Illinois

Kyle is sleeping and I think I've caught up on enough rest to write a coherent sentence in order to finally write about our trip to Illinois. We had such a great time. The first two days were spent at Grandma Sally's house. It was nice to plant ourselves somewhere and not do too much at first. We'd had a weekend full of flights and driving, so we were pretty tired. A highlight for all of us was a family dinner with all of Rudy's siblings in town. His brother, Randy, was in town for just two nights before flying out to India so it was perfect timing that we all got to be together. Then, the following day, I got treated to a manicure! Hadn't been in a nail salon for at least a year and a half, so that was exciting! For lunch, I was introduced to my first Chicago style hot dog. I had ordered just a plain dog with ketchup and mustard. This was unacceptable by GSal's standards and so I gave "the works" a shot. For not eating red meat aside from an occasional hamburger, would you believe I loved it?? I was hooked and every day after that, I had one! I don't know of any place around home besides a ball park where you can buy a hot dog, so I was living it up! :)

Our third day took us to Uncle Todd and Aunt Donna's house. Again, we had such a good time. Both dads and their sons enjoyed playing and doing some guy things. They built a bbq grill together and we ate a delicious meal from it. Later in the evening we had a bonfire and my brother came over to hang out. It was really nice to see him, as if he lived just next door. All too soon we were packing our bags for a trip to the city to see our friends, Doug and Claudiana.

The city. How do I summarize? I LOVE it!! Thanks to our friends who gave us the grand tour, we got to experience a bit of what the city has to offer. Our first stop was an underground hot dog eatery. Loved it. Then, we took a ride on the El to start our tour of State St. and Michigan Blvd. I know I must sound a little overly excited about such common things as public transportation and metropolitan shopping. Coming from the LA area myself, it sounds kind of weird, but several of my favorite movies of all time were filmed there and I have tons of pictures in my head that I got to experience or see. Also, there really isn't a good public transportation system in southern California, so this was unique and I really liked it. Ok, back to the city. We exhausted ourselves and our little son by all the walking we did and instead of describing it all, I'll let the pictures do their job. When we finally got back to D&C's house we had dinner out on their back patio with tall, brick buildings complete with fire escapes, and again, I thought I was in a movie. This time, it was a Batman one. Ok, now I'm even laughing at myself. Just trying to help out my visual readers here! ;)

The following day we went back to the city with Gina and met up with Doug for a little Italian bakery treat and then with Rudy's sister, Rachel, for a picnic lunch in Millennium Park. Afterwards we got to visit her at her work at the Art Institute and take a look at some beautiful exhibits. I'd love to go back again with more time.

We're so thankful for Gina's job, which provides us with tickets to fly. It's nice to be able to take trips back and forth and we look forward to enjoying Kyle's anticipation of future trips to visit the family. Thanks to everyone we visited. Your hospitality and generosity as well as easy-going nature is really appreciated! Also, thanks for all the love you give to our little Kyle.

Here is a slide show of pictures from our trip starting in South Dakota. They are in order and hopefully tell a story. Would you believe I uploaded less than half?? Yes, that's more than 300 total pictures. We're a little camera happy. You can click on any picture to enter the album in a larger format.