Chicago!

Just after Christmas, the kids and I flew to Chicago to visit with friends.  We were lucky enough to spend one whole day and night with the Dolvigs.  It was a great time.  Evan wasn't quite himself as he was not feeling well, but we still had fun. We took the kids to a local children's museum (very similar in size to the Austin children's museum).  There, the kids enjoyed playing dress-up.

After that, we headed home for naps and relaxing.  Then, it was off to dinner. We went to a really fun restaurant in a nearby suburb.  We had to wait for a few minutes so we snapped a few pics of the kids.

 Evan and Camden

Making funny faces or something

 Screaming for joy that our table is ready!

Here we are all sitting at the counter. See, this is a very small diner but it has a really neat feature...

A train which brings the food around!! How cool is that! 

Evan watching the train go by. 

 Afterwards, a quick ride on the horse.

The reason we were coming to Chicago was so that I could meet up with a few of my college girlfriends.  My mom drove up from Indy to watch the kids so I could visit with them.  We hadn't seen each other in over 2 years!

 Sarah, 'Aine, Kristin, me, and the kids

My mom took the kids back down to Indy while I got to explore Chicago with the girls and Danny (Kristin's husband). The weather was actually rather nice one day so we walked around town. We stayed at the Amalfi which is very close to Michigan Ave and the river so right downtown.  It was a great hotel if anyone is ever looking. Each evening they had a happy hour and the staff was so helpful and friendly.

 This is at the amphitheater in Millennium Park

 There is this big silver ball like thing (the kidney bean) in the middle of the park that is very reflective. So you take pictures of yourself taking pictures. This was the picture I took of us looking into the bean.

This was from underneath the bean looking up. We are somewhere in the middle there.

Kristin, 'Aine, and Sarah on our beautiful Chicago day

Kristin, 'Aine, and I 

 Sarah, 'Aine, and Kristin standing underneath Marilyn Monroe (see next picture for it to make more sense)

Random statue they have on Michigan Ave

We had a fabulous time catching up and enjoying each other's company.  After a few moments, it's like we hadn't been apart for over 2 years!  We ate some wonderful food, relaxed, had drinks at the top of the Hancock center, and of course shopped!  Hopefully we will be able to do it again sooner rather than later.