Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Chicago Trip with Mom

A few months of ago my mom asked me if I wanted to do a trip to Chicago to hang out together. I answered with an immediate "YES!" and we made it happen last weekend while Justin was on his spring break. I am so grateful to Justin for helping make this weekend possible. I flew by myself (such a unique and calming experience these days) and met my mom in St. Louis to help host Alex's bridal shower. After watching my mom play bells at church on Sunday morning, we headed up to Chicago! Here are some of our fantastic adventures! 

Dinner with IWU Friends and Moms
It was such  great day to go into Chicago to the home of Mike and Katie Bragg. I got to see their new house and play with sweet Jane for a bit before heading out to dinner. With four girls and five moms, the evening could have lasted FOREVER! It was so refreshing to chat about our new lives as moms and wives. New topics but same beautiful girls and friendships. It is amazing how quickly we pick up where we left off. I often say that I would like to live around people, but it is true and these three ladies would be at the top of my list. The Lord has blessed me with great friends. The moms didn't miss a beat either. After many hours and even days at track meets together, they were happy to see each other as well. I hope we can do this again sometime! 
 

Welcome to the Windy (and Rainy) City
Our first day in Chicago was a bit chilly, not the gorgeous spring day that we had planned for. As we went for our morning walk downtown, the weather got worse and worse until we walked backwards home to keep our faces out of the blowing rain. None the less, it was a great memory with my mom….because everything with mom can be made enjoyable when we are together! 

 

Visiting Friends
Our sweet family friend Kelly lives in downtown Chicago and we were able to go see her precious new twin girls while we were there. City living is quite different and it was great to see what a condo looks like with babies - beautiful! 

We also met up with Jennifer Russell for breakfast to meet her new little one, Everett! He was so animated and I was grateful that she drove up from Indiana to see us. What a great friend that has been so precious to me even though I think I have seen her two or three times since we both got married in 2006. 
 


As we were shopping, we kept saying, "I can't believe we haven't seen anyone that we know yet!" Since I went to school with many people that now live in Chicago, I thought maybe I would see someone up there randomly (how many people are in Chicago??? really????). As we walked around on our final day, we walked right past the lovely Allison Kearns, a classmate from high school! It was awesome and so fun to see her! 

The Bean Pics
We had some fun with the Bean of Chicago. I convinced mom to try my antics and we had a blast! I love the end result! 



Tourists in Chicago
We had a blast shopping together (including finding my dress for Kevin's wedding!), eating Fannie Mae, trying new resturants, and seeing the sites of Chicago. We could walk around for hours and still not talk about everything that we would like. I cherish my mom so much and our time together. This was such a special trip that I am grateful to have experienced! Thank you mom for everything! 


What did the kids do while we were out in the mid-west playing???? Their super-star daddy was playing with them back home…and in the PE storage areas of EVHS :) Thanks to Justin so much for sacrificing to make this special trip possible for my mom and I. 

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