Road trip to Chicago!
Although the kids would have preferred to fly, A and I decided to load up the car and
drive to Chicago for my four day medical conference. Even with one stop, our journey was just over five hours. We borrowed Grandma's DVD players and watched movies most of the way.
We've been promising AA an American Girl doll for her thumb sucking feat this summer … I finally was able to take her to pick one out! We walked hand in hand down Michigan Avenue to the Big Store. It's very rare that we get girl time like this. After carefully looking at all of the dolls,
AA narrowed it down to three. She sat and compared her top three choices for about fifteen minutes. Finally, she chose the "Just Like Me" doll ...
same color hair and eyes. She named her "Penelope Julia" (I have no idea how or why - but the name has stuck!).
Probably the last time we'll be making a big purchase like this, so I real tried to soak it all in. She was so gracious and excited!
A did a great job trying to keep the kids entertained while I was at "school" … he took them to The Lincoln Zoo and the Children's museum. They swam in the hotel pool each afternoon. We tried to go out for iconic Chicago pizza a few nights … but Baby J just wasn't into waiting patiently!
We all ventured to Shed Aquariam yesterday morning
and then just happened to be in the right spot at the right time for the big Holiday Parade Saturday evening. Good thing I packed our hats at the last minute!
Life (with kids) is always easier when we all sleep in our own beds, eat our normal foods, and stick to our normal routine. These four days were none of that. (Sometimes not even close!). But we made great memories … and as we were leaving today, JP asked "Can we please all go with you again on your next work trip?!?!".
