Chicago - Day 2

Today we went into Chicago to see the St Patty's Day Parade... and see the Chicago River dyed green! We walked around the river and watched the boats spraying the bright yellow dye for a while and then headed into the Sheraton hotel so Aunt Nancy and Mom could rest while Aunt Mary, Beth, Jilli and I walked a few blocks away to watch the parade. We weren't too sure about where the parade started and stopped, but we walked around for a while before we got to where we were trying to go. I was glad to get the walking credit on my fitbit, haha! Turns out, we picked a spot at the very end of the parade, but we still got to watch the mounted policemen and the politicians and some floats pulled up right in front of us. 

After the parade, Aunt Mary took Mom, Beth and I to get massages at her favorite Asian massage place. It was definitely an interesting experience to get a group massage. We all went back into a large room with 12 plush chairs. Aunt Mary and I sat together and Mom and Beth sat together in the row behind us. A man slipped a black strap from a machine next to me around my forearm, plugged a black box into the same machine and dropped the black box into a the bucket of water my feet were in! I found out later the black strap was a grounding band, but it was still a little unnerving to watch, haha! It was a nice massage though! We kept our clothes on, but my legs, shoulders and neck felt great afterward. Thanks Aunt Mary!

Later that evening, Aunt Mary and Aunt Nancy cooked a fabulous homemade dinner with delicious steak, salmon, baby potatoes and green beans. Soooooo goooooood! We had a birthday cake for Jilli since she and Beth are flying back to Dallas in the morning... yum. :) Rhonda came over to spend time with us and we all played Golf (the card game) after dinner. We saw Linda briefly when she came to pick Rhonda up. It was great to see them again!

I laughed so hard when I saw this statue of a uterus on our drive into the city. The statue is called "Being Born."

Giant treefrog over this Rainforest Cafe! So cool!

City workers sprayed bright yellow dye into the river... they had a lot of fun, too!

Mom and I in front of the Chicago River

"Chicago Rising from the River" by Milton Horn (1954)

I wore my "Wicked Witch of Ireland" socks for St. Patty's Day. ;)

I knew Derek would get a kick out of seeing a picture of police officers. Two of Chicago's finest were very kind to pose with me!

A sample of some of the street art we saw in some spots. Love it!

Mom, me, Aunt Mary, Jilli and Beth in front of the river. So much green!!

We spotted Nessie floating down the river with a leprechaun and... King Arthur?

My lovely Great-Aunts - Aunt Nancy and Aunt Mary!

Mom, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Mary, Jilli, Beth and I - we're all in a picture! 

Aunt Mary rocks!

We met up with my second-cousin, Olivia, and her boyfriend too. Yay family!

New York Fire Fighters joined the Chicago Fire Fighters for the parade

Every fire engine needs a dalmatian!

Aunt Mary is the selfie queen. :D

Jilli enjoyed her perch from my shoulders and kept us informed of the approaching parade line-up

We're buds. ;) She's 2 years older than Derek and weighs 15 pounds less.

Aunt Mary took my picture in front of the GIANT POTATO!!!! Yum!

Jilli, Beth and I posed with one of the members of the bagpipe brigade

Happy birthday Jilli!

She was determined to get that last candle ;)

Playing some Golf with Mom, Aunt Mary, Rhonda, Jilli, Aunt Nancy and Beth!

Chicago - Day 1

I'M IN CHICAGO!!!!! Mitchell took a few days off to stay with the kids so I can take a trip to Chicago with Mom. Aunt Mary has a ton of family photos that I want to digitize so I packed up my laptop and the stick scanner and went on my way!! :D Mom and I got on a plane at 5:20 this morning (neither of us slept at all last night) and we landed at 7 am in Chicagooooooo!!! Aunt Nancy picked us up and we grabbed Starbucks on the way back to the house. Beth and Jillian are here for the weekend and we've had a blast hanging out today. Lily, Aunt Mary and Aunt Nancy's black lab, hasn't stopped wagging her tail since we got here. She's the happiest dog I've ever seen. :)

One of the things Aunt Mary was most excited about doing with us was a service project with a company called "Feed My Starving Children." It was so much fun! We all went to a large warehouse-type building with a seating area and a larger packing area. We watched a presentation about the statistics of FMSC, what countries receive the meals we pack (today we packed for Kenya!) and we learned about the positive impact FMSC has on the children of the world. Other people had reserved a time to come and pack food and we were all split up into about 6 teams or 5 or more people. Our family of six adopted another lady at our station and we were ready to go! Aunt Mary and I held the bags under the funnel while Aunt Nancy, Beth and our new friend scooped vitamin powder/chicken flavor, lentils and rice into a funnel while Aunt Mary and I took turns holding the plastic bags under the funnel. We passed the bags to Mom who heat-sealed them and gave them to Jilli for quality control. Another lady from the neighboring team was in charge of counting out and boxing them in groups of 32. Out team was assigned the mascot country of Djibuti and our recovery cheer was "Shake your booty for Djibuti!" We enthusiastically cheered every time we filled a box. After packing for about an hour and a half, we were told to clear our stations and gather for a report on our efforts. Normally, FMSC averages a box of food per volunteer, but we almost doubled that!! Our team was moving very quickly and had very few slip ups and it was so fun to work to a physical rhythm and be part of a team. On our way out, we passed through a small gift shop full of handmade items from some of the countries that FMSC sends food to. All the money from purchases goes back to the artisans who made the items! Aunt Mary was very kind and offered to purchase a souvenir for me. I found a beautiful purse made in Swaziland and a braided headband made in Haiti (which I'm wearing right now, actually. Love it!)

They make hair nets look hot! ;)

Jilli, Aunt Nancy, me, Mom, Aunt Mary and Beth! We make a great team!

Here is Kenya!

Me and my mom next to the wooden map of the countries of the world

After our service project, we went to dinner at Maggiano's and ate a delicious meal of pasta while Jilli got a yummy lemon cookie dessert with candles for her birthday (technically on Sunday, but we're milking it). ;) I had a nice hot chocolate to sweeten my palate. It's a great start to what I already know is going to be a fantastic vacation!!

We are enjoying some AWESOME food!

Jilli is (almost) 8!

Mother and Daughter!

I seriously love hot chocolate. :)

Ally's 10th Birthday

Ally is 10! Boy, do I have another funny autocorrect story. I texted Aunt Jenn and asked her what kind of "things" Ally liked. I received this polite response - "No thongs please. She's a sweet little bookworm." My phone had autocorrected "things" to "thongs" and I'm pretty sure I almost gave my aunt a heart attack, haha!! We chose a couple books to pass along for her birthday and the kids had a blast at Peter Piper Pizza. It was great to see all our family members again and Ally sure is growing up into a wonderful young lady. :)

Derek loves car games

Val was a big help feeding Clara some birthday cake while Rob looked on

Gotcha! This kid loooooves to eat. He seems to have a growth spurt every other week!

Jilli got several pairs of vampire teeth with her ticket earnings

Beth is always thrilled to hold Clara

"Why the scowling face, Clara?"

Ally scored some great gifts - I gave her a couple of my favorites, Mandy and The Trumpet and The Swan.

Bryce and Clara loved this helicopter ride

Aunt Mary and Aunt Nancy Come to Texas!

Aunt Mary, Aunt Nancy and their friends, Rhonda and Linda came out to Texas for fun! Woohoo, boy did we have fun. Between the park, watching a hockey game at Beth's house, and amazing pesto alfredo stuffed pastas, it was awesome! Last night, we all got together to watch a hockey game. The game was being played outdoors in the middle of a snowstorm, so they had to paused roughly every ten minutes so workers could clear big piles of snow off the rink. Crazy! 

We all met at a park today and I missed the pink shirt memo, lol. Pretty much everyone was wearing a shade of pink. Derek had a blast playing in the dirt with Declan - he didn't really do much else. Bryce was happy to dink around between the table with breakfast burritos and the slide. I tried to get him excited about the slide by going down it with him, but he was more content to watch everyone else go. Clara charmed everyone with smiles, of course. Mitchell and I thought we could stay and play the murder mystery game with the adults later but the kiddos decided they'd had enough fun for the day. It was cool to see everyone dressing up for their parts as we left though! 

Adorable!!

Sweet kisses

 John was the first to claim bottle time with Clara

 Bryce and I went down the slide together. Brave boy!

 Jilli shot down the slide!

 Declan and Derek digging in the dirt

 Aunt Mary discovers the best thing in the world - a sleeping baby on your chest. Perfection.

 Bryce cheesing

 Aunt Nancy and Clara trading cuddles

 She WILL cut you ;)

 Rhonda got in on the feed-the-baby gig, lol. Thanks Rhonda!

 Aunt Amy and Derek rock these green 'staches

Amy, Aunt Mary and Clara - Luck O' The Irish!

 

Aunt Mary and Clara - aren't they such cute leprechauns?

Aunt Amy and Bryce

 Declan, my favorite not-nephew! Lol.

 Aunt Mary, Aunt Nancy and me. I love you guys!

 Bryce, Aunt Nancy and Clara

 All dressed up for the murder mystery! Linda, Aunt Jenn, Aunt Mary and Amy