Visiting Home (Warning: Mega Post)

As many of you know I grew up outside of Chicago. My parents moved to Maryland after my freshmen year in college and sadly I have not returned to my hometown in almost 9 and a half years! Each year I say - We have to go back to Chicago this year. But it just gets more expensive and harder with more children. This year seemed like a good year and I talked my parents into meeting out there. We had a 6:55 am flight Friday morning which meant we had to wake up at 4:00 am. With all the excitement of leaving the next day I only slept 2 1/2 hours the night before. It made for a very sleepy ride to Chicago with a baby who didn't cooperate with my napping plans.

When we arrived in Aurora and pulled into our old neighborhood - a bunch of our old neighbors were standing out in front of my old house waiting for us! It was so good to see everyone that I knew growing up. We had such great neighbors where we lived. The first thing I noticed were how big the trees had gotten. Everything else pretty much looked the same.

The house I grew up in from the time I was 3 years old til I left for college.

Friday night I met some of my high school friends at Carraba's for dinner. Two hours just didn't seem long enough to catch up on nine years. I wished I could have spent more time with them.

On Saturday we went into the city and showed Andy and the boys some of the sites. They have a great new park called Millenial (?) Park with great sculptures like this giant reflective bean thing. Tyler really liked it.

We walked up and down Michigan Ave. I was bummed that some of the stores weren't as cool as I remembered and the big toy store FAO Swartz wasn't even there anymore. The kids were worn out and fell asleep.

Andy and I on the Chicago River near the Wrigley Building

Another cool art exhibit at the park. There's two of these towers that reflect different faces and have water streaming down them.

Tyler really liked these lions at the Art Museum. After all that walking we went to my favorite restaurant in Chicago - Chicago Pizza and Ovengrinder. They've been around for 40 years and have these great Pizza pot pies. I also love their Great American salad with sweet and sour poppy seed dressing and Mediterranean Bread. I wished I'd taken a picture.

That night the boys swam in the hotel pool with my dad and Andy while my mom and I went to the Relief Society broadcast at our old Stake Center and saw more friends from church. On Sunday we drove around my hometown more and saw my old highschool, elementary school etc. We went to our old ward. It was great to see so many families I knew growing up that are still there. We visited some family friends in Prestbury after church. Tyler and Bryce loved sitting on their bench. We took the kids to Prestbury pond after dinner. I'd forgotten how many ponds and lakes there are in Illinois.

I like this shot of Andy and Tyler at Prestbury Pond.

Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry before we went headed to the airport. The kids really liked this Museum since there's so much hands on stuff. We were there 5 hours and still didn't see everything.

The kids really liked this Farm exhibit. Tyler got to drive a simulated Tractor.

I loved Bryce's enthusiasm over this exhibit.

On the Main level was a great exhibit for the kids called the Idea Factory. They had fun science like toys for kids of all ages. Even this little climbing gym for Bryce.

It gave me some ideas for Christmas....

Tyler steering the ship. Overall it seemed like a whirlwind trip but we're really glad we did it. Now I just wish I lived close enough to go back more often. There were so many more things Andy and I wanted to do in Chicago. We'll just have to plan another trip I guess! The boys are at a great traveling age too. They were always so good. They even both slept through the night every night at the hotel! I can't remember the last time we took a vacation where I actually got sleep too! That was the icing on the cake for me.