BIRTHDAY BOY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUNKY HUSBAND!

It's always a double holiday weekend because Trevor's birthday is always in line with Memorial Day weekend. This time I was already at my parents house and so when Trevor's flew in they picked up Portillos on the way back from the airport. His birthday weekend started off on a good note with their infamous chocolate cake shakes. 

 On Friday we went into the city to visit my Braden & Tori. We also wanted to have Will's first Chicago experience before my parents move and we don't have a free place to stay. We packed the day with a Shed/Planetarium city skyline, Lincoln Park Zoo, Millennium park (which included Daley Park & the Bean), the best deep dish pizza (according to the expert Braden), the river walk & finished with dinner at The Grand Lux. 

Saturday's birthday fun continued when we went downtown Naperville, had brunch at Egg Harbor Cafe and walked around the river walk. Really Trevor's birthday weekend revolved around good food from the cinnamon roll french toast at breakfast to the Andy's custard post dinner we hit all our favorites. Extra birthday bonus was eating custard & watching the basketball game on a phone propped up on my wheelchair. 

Sunday was Trevor's actual birthday. It was a pretty relaxing day with church, some rest & family dinner. Tori's sister was visiting them in the city so Braden & Tori didn't make it to the suburbs, but sister Laura & Christian were in town to see us of course - and they just happened to be flying out that afternoon for Italy. So it was a little crazy with packing and flying out. But we had time for a family dinner & cake. We grilled steaks for the boys, I made kabobs & my mom made her famous Oreo ice cream cake. 

What more could you ask for: 

BIRTHDAY STEAK + BIRTHDAY CAKE

 Alyssa, Drew & Genevieve were able to join in the birthday festivities. Since the rest of my family left for the airport we got to hang out with some of our favorite humans. Will & Genevieve are only 3 months apart and it was so fun watching the interact and play together. 

On Monday we finished off Trevor's birthday weekend with some Panera cinnamon crunch bagels & the Morton Arboretum which ended in a rainstorm & coming back to my parents to pack up and head home after an action pack birthday weekend.

Trevor is the kindest and most patient husband and father and I loved getting to celebrate him & make him feel special. Click here for last years highlights and predictions he was 2/4 in his predictions/things he's looking forward to this next year. Well see how this next year goes, but regardless of what happens I know it's going to be a good year:

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 27

-watching Will grow cuter and cuter

-our trip to Hawaii

-the San Diego weekend hikes/beach time

-

PREDICTIONS FOR 28

-job promotion or change

-move (maybe into a house or to a different state)

-get pregnant 

(this may have been one of his predictions from last year,

but this time I'm actually on board)

N Y C

Well if you didn't already know we flew out to NYC to be on THE TODAY SHOW. 
Our segment is airing again on September 2nd if you want to catch it on television or you can just click HERE. It still doesn't feel real that we were on the Today Show and it was all such a whirlwind. There was so much we weren't able to get to on the show. They had initially planned for two segments, but last minute had to cut it down to one. In the end we all experience loss and grief, but it's what we do with those experiences and how we move forward. And how I've chosen to move forward with joy & optimism and built a beautiful life with my t.v. acclaimed "hunky husband". 

Honestly, I'm not a big city person so when it comes to planning vacations I wouldn't have chosen to visit NYC. But back in April the Today show reached out to me about coming on the show. It's still all such a blur and most days I can't believe it ever happened. But since we had a complimentary trip out to New York we figured we might as well make the most of our visit. 

   

CENTRAL PARK ADVENTURES

Tori wasn't able to take off work and so Braden made the trip solo. But we still made him take a missing you picture. The also got engaged here in NYC Central Park. So this picture was a MUST.

The next morning we were up and at 'em early for the Today Show. Oh yeah did I mention that the Today Show flew us out there? A producer had reached out to me earlier in the year and we finally made some dates work. They came out to the house to film a month before we visited the show. After hours of filming at the house, b-roll, and days of getting photos and videos from before, during and after the accident. It made me realize how much work goes into a 5 minute segment.

It was so fun to have (almost) the whole family with there to support me and be apart of the experience. Our piece was supposed to be two segments, but last minute it got cut down to one & so Trevor was out on the couch with me & Grandpa was on standby with Will for their air time.

 

After the Today Show whirlwind, we made a stop over at the Top of the Rock aka The Rockefeller Building. It was a bit chilly & blustery day, but so fun to explore the city together.

We made it to Los Tacos which was definitely a success & a favorite!

While at the 9/11 Museum I realized that we were running out of time and probably should have given ourselves another day. But we managed to make it there, say goodbye to everyone & still had a few hours until our flight so 

After a little rain storm we made it to the Brooklyn Bridge. Will was so tired and we were so ready to get home. Without all my family to help out we had to only take the accessible stations. Fun fact: not every subway station has accessible entrances. So you either have to get off early of late to get to some of the stops you want. The accessible entrances have elevators and then you have to get someone to unlock the gate to get through to the subway station.  

           

Thanks to the Today Show for bringing us to your city to explore. It was a wonderful first and most likely our last.