7/26/2012

We just got back from a week long trip to Chicago.  A good time was had by all.  Josh and Ryan got to see their friends and mom and dad got some long awaited free time.  

Our trip started out kind of rocky.  Our 8pm flight didnt leave until around 11pm due to supposed weather in Chicago and the boys were very well nehaved although bored while waiting for our flight.  Once in the air Josh promptly fell asleep as did daddy since they were sitting together.  Ryan on the other hand, always the night owl, took a while to settle in.  I am not sure if it was because of his dislike of flying or if he really wasn't tired but either way, he did finally fall asleep and mommy got a few minutes of rest as well.  When we finally landed about midnight, Jeff and Josh went to get the rental car while mommy and Ryan waited for our bag.  Once we had our things and the car (which Josh was disappointed wasn't the pickup truck he thought Jeff should have picked) we were off to the Holiday Inn Express for a few hours of sleep and to start our week in Northbrook.  

First thing Saturday morning we headed to Grandmas house to drop off the boys and their things then set off on our first busy day of the week.  Ryan spent the day with his good friend Jeremy and Josh spent it with T and Blake.  That evening we had dinner with our friends and sent the boys home to sleep with Grandma and Papa.  Finally...alone time for mom and dad.   Zzzzzzzzzz.  We were pooped.

The rest of the week was alot like Saturday with playdates and tons of meals out.  We saw all of the Rudo clan, the Telpners, the Levins, Uncle David, Aunt Diane and Sam and many others.  The only person we didn't see was Lore who we  miss tons.  We never heard back from her when we got there.  We hope she will come visit us soon.  We had all of our favorite thngs to eat (except Lou Malnatis and DQ).  Josh spent an afternoon at the skate park with the Telpners and although nervous at first had a great time going up and down the ramps on bikes and scooters.

Ryan wanted desperately to go to the Shedd Aquarium so we spent a day there.  We saw the dolphin show, checked out the penguins, sharks, amphibians, etc.  It was a million dollars for the day but Ryan smiled through every minute so it was worth every penny. 

We spent ALOT of time and money at Ron's skate shop since the boys needed new skates, helmets etc.  There is no pro shop hear we can use (so overpriced) so I guess this will be a regular part of our trips to town.  I think that was four or five trips to the rink alone.  Thanks Ron and Faye for everything!

Monday night we went to Wildfire to celebrate Josh's birthday with the Sandlers.  While Josh did not enjoy it so much because he didn't get to choose the restaurant and therefore did not get to have what he wanted for dinner he really loved his cake from Deerfield's (even though it was a little too cold and shouldnt have been refrigerated when we got there, my fault).  It was good to be with everyone regardless.

As the week wore on everyone got more and more tired and more and more ready to come home.  While it was great to see everyone, eating out every meal gets very tiresome and sleeping in other peoples beds gets old.  By Friday night we were back at O'Hare sleeping at  the Hilton and getting ready for our 7am flight home.  Although nobody got much sleep because our little night owl Ryan kept us all up.  Thank goodness our flight was on time so we were able to grab our luggae, get in the car and race to pick up Maggie and Jaxx  before the kennel closed for the day.