Father's Day

In case any of you are reading this and didn't know, let me just tell you - James is an incredible Father! He really is. James loves our little girl so much, and she adores her daddy. Not long before Father's Day, I went on a four day girls trip to New York City to spend time with some friends from grad school and James watched this girl for four days straight. That's not the first time he's done that. I've had a few other work trips, and another girls trip where I've been away. The longest I've ever been alone with Madeline is one night. What was so interesting about this last time away is that I came home, and these two had noticeably bonded more deeply in my absence. Madeline had been going through a strong "mommy" phase the past month or so - which is fairly typical around 15-17 months. Sometimes when James would sit down with her and a book, she would take the book from him and bring it to me to read- silly girl. But while I was gone, these two had a blast together - play dates at the park, library trips, bagel shop dates, rendev-vous to the Farmers Market, etc. And I could just tell that she had clicked with her daddy even more deeply when I was gone - she even started calling him Dada much more regularly. I have been so grateful for the ways he cares for Madeline as a daughter and me as a mother. Spending time with us has been a huge priority for him. 

We had such a wonderful day together on Father's Day this year. We started off by having him open a few gifts - a framed picture of Madeline, and a gift bag of some of his favorite drinks and snacks. 

Then we took off for Lincoln Park to explore the Lincoln Park Zoo. This was James' suggestion, and I'm so glad we went. Chicago actually has two zoos - and the Brookfield Zoo is the bigger one. But, the Lincoln Park Zoo is FREE!!! And we were very impressed with it - it was full of fun and exotic animals - zebras, gorillas, monkeys, leopards, lion, etc.

This was the beautiful view of the city from the zoo.

This gorilla was HUGE!!! I haven't been to a zoo since I was a kid, maybe 12 at the oldest. And this gorilla was just an arm stretch away from us behind the glass. Madeline's little eyes were like saucers watching this guy move around - and honestly, so were mine.

Madeline's personal favorite was the seals. We could watch them swimming in circles from the lower tank level, and anytime one came by she let out a loud, "Wow!" And as soon as it left she would say, "uh, oh!" So funny.

The zoo is also right near the Lincoln Park beaches. So we packed a picnic and walked it to the beach - that was so fun! Madeline loved getting her little tootsies wet in the water. I'll have to try to get her back to the beach sometime this summer for a full beach day.

Love this picture of these two. So sweet. Such loves. 

Happy Father's Day, James!