Chicago: American Girl Doll Store

We took the train from Centralia, IL to Chicago, IL to spend the weekend with my Aunt Linda and Aunt Mary.  They wanted to take the girls to the American Girl Doll Store for their birthday and Christmas presents.  This was the first time we have travelled by train.

 

 Emmy got the girl of the year, Isabelle.

 Keelin brought McKenna and Saige with her to the store.  She picked out a spa chair for her dolls.  They both picked out clothes and accessories too.

 They bags make it look like they bought the whole store!

 We went to dinner at Rain Forest Café.

 We stayed at the Hyatt just off Michigan Ave.

 We even had a little pool time on Sunday morning.

 And then we were back out on the town!

 We had to wait in line for Garrett's to open so we could get popcorn to take home with us.

 We trained back home on Sunday.  It was a quick trip but it was packed full of fun!

Halloween

It was Red Ribbon Week at school, so there were different themed days to encourage kids to avoid drugs.  Keelin wore her cowgirl boots on Tuesday for "Give Drugs the Boot" day.

 Preschool had their annual Halloween parade, so Emmy came through my classroom in her Anna costume.

 Keelin is working on her Halloween project during the Halloween party.

 It was much colder on Halloween so the girls had to add extra layers under their costumes for trick-or-treating.

I took Keelin to a neighborhood right next to ours so she could trick-or-treat with her good friends (triplets) Emma, Alli, and Nate.

Trunk or Treat

 We went to Trunk or Treat at Holy Spirit.  Since Keelin dressed as Elsa and Emmy dressed as Anna this year, we decorated our SUV with a Frozen theme. 

 They played games, had contests, and then went trick or treating from vehicle to vehicle.

Memorial Soccer Semi-State

We went and watched Memorial lose to Indianapolis Brebeuf in the semi-state soccer tournament.

Detroit Marathon

Drew ran the Detroit Marathon.  It was a good race for him.  He ran a 3:46:40. 

 

 We went to the race expo after Keelin's 5K race.

 

 We checked into our hotel room at the Renaissance Center.  We had an amazing view of the Detroit River both during the day and at night.

 

Race morning!  My dad and I walked with Drew down to the start line.

 This is when Drew came out of the Windsor Tunnel at mile 8.

 Here he is halfway done! 13 miles.

 We walked around Detroit, saw some sights, picked up some breakfast at Tim Horton's while we waited for Drew to run the last 13 miles.

 Here he is at mile 25.

 

On Monday at school, Keelin and I had a free dress day so we wore our race shirts!

Keelin wore her new headband too!

Keelin's First 5K Race!

 It was a COLD morning in Detroit!  But she conquered the Detroit 5K!

 

Keelin ran the whole 5K!  (We walked through one water stop.)  Keelin got a ton of comments from other runners and spectators cheering and encouraging her along the course.