Four Feet More

We are back home and recovering from our trip to Chicago. It was actually a pretty low-key trip, but many things happened, both good and bad, which made the visit a little more eventful than we had anticipated. Here are the highlights and lowlights (I'll start with the bad first).

Lowlights:
1) Checking into the hotel the night of our arrival, only to find that the room I booked months ago for 5 people was not the room they had for us. Since there was only room for 4 people to sleep, the attendant at the front desk told me she would give us a blanket and pillow so someone could sleep on the floor.

2) Moving to the second hotel, in which we were assured they did have a room available for 5 people, only to be given a room that slept 4. By this time, it was midnight and we were very cranky. Luckily, after much searching, the hotel was able to scrounge up a roll-a-way bed, so no one had to sleep on the floor!

3) Having the lock on our hotel room door malfunction our second night in town, resulting in us sitting in the hall, waiting for an hour, while key after key was used in an attempt to gain entry to the room. At 10 pm, we were finally able to get in by going through the adjoining room (which luckily, was a conference facility, and therefore not occupied by sleeping guests).

4) Dealing with frequent meltdowns from Vika and Eamon, who seemed to have a hard time adjusting to "travel life." It was definitely a parental learning time for Jeff and me!


Highlights:
1) Seeing my grandpa (Gramps), who recently had to be moved to a nursing home due to his declining health. His mind is still sharp though, and I had a great time chatting with him over lunch. The kids also enjoyed meeting him, and especially had fun pushing him around in his wheelchair.

2) Visiting my uncle Tony, his wife Nicki and their three kids, Mackenzie, Christopher, and Mallory for a barbeque. My kids are close to Mackenzie in age and had a blast playing with her.



3) Watching my uncle Tony (a world-renowned Pediatric Dermatologist) play the "Dance Dance Revolution" game in his living room, and then react with unsportsmanly-like glee when he beat his 8 year old son in a "dance-off."

4) Our visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a nice day out with Ali and the kids, and the park was beautiful. It was also the first time Vika and Eamon had ever seen or ridden on a carousel - a momentous occasion indeed!


5) Eating ice cream and drinking malts as big as our heads at the Oberweis Dairy.

6) Watching the kids run around in the water fountain play area outside the Oberweis Dairy, while attempting to dodge the water splashes an older, oblivious child kept directing our way (I couldn't have my new camera getting wet!)

All in all, it was a nice trip, and we successfully accomplished our main goal in going to Chicago - having the kids meet Gramps. They are his first great-grandkids, and it was important to us that they were all able to meet each other before Gramps' health declines further (which, hopefully will not be for a long, LONG time). It was also great to have the kids meet their cousins and Aunt Nicki. It was difficult explaining why we can't see them more often, but hopefully a visit from Tony's family to California will happen in the not-too-distant future, so the kids can all play together again.