Chicago, Round 3

Back in the spring, I remember I was folding a load of laundry; Danny was downstairs & said, "You'll probably say 'no,' but the Red Sox play the Cubs in Chicago 4th of July weekend - do you wanna go?"  I thought it sounded like a great idea - our entire family LOVES Chicago - the kids are always asking when we'll go back.  We'd also never been to Wrigley Field, so it sounded like an awesome time!  We flew out EARLY Friday morning and came back late Sunday night, right before the 4th.  We packed in a lot in our short weekend trip!

We stopped at Starbucks at the airport before our flight.  The Marinelli kids love the 

"Pinkety Drinkety" - Colin was not a fan, Cadence said it was so,so

After a quick flight to Chicago, we were on the L to get to the hotel!  The kids did not like the odor (it smelled like skunk).  They soon learned that weed smells like skunk.  Cadence covered her nose because she didn't want to inhale it 😂 Hopefully that's how she always thinks about it!

We stayed at this pretty boujee hotel, Hotel EMC2.  A friend from high school posted on Facebook that she stayed there years ago and I remember being impressed with the photos of the hotel.  There was a lot of neat artwork.

We walked to Portillo's for dinner and we were freaked out by this face on one of the buildings

Yum!

I got a veggie Chicago dog - it was really good!

The kids cooperated with a photo, but they were so hungry.  

We waited a REALLY long time for our food.

We spent the evening just walking around.  

The lights on all of the buildings were so patriotic and pretty!

One of the "robot attendants," Leo!  Named after Leonardo Da Vinci.  At this particular time, we shared an elevator with him.  We had him bring us face cloths and hand towels to our room, too!  It (ahem, he) was pretty cool.

First morning in Chicago calls for Do-Rite Donuts

So good

We did some walking around to pass the time before our boat tour

Cadence and I had to try out a technique we saw on Instagram - when taking a picture of tall buildings, turn your phone sideways and use the panoramic feature!

The boat tour starts off near the Wrigley building.  This is the 3rd time we've taken the architectural boat tour - and definitely not our last!

It was a beautiful day outside.  We really lucked out with the weather all weekend.

Recreating the photo from our tour 5 years ago!  

Colin didn't want to play along - took some bribing. 😑

We crossed the wake from another boat and all got splashed a couple of times!

BEAUTIFUL

I asked Cadence to take a picture of us with the pretty flowers - this is what I got 😆

Next up, the beach!  The water was pretty chilly, but the kids played for hours!

That night we went to the Cubs game.  The kids were decked out in their new gear!

Perfect night for a baseball game

Danny's seat was a little obstructed, but we were able to scoot down so there was nothing in our view.

The Cubs had a nice comeback and won 3-1.  It was a really good game and mostly everyone stayed until the very end!

The next morning we rode bikes around the city - first stop was the Bean!

Next up, Buckingham Fountain

We stopped to take a break and had some lemonade

We rode back along the shore

Next up, Navy Pier!

We wrapped up the day at Giordano's.  The food was so good.  Check out that mozz!

We had some time to kill at the airport - we rode the moving sidewalks a bunch of times.  Always a favorite with the kids.

Until next time, Chicago!

9u Baseball and 12u Softball

Both Cadence and Colin have grown so much over the past season - in terms of ability and confidence.  Colin blew us away with his pitching and Cadence's batting improved so much.  

Big Walnut hosted a single day tournament (Inaugural Big Walnut invitational)early on in the season.  

The girls hung out in between games.

They won 3rd place!

They had another single day tournament (Mannino's season opener) in Dublin the next day (on Cadence's birthday) - silver bracket 1st place!  Cadence also had a great catch in center field - I was so happy for her to get that catch on her birthday.  We also brought Costco chocolate chip cookies to share with her team.  We had beautiful weather all weekend.  It was perfect for some softball.

The girls played 7 games that weekend and finished 5-2!

Another weekend, another tournament!  I believe this one was in Findlay. The boys got to join us for this one.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Cadence had double-headers.  She looked so cute after the games one evening, so I had to snap a pic!  Cassady (our nanny) did a great job braiding Cadence's hair.

#21 a.k.a. C-Monster

It was another hot one - I met the family in Johnstown after work on a Friday to meet them for Colin's final tournament.  My camera on my phone didn't want to cooperate.

Warming up with Mason during an inning when they both sat out.

Victory!

The boys had 2 great games - one on Saturday and another on Sunday morning.  

Cadence and I got back from her tournament in St. Mary's and we went straight to the boys' game.  Not long after the game started, the heavens opened up.

They lost that game after the rain cleared - they played a heck of a game, though!

That same weekend, while Cadence and I were out of town, they had the end of the season party at our house.  I think they all had a great time!  Timing was tricky in planning it (with tryouts coming up) - Cadence and I were bummed to miss it.

During one of Cadence's house double-headers, she got to play first base!

The coach promised the team Dairy Queen if they won a tournament - they got pretty close 2 times, so I think he caved!

Waiting for the rain to clear so the girls could play their tournament in Dublin. There were only 9 girls - meaning no one had any breaks!

It was a LATE night and the girls ended up in 2nd place.  They really played their hearts out during those final 2 games...in the rain.  I think we pulled into the driveway at midnight 😮

We had a lot of fun the season and we got to know a lot of really nice families.  Both teams are going to look a little different next season, but I'm looking forward to more great things to come.

Here are some pictures from the last tournament the girls had in Pickerington.  The girls won 16-2 in their first game, 4-1 in their second game, and 11-10 in their third game on Saturday.  We returned to the fields on Sunday, and the girls won their first game 5-3.  Unfortunately, the girls lost their next game 0-7.  It was exciting to watch them play.  Their overall record was 33-14-1.  Impressive, huh?

Cadence is 12 Years Old!

I'm in disbelief writing this as I'm trying to figure out how our first born is 12 years old!  Cadence also had 2 well-deserved birthday celebrations this year.  We planned to celebrate her birthday with friends during the weekend of her birthday, but softball kind of got in the way and some of her friends couldn't be there because of vacations and what not.

Cadence had a one-day tournament in Dublin (Mannino's season opener) on her birthday, so we were up pretty early for that. I think we had a quick breakfast - which she was fine with, since she was so excited to receive her first phone as her birthday gift!  She had been asking for a phone for a while.  She had had her Apple Watch for over a year, so she was able to text and make phone calls.  You'd be amazed at how quickly she could scribe a text on her watch.  We knew it would be easier for her to communicate with a phone, so we did some research, she signed a contract with us, and she got her phone.  She's done a great job with it and mainly uses it to talk to her close group of friends and her softball team. She enjoys watching YouTube videos on hair, makeup, and nails.  

Cadence's team ended up 1st place in the silver bracket and she also caught a fly ball in center-field - on her BIRTHDAY.  How awesome!  I was so proud of her for catching that ball I almost cried!

I think Cadence picked KFC for her birthday dinner - like mother, like daughter!

About a month later, Cadence was able to celebrate her birthday with a few of her closest friends, Jaedyn, Claire, and Marin.  There were still a couple of girls that couldn't make it, but they had so much fun.  After the rain stopped, the girls swam for a while.  

The girls enjoyed dinner and then we sang Happy Birthday to Cadence.  They spent the evening singing to songs and making goofy videos.  Cadence said they fell asleep and then woke back up around 4:30am - I don't know if I buy it.  I'm wondering if they stayed up all night!  Cadence was happy that Colin was spending the weekend with his buddy camping, so he was out of her hair.  The girls had a really good time together.  After they all left, Cadence was already wanting to plan another sleepover.

Cadence is still such a fun kid.  She's goofy and sweet.  She's sensitive, yet tough on her brother.  She's still super picky when it comes to food and binge watches shows on Netflix.  Shopping with her is not an easy task, but she knows what she likes.  She's got a memory like a steel trap and is super creative.  I'm always impressed with how she can just whip up a bracelet or a pillow or some other kind of trinket.  Recently, she taught herself how to French braid her OWN hair by watching YouTube videos.  I was amazed, because I know it's not something I've been able to master.  We're super lucky she's ours and I have loved watching her grow up.  Here's to TWELVE!