The Windy City!

Preben and I took a short trip ALONE to Chicago.  We decided it was time since we haven't been away together since .... before Noah was born! That's over FOUR years ago. 

Special thanks to my Dad and Sister, Sara who flew in to man the children.

Ready to take off!

it was SOO nice not to have 12 bags with food, diapers, toys, electronics, changes of clothes, extra socks, books, candy, water, animals, games and blankets.  

YEP.  we only had ONE bag and it was all stuff for US.

We stayed at a pretty sweet hotel right on Michigan Ave.  

(the best shopping street in the world).  and it sure was!

We got there, hopped on the L, checked out our awesome view from our room, and headed on over to my cousin, Ellen's place to meet up with some of my dad's side of the family who live there. 

Super fun and really good to catch up!

here are my cousins, Molly, Ellen, (holding her babe, Tommy), and Kevin! (and I'm holding Molly's babe, Eddie.)  Doesn't he look like Thea!??!   

crazy Harwood genes.

Sara kept texting me updates to ensure they were still alive.

("they" meaning my dad and herself).

Sara talked Dad into making pancakes with the boys the first morning. 

Their energy must have still been high at this point :)

Gail was also at Ellen's house.  

(she is a family friend who used to live with Sara in DC.)

My sweet Aunt Katie & Uncle Danny holding their grand-baby, Eddie. 

 It had been WAY too long since I've seen them.

I love them so much.

Text from Sara.

"workin on our J's"

The next morning, we headed straight out to get some stuff checked off our list.

Yes. I made a list.

First stop: The Bean.  totally cool and awesome.

selfie!

This city was seriously so great!

Lots to do and see, and we loved the fresh air that we forget exists until we leave Houston.

here's our list.  

text from sara:

Noah was injured.

next up:

Sears Tower (now it's called the Willis Tower)

check out the view from the top!

They cram you in an elevator with lots of other people to get you to the top, but while you are going up you watch a tv screen and it flashes through each floor and tells you what other landmark is that tall.  

I love stuff like that.

looking down from one of the little pods you go stand out on hanging off the side of the building.

notice my broken toe.

busted that little baby the night before we left on the dang baby swing.  

pretty cool!

side view.

I know, I know, enough of us in the Sear's Tower.

After the tower, we got some Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and checked that off the list!

It was yummy!  and super healthy.

Next stop:

Wheaton, IL to visit my dear cousin Rachel and her beautiful family!

The train system in Chicago is just fantastic.  You don't even need a car!

here's Rach!  

She is the mother of SIX children!

She's amazing.

the top right 3 girls are all my first cousins once removed.  

the others are miscellaneous children from the street.

Here is Jim, her hubby, former OLYMPIC wrestler.  

He competed in the Greece Olympics!

and 2 more of their girls. :)

and here is the only son in the family, Aiden.  

I didn't manage a group shot of everyone together because of the chaos that happens in a family of 8.  :)

Seriously though, it was so fun to see them all!  I only wish we could have stayed longer!  we had such a short time line to get everything done!

after we hopped on the train back to Chicago, we took a ferry boat tour and it was SO wonderful.

We learned a lot, got some fresh air and I didn't get sea sick!  ( a miracle if you know me ;) )

It was here on this boat tour that we learned that Chicago is not called the "Windy City" because of the wind, but because of some nagging politicians who lived there after the great fire and were called "wind bags" because of their pushy attitude and thus, the city because known as the Windy City.

After our boat tour, we had a nice dinner, and got packed up to leave the next morning.

text from sara.

"last day"

Before having the cab driver take us to the airport, we asked him to stop at the Home Alone House.  

This was so much fun for me because it's one of my all time favorite movies.  LIKE I LOVE IT.

There was a sign in the front yard saying to not go on the property so I guess there are lots of people who pop by to see if Kevin is home. :)

Just across the street was Old Man Marley's house, looking exactly like it did in the movies.

AHHH. this was so cool!  Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip!

We checked all the things off the list and headed home to see our babes and rescue the helpers.

Text:

"waiting for mommy & pappa"

When we got home, the babysitters were still alive, but tired.

Thanks again Dad & Sara!  We totally needed a couple days away from life.

(here's Thea watching her brothers during swimming lessons)