Chicago, We Love You!

Mark and I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago for a few days.  While we were there we spent time with each other, with family and friends, and had the time of our lives!  It was really so much fun and I can't wait to go back someday.

Day 1 was spend with my cousin, Melissa, and her family.  We spent the night at their house and then went with them the following day to do a mini tour of some of the city.  Seriously, a few hours was just not enough to see everything that this city contains.

 We saw fountains, huge buildings, the famous "bean" (which was one of the coolest things I've ever seen), and we went through the Art Institute Museum.  We walked a ton, and I made the mistake of forgetting socks, so my feet were feelin' it by the end of the day, but it was awesome.

That night, Mark and I had the opportunity to go to a Cubs game.  See Mark's face in all of these pictures?  That, my friends, is his excited face.  Study it closely because it doesn't come around very often. :)  He has been looking forward to this game for months now.  The Cubs have been doing really well this year so we were hopeful that they would pull out another win while we were there. 

 Sadly, that did not happen, but they came close and it was a very exciting game.  (I never thought I would say that about a baseball game.)  But seriously, the energy in Wrigley Field is completely unreal.  I loved every second of it and I loved turning my camera over to Mark who was like a kid in a candy store.  He was snapping pictures left and right.  

A fun group who did some amazing tumbling routines before the game started.

Although we did not get to sing the traditional "Cubs won the game" song, we did get to participate in a little "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch.

(Just ignore the selfie video skills...or lack of. ;)

 As I mentioned before, we had a really fun night together and I am looking forward to attending a Cubs game again someday.  

The following day we met up with some members of my First Descents family.  It had been about 2 years since we had all been together and I was really looking forward to giving everyone a big hug.

We stayed up late talking and laughing and then the following day we headed downtown to catch an Architectural Tour on the Chicago River.

 Some of the buildings in that city are really incredible!  The detail and craftsmanship, especially on the older buildings just takes your breath away.  The boat tour was very relaxing and the weather was beautiful.

After the tour we grabbed a "quick" bite to eat.  Okay.  It really wasn't quick.  It took us over an hour longer than we anticipated, but the food was good at least and so was the company.

 We finally were able to leave the restaurant and head back to the home we were all staying in together so that everyone could make a quick change so we could all go and eat more food. :)

 We had been invited to a BBQ at our friend, Brian's parent's home.  Brian (AKA Juice) passed away in 2014 and it was a really tough thing for our little FD family.  We have been keeping in touch with his parents and his brother via Facebook and it was so lovely to finally meet Brian's parents!  We had met Nick when he came with us to Vegas to participate in the Tough Mudder with us at our last reunion, but this was the first time we had all been able to be together with Brian's parents.

It was a night filled with laughter and tears and I was reminded of how lucky I am to have this amazing group of people in my life.  I love them all so much and cannot wait until our next reunion.

Unfortunately most people had to go back home the following morning and it was very sad to say goodbye.  I already miss them all so much.

Mark and I moved our stuff to a hotel room downtown because we were staying for one more night.  My FD sis, Susan, had a later flight so we hung out with her for a little while.  She wanted to go to a fire station and buy some t-shirts for her and her daughter.  Fortunately there was one within walking distance of the hotel so we went and met some American Heroes.  They were all so kind and I just wanted to keep thanking them over and over again for the service they provide to their community.

I love fire fighters.  I think they are some of the most brave people in this entire world.

 After the fire station, we had to say goodbye to Susan. :(

Mark and I then headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  We are big zoo people in our family and really love going to any zoo, but we were particularly excited about this one.  One of our all-time favorite movies is "Return To Me."  (If you haven't seen it, you have to!  It's a must!)

They filmed the movie in Chicago and the Lincoln Park Zoo was one of the main settings.  Although they filmed the movie over 15 years ago, there were still some things we recognized.  It was fun to just be together, walking hand in hand, and enjoying a relaxing day at the zoo.

One of the absolute best parts about the entire day was the thing we found in the Monkey House.

They used to have one of these Mold-A-Rama machines at Hogle Zoo.  That was the zoo that Mark and I went to all the time when we were kids.  Just the smell of the melted plastic was enough to take me back to the Hippo House at Hogle Zoo.  It was magical and now we have a little green plastic gorilla to commemorate our visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

After the zoo, we found an amazing Italian restaurant that had some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten.  Then we headed back to our hotel to fall into a food coma.

The next morning we decided to leave Chicago in style by scarfing down some donuts and getting some Chicago style popcorn.  We waddled to the train, hopped on, and rode off to the airport.

Until next time, Chicago.  And believe me, there WILL be a next time. :)