Beach/Bubble Drinks/Friday Night Lights 7/12

...But sometimes they come back...
Megan slept in late and Nora watched Gilmore Girls and Full House in the guest room. Sharon made us raspberry pancakes and fake tofu bacon stuff that looked like fancy food for dogs. We got swim suits on and walked a mile to the beach and tanned and swam for a few hours while Sharon talked on the phone. On the way home we stopped at a Chinese restaurant and got Chinese bubble drinks. Really, they're smoothies with black tapioca balls at the bottom that are really chewy and they give you a wide straw so you can suck them up easily. They were weird, but good at the same time; see pics above.



Later we drove to Sweet Mandy B's and shared one of their yummy cupcakes. It was a very cute shop with very cute desserts. Then we walked to the Bourgeois Pig Cafe and got ice cream. Then we went home and finished Season 3 of Friday Night Lights. Then we stayed up until 2:00 a.m. googling cute Friday Night Lights boys and watching Season 4 promos and video clips. We tried to find the first episode, but failed.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Church/Slurpees/Water Tower Mall/Gogi Berry guy 7/11

...But sometimes they come back...

FREE SLURPEE DAY!!

On Sunday we woke up early. Before church, we stopped at 7-Eleven. Then we went to church and had bagels.Yum. After church Sharon dropped us off at the Water Tower Mall (which is 7 stories high, BTW and has a glass elevator). We took the glass elevator to the very top and browsed floor by floor until we were tired of it. Sharon then picked us up again and got more slurpees and hung out at home. We had stopped at four 7-Elevens, but only three of the locations had free slurpees for us. There was one last 7-Eleven just a block away from the house that we hadn't gone to yet. It was the sketchiest 7-Eleven we had been to that day. One of the flavors was new, titled "Gogi Berry" and we were discussing just exactly what that was when the (intoxicated?) man standing next to us started rambling on about how he is the spokesperson for Gogi Berry and how it's all good for you with lots of anti-oxidants. Then he asked us if we were coming from a bar. We said yes. Just Kidding. We said no, we're not of age, and he said something about us being twins and Sharon being our mother and she wasn't very good at it. It was awesome. Then he asked us where we live... and we're like... we live in the land of anti-oxidants...because we definitely didn't want a stalker type person on our hands.

All in all, it was quite an eventful day and we ended up with 13 free slurpee cups.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Navy Pier/IMAX/Goonies/Family 7/9-7/10

...But sometimes they come back...

On Friday, Sharon dropped us off at Navy Pier. We looked at the shops, we took photo booth pics, and saw a funny little kids pirates/magic show performance thing. We saw Eclipse in the IMAX theater there and decided that IMAX really isn't that much better than a regular movie theater, but it was fun. The movie was better than we expected, but we don't have very high expectations for the Twilight movies. Afterward we bought some delicious cheese/caramel popcorn that we munched on waiting for Sharon to pick us up. Outside, there was free juice things that we drank and a noodle. (See pic; someone obviously didn't see the sign) After she picked us up we rushed home and baked a frozen pizza then rushed to the park to see "The Goonies". It was awesome.

On Saturday, Nora's Uncle Joe and Aunt Lisa came in from Oswego and Megan and Nora ate lunch with them at a Celtic restaurant/bar thing. The food was delish. We had BBQ chicken sandwiches with lots of BBQ sauce and very good french fries. Afterward we walked to Urban Outfitters and looked at stuff there then walked home and hung out on the deck eating icees. Then after they left we watch Friday Night Lights for hours then went to bed.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

80's Movies/Oz Park 7/7-7/8

...But sometimes they come back...

On Wednesday, we woke up late and got ready to head into Adrian to do some shopping. Before we left, we had somewhat homemade pizzas, read Nicholas Sparks books, and worked on puzzles. When we got to Adrian, Megan and Nora were dropped off at Wal-Mart, while G-ma, G-pa, and Sharon grocery shopped at Meijer. Together, Megan and Nora bought two Kate Voegle CDs, and a Weezer CD. She bought a shirt and Nora bought two, which all matched. After that we went to Starbucks and Megan's debit card didn't work so she got a free frappachino. Doesn't make sense to me either. Anyways, we walked over to Meijer and checked out their 80's movies for $6 each. Megan got War Game, The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, and Nora bought Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club. Afterward we stopped by Culver's and got delicious butter burgers. Then we drove home, then went to Uncle Fred and Grace's house to visit. They had a cute beagle named Beagle. On the way home we stopped by Zita's to ask Jonathon if we wanted to come by and watch an 80's movie with us, then we went home to make peanut butter chocolate cookies for Bible School. When we were done, Jonathan came over and we watched War Games and ate cookies. It was fun.

Thursday, we woke up late again, and we had to make tacos for lunch as soon as we got up. After making and eating the tacos, we packed up and headed back to Chicago. We hung out at the house for a while, then later walked to a little ice cream shop nearby. We saw Wrigley Field and then walked through Oz Park and saw statues of Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go

Luv Nora&Meg

Back to Michigan 7/6

...But sometimes they come back...

Today we got up and packed to leave to Michigan. We stopped at McDonald's, got some food and Diet Coke, blah blah....
When we got to Michigan we started a puzzle and met a neighbor boy who needed a ride home. We went with him and Sharon and he showed us his goats and pigs and he told us that the pretty ones are girls. They had a nice pond/swimming thing that he invited us to use.
Anyways... later we went to Aunt Zita's to visit and to ride the boat. Some sort of 2nd or 3rd cousin of Nora's, Jonathon, was staying there and he had recently gotten engaged. On a whim at the grocery store the night before, we decided to get him an engagement present, and since we're kind of cheap we got him milk chocolate covered almonds.
When we got to Zita's, she and he and his grandparents were on the pontoon for a ride and we joined them and gave him his present. He handed it around, and Sharon ate like half the bag (Just kidding...well sort of) Now we're blogging and hanging out with Sharon and Jonathon in the living room, again, stealing the Wi-Fi, drinking lemonade.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Fourth of July weekend 7/6

...But sometimes they come back...

Sorry it's been so long, but we've been super busy and were out of Wi-Fi connection for a few days. Last Friday Megan and I went to Taste of Chicago and got some yummy food and listened to some bands. After a few hours we rode the subway back home so we could pack to go to Phil and JoAnn's vacation house at Lake Wildwood. When we arrived, we had to stop at the park rangers booth to get directions to the house but Sharon wouldn't stop flirting with the security guard. When we finally got away and headed to the house, we realized we didn't bring any food to share, and coincidentally, we saw a Schwann's ice cream truck. By this time it was quite dark outside, and we didn't know if they would sell any, but we stopped to ask anyway. We pulled into the nearest driveway and ran up to the truck. A few kids riding an ATV asked "Who are you?" and "What are you doing in our driveway?" and Sharon said "We're strangers! But we're buying ice cream!" So they left us alone and we bought our ice cream and drove to the house. We arrived at a house full of people including: Nora's Uncle Dan and Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Phil, Aunt JoAnn and cousin Dan, and his friend Dan. As you may conclude, it was quite confusing.

Saturday we woke up last, we also were the last ones to go to bed, but anyway, in the morning we had bacon, biscuits and gravy, and Sunny D. We all got dressed to go down to the lake and packed lunches, snacks and sunscreen. We had lot of fun swimming, getting slightly sunburned, riding jet skis and hanging out. We went back to the house to take showers and eat dinner and then went back to the lake to watch fireworks. They were pretty awesome.

4th of JULY!!!
On the fourth of July we went to Phil and JoAnn's real house and then went to see the small suburb, Mokena's 4th of July parade. We g0t lotsa candy and random toys. The little kids with numchucks were the best. The 2nd best was just a truck full of guys waving and smiling. We went back home and watched clips of different movies on TV including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Spanish, A Walk to Remember, Clueless, and He's Just Not That Into You.
(Couple hours later...)
Then we went to the cool fireworks in Mokena. There were bands playing, cannons shooting, reenactors reenacting, speakers speaking and illegal fireworks firing. After all that nonsense we FINALLY got to see the fireworks. It was really cool. We went to bed. The basement was awesome.

Monday we rode the train back to Chicago then hung out at home a while. Later we went to Nora Moreno Cargie's 50th birthday party. It was really fun and they had a great band and awesome Mexican food. We attempted to do the Mentos and Diet Coke with Mentos Gum and it failed. Then Megan and I were invited to see Toy Story 3 in 3D with two adorable 7 year olds and their mom. It was a really cool theatre with assigned seating and Megan cried her eyes out. We went back to their house and walked their dog in the creepy park and it was dark outside and there were creepy people. Then we went back and ate cereal and blueberries and strawberries.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Back to Chicago/Millennium Park/Band 7/1

...But sometimes they come back...

Yesterday we woke up again to crepes from Aunt Sharon. We packed up all of our stuff and drove back to Chicago. After our long day of traveling, we were a little tired. We unpacked our stuff and started season 2 of Friday Night Lights. Sharon heard that there was going to be cool music in Millennium Park so we decided to go check it out. We made turkey tacos for dinner.

We drove her car and payed an outrageous (ok, not that outrageous) amount of money to park the car and headed up to see the music. It was pretty crowded and the band playing was African dance music. Couples were dancing and trading partners and having a grand old time. It was very entertaining. We stayed for a while and saw the bean, then went to see the large fountains with the moving pictures of peoples' faces on them. One of them looked like, apparently, one of Sharon's ex-boyfriends, which was kind of creepy for her, and it was just generally creepy for us.

On the way home, Sharon dropped us off at McDonalds and we got icecream and fries. The End.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Lunch at Marilyn's/Amish in Hudson/Red Indian 6/30

...But sometimes they come back...

Today, we woke up late, according to Megan, earlyish, according to me, but, it's relative, you know. We drove to (Great) Aunt Marilyn's and had a nice lunch there. On the way back, we drove by Amish houses and chatted with a cute Amish boy.

When we got home we swept the pig barn (no pigs are currently residing there) and made dinner. (grilled cheese, salad and veggie straws (don't ask)) We then went to get some Red Indian ice cream and return our not-so-great movies.

We then went to Zita's to steal her Wi-Fi so we could come and blog to all of you nice people.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Pontoon/Zita's B-day/Lame movies 6/29

...But sometimes they come back...

On Wednesday we woke up quite late and had crepe mixed with pancake mixed with waffle things for breakfast that Aunt Sharon so graciously made for us (complete with blueberries and whipped cream.) Then Megan and I rode down to Zita's house for a pontoon boat ride on Lime Lake. Afterward we trimmed trees for Grandma and went into town to get Zita a b-day present. We rented two movie, 'Love Happens' (BTW, worst movie ever), and 'Year One' (Oddly much better than 'Love Happens', despite the crude humor.) When grabbing the tag to redeem the movie, Sharon almost grabbed Tyler Perry's 'I Can Do Bad All By Myself', which would have been a whole other story; luckily I told her right away.

Afterward, we had Zita's birthday dinner, complete with me, Megan, Sharon, Gma, Gpa, Zita, and Aunt Marilyn. Then they went to bed right before the sun went down, (like 8 or something) and we stayed up making fun of the movies, eating strawberry yum yum and burnt popcorn.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Michigan/Amish 6/28

...But sometimes they come back...

Today we drove 5 hours-ish to Michigan through Indiana to visit the grandparents. We saw nice Amish people who waved at us, and took a few pictures when they weren't looking.

We drove the work horse (golf cart) around by Lime Lake and watched lightning bugs. We are currently stealing Aunt Zita's Wi-Fi.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Church/Gay Pride Parade/John Hancock 6/27

...But sometimes they come back...


On Sunday, June 27th, Megan, Sharon, and I went to church at "Covenant Presbyterian Church of Chicago". It was a very large church with beautiful tapestries and paintings all around. It was a nice service, with lots of Celtic/Irish folk music. Afterward, people from the church and chatted for a bit. When we were done, Sharon dropped us off at the corner of her house so we could walk past the Gay Pride Parade. That was interesting. There was lots of colorful floats and we saw a few too many man butts than we'd like to have. (All we saw was a few.)

After that little adventure we walked back home and watched some more Friday Night Lights. (For those of you who watch the show, we're pretty addicted now and we're rooting for Matt and Julie. Oh, and that Bo kid is pretty dang adorable.)

After a while, Sharon asked us to walk down to McDonalds to get her a Diet Coke. (It's less than a block away.) We went in and there was a lot of riff raff from the parade hanging out in there. We ordered ice cream and yogurt, ate that, then Megan got back in line to order the Diet Coke for Sharon. Just as we stepped out the door, it slammed against Megan's arm and the Diet Coke went flying all over the sidewalk. It was pretty funny. So I went back in the ordered another one, and safely brought it back home to Sharon. We waited around for the guest to come that was staying in the guest house, who was supposed to come at 4:30 p.m., and didn't end up coming until about 7:00 p.m.

When she was finally settled in, we went to the John Hancock building, to the 95th floor, the Signature room, for drinks and snacks. It had an incredible view, and an even better one from the bathroom. We Valet parked, for free, one of Sharon's special deal things she does (Mystery shops). We felt very high class. The guy was very charming.

We stopped by Home Depot and then went back home, facebooked, and forgot to blog so that's why we're doing it now on our way to Michigan. We also, of course, had to watch more Friday Night Lights episodes, and then went to bed.

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Zoo/Babysitting 6/26

...But sometimes they come back...

Today Megan and I walked to the Lincoln Park Zoo which is, like, half a mile away from our house. We saw the kangaroos, deformed looking camels, zebras, a hippopotamus, rhinoceroses, piranhas, really adorable looking meercats, antelope, gorillas, apes, lions, a polar bear, cockroaches, bear cubs, giraffes, aardvarks,and a peeing monkey from like 15 feet high.

Then we came back home and at 3:50ish headed over to babysit a cute 8 year old girl named *Laura. We played and slipped and slid on the slip n' slide and, ate strawberry shortcake and frozen pizzas, named ourselves after numbers and boys. (Nora was #1 and Fred, Megan was #2 and Ned, Laura was #3 and Ted, and Sharon was #4) She danced to Alvin and the Chipmunk songs for us, and she was pretty darn cute. When we said good night she was teary eyed because she said she was never going to see us again.

We stopped at White Castle and picked up a few burgers and fries for the way home. There was some suspicious activity going on, but we weren't scared. No gang fighters would dare mess with us. Once we mumbled out of that jumble and got on back home, we parked the car a block from the house. There was some more suspicious activity that followed us home, but we locked the doors and turned out the lights.

Now we're in our last night in the "guest room", and Sharon's vacuuming away. It's 2:00 a.m., but we just got home and still have things to do.


*Name changed for safety reasons

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Tyler Hilton ;) 6/25

...But sometimes they come back...

At 11:20ish a.m. today we left to see Tyler Hilton at the John Hancock Building in the Plaza. Now, for those of you who don't know who he is, buy yourself seasons 2-4 of One Tree Hill and watch them. Right now. You done yet? Now you know who he is. Pretty great, huh?

Anyways... we got there at like 11:30 a.m. and got a good spot. He sang Sunset Blvd. and This World Will Turn Your Way from his new ep, now available on itunes, and a cover for a song he sang on One Tree Hill, Missing You. He was fantastic. On your left is a picture of him. You see that smile? That was just for us. (More pics on facebook)

Afterward we waited in line to have him autograph my bag, Megan's hand and to get out pics taken with him. Then we bought shirts and got back in line. He remembered our names and signed our shirts and my (Nora) phone.

Megan and I walked down to Navy Pier afterward, and got refreshing beverages, bought Cubs shirts and went on a stupid ride thing that cost us too much.

Tomorrow- Lincoln Park Zoo, Gay Pride Parade?, babysitting, the bean, etc. not set in stone yet.

'People Always Leave' (One Tree Hill quote!) so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

White Sox game 6/24

...but Sometimes They Come Back..:)

Today, we woke up at 10:00 a.m. and hurriedly got ready to take Megan to the 'Minute Clinic' to get Megan's face fixed. (if you want more info, just ask, we'll be glad to tell you in full detail) When we were finished, we met Sharon's friend Nora's (not me, different Nora) husband Bob and rode the red line subway to the White Sox game with seats on the 3rd base line.
We were able to buy the cheapest T-shirts (Sharon has taught us well) for $15 each. There was no scoring until the bottom of the 8th inning, where the Sox hit a home run, scoring them 2 runs. They won, yippie ya hoo ray!. It was very exciting. Sharon had to meet with a client on the way back, so Megan and I had to ride the subway back ALONE. We stared at the map outside for like, ten minutes, and still managed to go the wrong way, when we had a 50/50 chance. And...it was all Megan's fault. And she knows it. :p...
"No it wasn't!" Megan yells from beside me.
Anyways... after a few calls and a turn around or two, we finally managed to make it back home. We watched a few Friday Night Lights, and later went to Gino's and had pepperoni deep dish pizza. :) It was yummy.
On the way back home, we noticed a group of teenagers singing and dancing in green T-shirts. We decided to stop and watch, and later found out that they're a Baptist youth group from Alabama. And Nora may have found a future husband. (Maybe joking, maybe not.) And we both agreed that Jesus was much younger and cuter than we thought he would be. ;)
And tonight we plan to watch more Friday Night Lights tonight, probably not until 3:00 though, so we can be pumped for Tyler Hilton's concert tomorrow!!

'People Always Leave' so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg

Shopping in Chicago 6/23

On Tuesday, June 22nd, we hopped on a plane and flew to Chicago. We arrived in Chicago at 1:00 a.m. Chicago time. We then jumped in Aunt Sharon's car, and adventured around Chicago until 2:00 a.m. We drove by Oprah's house, Robert Ebert's house, the Willis tower (formally known as the Sears tower), stopped at 7-11 for ice cream bars, and then settled in at our new home for the next three weeks. (For the first 5 days we get to sleep in the guest suite, complete with flat screen cable tv, mini fridge, king size bed, magazines, coffee pots, dressers, wi-fi connection and a dancing, singing dog.
On Wednesday, we awoke slowly at 11:30 a.m. We turned on some cartoons and I (Nora) opened the large windows, only to hear someone faintly calling my name.
"I think Aunt Sharon wants us downstairs," I said to Megan. So we went downstairs, only to find her, along with my Uncle Phil (who is redoing the guest bathroom) locked outside.
Later, we went grocery shopping at Aldi's, Trader Joe's and got some gelato and Whole Foods. We bought souvenirs for friends back home.
Getting home, we watched Friday Night Lights and Pretty Little Liars until 3:00 a.m.

'People Always Leave', so we gotta go.

Luv Nora&Meg