Wordless Wednesday

Back to Reality

The hardest part about having really fun long weekends is coming back to reality. I knew it was going to be hard on us, but what I didn’t expect was how hard it was on the babes! We had some rough mornings, but were so glad to have at least one fun school day to get us going.

Yes, the school Easter egg hunt and party.They were way hyper that afternoon, but after a full week of hard mornings, I was not complaning!
I was so thankful when Friday came! We had a super fun and low-key weekend.
The weather was so pretty, and the trees and bushes in front of our house are in full bloom!

The weekend was extra special because we got to celebrate this guy’s birthday! Friday night we had a steak dinner and cake at home and Saturday we went out to one of our favs.
Z was a little disappointed when he found out that grown ups don’t have birthday parties, but Lu was pretty happy, she must have said 12 times, “Guess what, Baba! It’s your birthday!” with a huge precocious smile on her face! Loved seeing them get excited and I especially loved celebrating this guy!

Sunday we met up with my parents at our old favorite trail. The kids had the best time picking dandelions and running around. It was beautiful day at the trail.

After hanging at the trail, my parents, Uncle Faris, and my sis and her kids all came over to my house for brunch! Perfect end to a great weekend!

Then on Monday, we were ready to face the week!

Chicago!

Nick had a conference in Chicago this past week (Thursday and Friday), so when Nana and Tata said they could come down and watch the kids, and I was able to close the office for a day, it was official, we were taking a kid-free trip to the Windy City!

We left Wednesday evening. My mom had to follow me to the kids’ preschool and home because Nana wasn’t getting in until late Wednesday night. They were VERY excited about the whole thing. In fact, they barely even noticed we left!

We had dinner at the airport and arrived in Chicago in no time.

Nick hit the conference bright and early Thursday morning, and I had the day to myself. I took my time getting ready, then I headed to Starbucks to read in (relative) peace.

Of course, once Nordstrom opened its doors, I was in there like swimwear. Ha!

Seriously, it was a fabulous morning.

Then, I met this guy for a quick lunch at a very cool Chicago lunch place near Millennium Park. We stopped for a photo op, then he was back to the conference and I was back to my me time.

 

Wish I could say that my afternoon was just as good as the morning, but alas, it was not. I decided to change out of my beloved Hunters (which I would not do again until the plane ride home), and ended up wandering around somewhat aimlessly, painfully, and got nowhere, but back to the hotel with huge blisters on my feet! #smalltowngirl.

We’re just going to call that a sightseeing tour.

The conference ended pretty late Thursday, so our only plan for Thursday night was Italian food! Yum!

Friday morning, more conference, more me time. This time I made it where I was trying to go (back to Nordstrom, should’ve never strayed from there in the first place). It was freeeezing, but the Magnificent Mile did not disappoint! It was a great morning!

Nick was finally finished with the conference by Friday afternoon, and we had an early reservation and tickets to

The Decembrists! So fun, Nick knew them way better than me. We were just happy there was someone playing while we were there (we’d been wanting to go to concert together this year). They were so good! I’m definitely a fan!!

How beautiful is the Chicago Theater?

Our dinner was fabulous too!

Saturday morning we went to the coolest breakfast place ever, Trader Joe’s for snacks, then to the Art Institute of Chicago, like not on a field trip or with our parents, we went to a museum just because. We were really proud of ourselves. Honestly, it was awesome! Such a cool museum!

We did have a little fun with it.

American Gothic, how cool? And this oh so debonair man here, he’s the artist’s dentist, because dentists are just that cool.

Then, because it was our “culture” day, we headed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra!

Apparently, these couple of pictures were fine, but one more and the Mr. Friendly, the usher, was going to have to take some action. He came up to us and said, please don’t take any more pictures right after I sat down from the this one (then he got on to several other people, most of whom shrugged him off, including one older guy who was like, yeah, okay I’ll move, didn’t, then waved at Mr. Friendly). 

Anyway, it was a very lovely evening. And, in case you thought we were too sophisticated and cultured, we had burgers and shakes beforehand.

Sunday, we packed up, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed home to see our babes!

We were thankful for the opportunity to go away for a few days, but so happy to be home! I did like 12 loads of laundry Sunday, and I was still happy!

The kids had an absolute blast with Nana and Tata! A special thanks to them for making this trip possible!