And back to Chicago again

Sophie & I made a beeline to the American Girl store when we made it back to Chicago, and Rod & Ben opted to take a tour of the John Hancock building. We didn't go too crazy in the store; Sophie had scoured the website & had picked out exactly what she wanted beforehand and had done extra work to earn money to spend. Ben was thrilled to see a Lego store next door & then we made it to the train station with seconds to spare. A fun trip but the close quarters in the train made us solo glad to get home!

Trip

The cooler weather was kind of awesome. We went to the movies, the park, to help Uncle Kent move some dirt at the park he's building, to the OH Caverns & also a friend's lake. And in between their grandma & aunts spoiled them with their favorite foods. I'm going to have to step it up a notch in the kitchen when we come back! It was a good visit & the kids hated to leave.

Ohio!

We celebrated Rod's mom's 80th birthday on Sunday. It's not until November but we wanted to surprise her. I think we did! It was a great day & she seemed to enjoy it a lot. A big thanks to Nadine & Chad for hosting/planning & to them, Connie, Kent, Lois & Chris for all of their hard work. The kids always play with Brooke & Jasmine when we're there and we literally didn't see the kids all day, they were having such a good time together. I love the how pretty much every house up north has a basement-perfect place for the kids to play!

Chicago

When we got to Chicago, we rented a car & went on an architectural boat tour. Of course we had to stop for an authentic Chicago hot dog! We all loved the boat tour & the kids enjoyed all the history. 

Train Ride to Chicago

The next day it was time for us to pack as lightly as possible (very difficult for me) and board the train in NOLA. We made it despite bad rain the whole way. It was a good trip & everyone slept well except for me! It was pretty neat having a relaxing trip & not having to be cooped up in the car. We had a family sleeper bedroom, which was still pretty tiny but had a big sofa & chairs that folded out into 4 beds at night. The food was actually pretty yummy, who would've thought? Rod & I even had steak one night & Sophie was happy with her pasta. I swear she's going to become a vegetarian. Ben had roast... he's definitely a carnivore!

4th of July

Despite crazy rain lately, we had a pretty nice 4th. Our friends who are moving away to Ohio came over to eat with us and swim. It was a fun night full of fireworks... ours & lots of neighborhood ones!