the big fat chicago post–the end

Sunday, after Nena’s graduation, we returned to Chicago and hit the beach…

 

I am obsessed.

on the lake.  emi hit the sand with marcus – I stayed back with the boys.

spotted. (and blurry).

Before heading to the airport we h.a.d. to stop at this place for some quintessential Chicago-style dogs.

surveying the goods. I’m a bit embarassed to say we ordered 4 dogs – 2 chicago-style, 1 foie-gras, sauternes, and duck sausage and 1 cherry and apple pork sausage with chocolate bacon bits.  sin.  marcus was beyond bummed that the duck-fat fries were unavailable. also embarrassing… we waited in line for an hour with a 3 year old (who didn’t complain once)… totally worth it.

so sad… my last bite of hot dog fell on the floor.

classy.  this is so us… we finally get a family picture and emi’s got a mouth full of food and we’re at a hot dog joint.

All in all the trip was a smash.  Everyone behaved nicely… napped on the go… I tried to relax about ‘keeping to the schedule’ with some success and no one screamed in the airports or on the plane.  We walked like crazy, got to visit with family, talked about how much we would love to live in a big city again and ate great food.  Our one hiccup was the delay leaving Chicago.  We didn’t pull in to our driveway until 11 p.m. – Emi had fallen asleep in the car before we left the airport and the boys screamed the whole way home until we pulled in the driveway.  Needless to say everyone slept in their clothes.  Ciao Chicago!  We hope to see you again soon!

then and now

*tear*

interrupting…

…the blogging about Chicago.  It was costume distribution day at ballet today!!

guess who was less-than-enthusiastic.

playgroup ballerinas – ky, zoe, maisie and liza.  everyone was happy with their costumes… except my ballerina.  shocking, I know.

the big fat chicago post–part 2–the main event

Friday, before picking up our rental car and driving to the metropolis of South Bend/Benton Harbor, we took advantage of the nice weather and did a little more sightseeing in Chicago, taking a water taxi to the Navy Pier.

Someone was a little nervous about it (and cold because she insisted on wearing shorts), but with her Papa was all smiles.

On the water…

nice scowls.

after checking in to our hotel in benton harbor.

Marcus got cold feet leaving the boys with a sitter he was unfamiliar with, so he stayed back with them while I went on to dinner with the family here.

I was wearing 4 inch heals and had to struggle to catch javi…

someone doesn’t like getting his picture taken!!!

team nena…. the bug (dr. lavertu!), m, tio richard, nana, e, tia marga, javier, andres,  and the ‘suegros’ becky and kevin.  missing javier and cutter (presumably hydrating at that moment after a long night out).

It was a l.o.n.g. ceremony and some of us needed to walk around…

serious conversation with tia marga.

Then it was finally our graduate’s turn…

The actual moment… sorry for my yelling…

Nena - graduacion from Denise Glaser on Vimeo.

I was SOOOO relieved my zoom lens worked out – first time I’ve really tried it and I’m so glad I did as I was so far away.

jacksito, javi, tia marga, nena, nana, cutter and emi.

That night we went over to Nena’s house for a party with all the grads and their families.

clearly someone thought he was back in college and enjoyed himself a little too much.

at her own party nena toted emi around all night long.  total trooper.  emi ate it up.  she still says that seeing nena was the best part of the trip.

with tio richard.

In case you want more footage, check out richard’s video at:http://gallery.me.com/richardmaggs#100264.

the big fat chicago post–part 1

the tag reader was indispensible on this trip…. starting early on… at the airport.

the first of m.a.n.y. naps the boys took on-the-go.  andres.

One of the first things we wanted to do when we arrived in Chicago was go to one of the many places we saw when we watched the Chicago episode of “No Reservations”… that Anthony Bourdain has the best job ever.  With little kids we weren’t going to make it to this place (we hear it’s Barack and Michelle’s favorite), so instead we went here for breakfast…

I’m not ashamed to say we ordered one of everything available for breakfast.  Yum.

lookin’ a little rough.  and clearly the waitress had no idea how to work a camera.

After stuffing our faces, we hit the city.  First stop, Millennium Park.

seriously… I should have done a post just of them napping.

e’s in the bottom corner.

signs of the newly minted mayor.

family picture time…equally unsuccessful.

buckingham fountain.

this is a completely random picture.  there were kids in this park we walked by… clearly on a field trip and the teachers were leading them in a game of ‘simon says,’ which just made me think about how many times I’ve done the same exact thing with 100s of kids now and how soon my sweet girl will be heading to ‘big girl school’ and going on field trips.

chillaxin’ in our suite here… where guests of the oprah winfrey show used to stay.  (p.s. can’t talk about the finale tomorrow.  I’m in mourning).

huge bathroom tubs + a nervous mama = baths in sinks. 

Stay tuned for part two – with a possible picture of javi! :)