What a week!

So we had a great time in Chicago last weekend. We drove up Saturday and got there in time for Chris's open house. After visiting with folks there for about an hour, and getting a tour of the place, we headed to our hotel to check in. Once we'd gotten oriented, we headed in toward town to have dinner with the Rosenows. Charlie had a blast playing with the other kids. And he was so well behaved for us, after a long day in the car.

On Sunday I went to Chris's wedding and the brunch reception-- the food was delicious! And I loved the location. I am so happy for both of them. Charlie napped in the car for most of the time I was at the event. After John picked me up, we headed downtown, managing to avoid some of the driving snafus that we had encountered on the day before. John had quickly tired of dealing with Chicago drivers, while trying to find highway entrance ramps that didn't exist, and following internet directions that weren't always quite right!

We checked into our hotel just off Michigan Avenue, and went out for a walk to check out the location. We had a nice anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, where we both got to have a drink because neither of us had to drive home! Because the weather had turned colder than had been predicted when I packed on Friday night, we stopped and got Charlie one more long sleeved outfit while we were out.

On Monday, our day to walk around town and be tourists, it poured down rain most of the day. It calmed to a drizzle long enough for us to make our way down Michigan to the Art Institute, stopping a few times to do a little shopping here and there. We bought Charlie some new shoes at Nike Town, and John got a new rain jacket. The rain jacket came in handy by the time we left the museum, when the rain was coming down in buckets. Charlie had fallen asleep while we were checking out the O'Keefe's, and he completely slept through our dash to the subway station, our misguided attempt to get the stroller through a non-handicap-accessible station, our subsequent success at getting to a different station, the ride back up toward our hotel, and the rest of the trip to our room.

After a couple of hours relaxing and letting Charlie play in the hotel room, we noticed the sun had come out. So we got ourselves together and headed out for Chicago style pizza for an early dinner. Along the way, Charlie started going "oooh ooooh" when an ambulance would pass us on the street, as if he were imitating the siren. He seemed to love the crowds and the city streets. We also stopped at Lego town (where I successfully discouraged John from buying a $600, 10,000+ piece Millennium Falcon.) Charlie got fussy during dinner, so we headed back to the room pretty quickly-- although we did stop at the Ghiradelli shop for some great ice cream. By 9:30, we had put Charlie to bed, and I was falling asleep to Monday night football. So we called it an early night!

Tuesday was a beautiful day, and we were sorry to have to leave town. We packed up the car, and headed to the Museum of Science and Industry on our way out of town. The kids' area at the museum was wonderful, and Charlie had a great time. We only got to see small pieces of the museum because we wanted to get on the road, and I definitely would like to take him back there when he's older. I was impressed with what they had done to upgrade the U-boat display since I had been there about 15 years ago. John took the extra $5 tour of the sub, and determined that he was not built for being a submariner. Six hours later, we were home and picking up a very happy-to-see-us Lucy dog.

All in all, the trip was great. Our choice of hotel downtown was perfect, and Charlie was well behaved most of the time. And the rain didn't hamper our plans too much at all. In fact, it provided many extra laughs, as we attempted to shield Charlie in the stroller with our giant Ikea umbrella while walking down the street and avoiding giant puddles and crazy taxi drivers.

The rest of the week was busy at work, as we tried to catch up with the short week. Friday night we took Charlie out with us for Indian food, where he again displayed his fondness for saag. He couldn't get enough! Saturday night we enjoyed the company of the rest of the band, who stayed after practice to watch the Ohio State game.

Yesterday, I took Charlie to Gorman Farm, about 10 minutes from the house. Their Sunflower Festival was kind of a dud as far as the sunflowers go (due to recent drought), but Charlie loved looking at the farm animals, and climbing around the pumpkin displays. He was especially interested in the cows and the sheep, but the goats and chickens also got his attention. I've posted some photos on my flickr site.