my children. but quite ANOTHER to add in the 60 pound puppy! so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to them!!)
jennie snapped a photo of us before we headed out...

we stopped along the way for lunch.
CHEERS!

and i barely took any photos.
but we went directly to IKEA when we got to town.
we spent a couple hours there.
lani got a light for her nook and 3 baskets for the cubbies under her bed.
success!
and then we went to gordon biersch for appetizers.

she was loving being with just mommy and daddy.
then we went and checked into our hotel. (again...THANK YOU priceline!)
we got lucky and it had a pool and hot tub.
we spent a couple hours swimming.
then as we headed back up to the room, we stopped at grabbed a couple desserts to take with us.
we ate dessert in bed and watched some TV.
then up early this morning for breakfast before we hit the road.

at breakfast i said to lani, "i'm glad you had fun being an only child for a day. but i think you'd get bored if you really were the only child!"
she replied with, "uummmm...no. i don't think so."
funny.
so fun.
i love 1-on-1 time with each of the kids soooo much.
and it's a 3 day weekend, so no school tomorrow!
oh...and i love chicago.