How do I always get so far behind! Before I post about our fun weekend trip to Chicago a couple of weeks ago, I just have to show a picture from our first 4th of July back in America. It was a crummy day and we wondered if the fireworks would happen. They did without any rain! It was great to have Austin, David, Mandy and Grandma and Grandpa N with us to celebrate. The boys loved the huge fireworks!
My best friend Alicia (we have been friends since Kindergarten!) and her hubby Jim have been wanting us to come spend a weekend with them in Chicago for years and we finally did it! They built a beautiful house and had plenty of space for us. We started out on Saturday afternoon with a visit to The Choo-Choo. It is this little restaurant in Des Plaines that opened in 1951 - that is "OLD" for the USA!. There is a train track that runs around the counter and your food comes out on the train in baskets. The boys had a blast. Nothing like starting out the trip with a greasy burger and fries!
We arrived at their place, which is fairly close to Wrigley Field where the Cubs were playing the Cardinals. We decided to take a walk and see all of the action.
This was our view for a few minutes. Just wishing that we had tickets so the boys could experience a great baseball game in the best stadium in America.
We hopped on the "L" and took a trip to downtown. We started at Millennium Park and the boys just couldn't wait to jump in the fountains.
I didn't bring their swimsuits so while they were getting soaked, I figured I better just do a little shopping for some underwear and shorts or it might make for a long afternoon/evening. It might have been just an excuse to shop...only wishing I didn't get to do LOTS more shopping. Alicia and I decided we better get some snacks so she went to Garrett's for some buttery soaked popcorn. It was delicious! I should have taken a picture of Max and Blake with the butter just dripping from their hands and face, but I couldn't tear myself away from the bag to wash my hands to get the camera!
We continued our walk through the park and Dan and Jim got volunteered to be a part of a performers act. The boys thought it was funny, but I think Dan and Jim could have done without it!
We decided to walk to Navy Pier and check out the activities there. Blake fell a couple times on the way and skinned his knee, elbow, and who knows what else, so it made for a long walk!
It was a beautiful day and nice to just relax with our friends.
On Sunday morning, Dan and Jim decided to walk back to Wrigley to see if there were any tickets for the afternoon game. There was a game at noon and a make up game at 7:00p. They were selling tickets, but it was only 1 per person and you had to go directly into the stadium. That wasn't going to work as Jim and Alicia had just been to the game on Friday and weren't planning to go again and the boys and I were still getting ready back at the house. Jim managed to find his friend that worked at Wrigley and asked him if he could get 4 tickets for the game. He did and we were so thrilled!
We weren't at all prepared with Cubbie attire, but we are now thanks to a stop on the way back from the game! The boys are now die-hard Cub fans and Grandpa N couldn't be more happy!...Their brother David, on the other hand, is still working to convert them to Cardinal fans.
It was a beautiful day at the ballpark and we were so thankful that Jim had connections! The Cubs won 7 to 3 so there was lots of action. We moved seats a couple of times and ended up with great ones!
Thanks Jim and Alicia for a great weekend! It was wonderful to spend time with you in the city and we'll have to do an adult only weekend next time!
They had 3 horses and told us all about them. This one was called "Sassy". She is normally the most calm, but got a little spooked while Max was riding. He held on very tight while getting run around a bit. Dan was more scared than he was! He stayed on her for a little while longer until it was time to let Blake have a go!
Both Max and Blake had a great time and would have stayed a lot longer, but we had to do some fishing!!
Austin has a little pond at his condo complex and it was a lucky day for the little guys! Blake was the first to catch one and the excitement just kept coming! (Notice the sweatshirts/jackets...it is mid-July!!!)
Blake ended up catching 10 fish and Max ended up with 7! They were so excited and had to go back again on Sunday. We weren't so lucky that day but at least now they know that we can actually catch fish when you go fishing!
Dan even got one! Granted, he spent most of the day baiting the hooks and pulling the hooks out of the caught fish. There were a few floating belly up by the end of the day! Sorry little fish...
Thanks Austin for letting us come visit! We had a great time and will see you very soon in Colorado! We leave tomorrow for a 2 week trip which includes a week with Dan's family for a reunion and then a couple days with my brother. We are driving so I need to get finding the movies!
When Blake woke up on his birthday, Max and Mommy had the birthday donut all ready to go. Just check out how many candles are on it?! Two funny stories about this. 1) I was only going to put one on it and Max said, "Mom, why does he just have 1 candle, he needs 3." Ok, so mom puts 3 candles on....we didn't even realize we had done it until we went to bed. 2) I did the same thing for Max's 5th birthday, only he reminded me before he blew them out that he needed 5 and not 4. I am losing my mind more and more every day!
The wonderful world of Chuck E Cheese! For those of you from England, it is a place to take the kids to eat horrible pizza and play loads of games for tickets. These tickets are then used to purchase the most useless toys that break in a minute! The kids love it though!
Blake was so proud of his Harley cake! Max was a little scared to eat it at first...his last experience at this place was for Clyde's 4th birthday. We got him a bright green dinosaur cupcake cake with way too much frosting! Max ate way over his limit and proceeded to get sick all over Grandma's cream carpet that night (with Kara sharing the room with him!). We took off quite a bit of the frosting this time. So, Max thoroughly enjoyed it and his tummy didn't mind either.
Thank goodness that David was at the party to help Blake earn so many of these wonderful tickets! I can't even remember what he bought....I do know he got at least one Laffy Taffy!
Here is the fireman getting all suited up and explaining to the kids about fire safety.
We quickly ran over to the race car after the presentation to make sure the boys could see it and Blake could sit in it.
He is living his dream at the moment!
