mas flores

again more pics I took of the wonderful flowers that grow in my parents back yard.

and of course a picture of my favorite man - my father. he turned away when I was going to take his pic.

how beautiful you are.....

I spent all day with my parents yesterday and wanted to show you the lovelies I found in their garden.

My parents enjoy, after a long day, sitting in their back yard contemplating their plants, making a fire and spending time with family/friends.

So yesterday I had the opportunity to sneak away and take a few pictures of what grows in their back yard.

more wonderful Chicago sites and the taste

more pics that I took at yes our awesome Downtown Chicago.

last night stayed up till 3:00 a.m. to play around with all these pics that I took yesterday.

The moon was beautiful and there was a nice breeze last night on the pier.

all the flower pics were taken at Millennium park which is awesome. it's a must see if you are in the area.

very zen like to me at least.

it just amazes me how wonderful downtown Chicago is and makes me realize that I need to go down there more often.

Day off + 2 sons + Downtown Chicago + 6 1/2 HRS later

so today I took off... I take these days off to spend some quality time with my boys. I want them to have these wonderful memories so that one day they can look back and remember the times that we spent together.

today we ended up in downtown CHICAGO.... 6 1/2 hours of walking and just hanging out.... it's 1:04 a.m. and I am still wired, but the boys are knocked out on the carpet as they were watching tv and they did not even make it to their beds.

This first pic is from Navy Pier looking directly out at the wonderful lighthouse..... I have always loved that lighthouse... it's just hauntingly beautiful to me.

my boys practicing meditation (of course they are making fun of me) if you look below that is really them especially the picture of them jumping by the bean.

we did end up taking a boat ride and they loved it. I would recommend that to anyone as that gives you an opportunity to take some great pics of Navy Pier and it's surroundings..... I must have taken at least 100 pics so I will be posting more this weekend.

I was dreading going to the city as sometimes I REALLY DON'T or CAN'T handle large crowds, but it ended up being a nice day... and we walked and walked and walked.

We actually ended up at the Taste of Chicago which is going on right now. Of course, I have pics of that tooo..

Oh and if you decide to attend don't forget to get the rainbow ice cream it's towards the fountain.... love that ice cream... the vendor is from the south side.... shout out to my south side peeps out there.... GO SOXs!!!!!

okay it's almost 1:30 and I know if I don't go to bed I am going to pay badly tomorrow..... darn caffeine.

Patti, if you are reading the cemetery where I took all the angel pics is a cemetery on highway 88 towards downtown CHICAGO. You can see it right off the highway to the right and there is an exit that you get off at right before you get to the Harlem exit. Wish I knew the name of the cemetery, but all those pics I took are from there.

Rey,

so glad that it was announced today that you will be leaving us to follow your calling.

it's sad news for us that know you, but I am truly happy for you. You know how I feel about people following what they want and what they desire.

You will be missed though.... who will I talk about music to now? or make me laugh when I have to work Saturday duty.

I know you will keep in touch and dedicated to you is a few of my favorite CURE songs on my playlist and check out the second song by SIA.

Sia has an amazing voice.

Thanks again for your friendship and honestly I am so happy for you.

ces't tres belle......

la fleur de mon pere jardin....

pour vous...

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER!

Happy Fathers Day PAPI

to my wonderful father te quiere mucho tu hija..... siempre papi....

Feliz dia de los padres.....

I survived another day of work....

It's Friday..... a strong storm passed by our way but I made it to my pad and my mom was so nice to have food ready for me when I got home. My dad came to pick her up so now I am alone again. Even though I live here now and have her so close by I still feel sadness when she leaves.

When I lived in MO and I hate to think about this, but when my family came to visit and then they would leave I would cry for hours because I always felt so alone.
I loved when people came to visit, but it was better if they didn't because my heart would break when they left.

Thank GOD that I don't have to deal with that anymore.

I will see her again on Sunday as I will visit my dad for father's day. Tomorrow not sure what is going on hope it's a sunny day.

Another day off on Monday hopefully I will be able to go to the zoo again with the boys or maybe Navy Pier.... I have not been there in a while. Another place that brings back memories. Whatever I end up doing I will definitely bring my camera along.

Patti, these angel pics are taken at a cemetery going towards downtown Chicago right before you get to Oak Park. There is another cemetery that I am dying to go to that is right before the Harlem exit... I see a lot of angels when I pass by it. Not sure what I will do tomorrow maybe if it's nice I might end up there.

Peace to you.

dedicated to the thief of my HEART.......

as I got in my car today after work to go home something came to my mind....

Why is it that sometimes you want what you can't have.

I thought about this all the way home...

Not sure why this happens.

Is it because maybe life itself tries to protect you from what the results might be. The consequences that I might not be able to handle.

As I sit here and still think about it.....

Why does that happen?

I want what I can't have - maybe it's just not meant to be.

Brookfield Zoo

where do you take two restless boys already bored and they are only out of school I would say for a week.

Yes, the zoo.

We were there yesterday almost all day.

I got them tired, so tired that when we got to Panera they were eating quietly.

Stingray bay was the best, I swear we were there for almost an hour and the boys still did not want to leave.... you get to pet and feed the non poisonous baby stingrays and they loved that.
Let me tell ya they are very slimy....

At the end they wanted to do a little zoo shop shopping... my boys love stuffed animals especially from the zoo. They ended up leaving with two stuffed otters which by now I am sure who knows where they are.

I have to admit though that all the way at the bottom the cute pink hanging monkey did catch my eye.

Maybe next time.

so on my way home from the zoo today guess where I ended up at? Yes, the cemetery. If I remember correctly this is the same cemetery where they robbed me almost two years ago when I had just moved here from MO. This time I was extra careful, locked my purse in the trunk and drove my car close to where the angels were that I wanted to photograph. Here are three of the best pictures that I took. There are others but I will save those to post later. I totally worn out. Up since 6:30 this morning. Feed the boys and off we went to the zoo. I will post zoo pics later I just wanted to post these first as I had been wanting to take more pics of these wonderful statues.

Tomorrow I am off to spend all day with my best friend JLO and then to downtown Chicago to help a co-worker celebrate his b-day. Honestly, I hate dressing up but I guess I have to so hopefully she will be my fashion guru as I am happy just wearing jeans and a black shirt.

Peace to you.....