It snowed again Friday night.  I don’t think the temperature rose above 25 the whole time we were in Chicago.

We had a quiet morning Saturday.  The kids enjoyed some time in the pool before we got ready for the wedding.

The wedding location was beautiful. The boys waited patiently between pictures and the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was brief, and Bill and Edward provided music.  Everyone laughed when the Mission Impossible theme played as Brenda walked down the aisle.

Alyson was really looking forward to dancing and pouted when she had to wait.

She was thrilled when it was finally time for the reception. Grandma gave her a bouquet.

She danced with us in rotation… Grandma, Daddy,

and Mommy

Christian even danced with Grandma and me

Bill

The groom

Alyson was exhausted by the end of the night

Sunday morning, we all had a lovely brunch, and Alyson took a turn with the camera.

She also got this great picture of Grandma

Daddy, Alyson, and the newest member of our family, Puppy 🙂

We caught a 6:15 flight home, on which the boys finished their homework and Alyson slept most of the flight.  We got home late Sunday night.

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend.  I’d love to go back to Chicago for another few days and get to the museums and other sights we missed this time around.

The next morning, the hotel shuttled us to the Hinsdale train station, about 5 miles away. We enjoyed the train ride into the city. We took an express train that took about 30 minutes. From Union Station, we took a cab to Navy Pier.

We enjoyed walking through the building. There is a stained glass museum that’s just incredible. There is also a garden with really cool fountains. Some fountains went in spurts that made it look like fish jumping. Some flowed in arches from one pool to another.

Navy Pier is also the home of the Chicago Children’s Museum, and we spent a few hours here.

The kids had fun playing, climbing, building, and flying airplanes.

The kids each got to spend $15 in the gift shop. Alyson picked a stuffed puppy, Christian got a yo-yo type toy, and BJ got another toy.

We had lunch at the biggest, busiest McDonalds I’ve ever seen at Navy Pier. From there, we took a cab to the Hancock building and went up to the 94th floor. A voice informed us we were on the fastest elevator in North America, making the trip in 40 seconds. Our ears popped in confirmation. Here are just a few pictures of the view.

The city

The kids listening to the audio tour

The silly kids pretending to be window-washers

The view of Navy Pier from the Hancock Building

I was amazed at just how BIG Lake Michigan is. It seems like an ocean.

Lakeshore Drive

Some of the amazing architecture

We took a cab back to Union Station and then the train back to Hinsdale.

We felt right at home amongst Starbucks and Washington Mutual’s everywhere. We had a little time to kill before the hotel shuttle picked us up again. We spent the time at Starbucks and had a bit of a culture shock. The coffee shop filled with 30+ middle schoolers with Starbucks cards, designer clothes, and attitudes. It was quite an experience, and when we asked about it, we were told they come in every Friday afternoon.

After we got back, we got changed and headed off to the rehearsal dinner. Bill was happy to get his toast delivered and did a great job. The meal was wonderful.

BJ was really tired through most of the dinner, but he perked up later when we handed over the camera. Christian enjoyed playing with his new yo-yo. Alyson spent another meal drawing and talked Kelly’s ear off.

Alyson thought it was funny to meet another Allison.

I think I’m fired… I haven’t blogged in two months. To make up for it, here is my recount of our trip to Chicago. To those also following along on FaceBook, some of the pictures will be repeats for you, but I promise to add in a few new ones 🙂

We left at O Dark Thirty Thursday morning. After Hawaii, the kids act like seasoned travelers. Thankfully, we packed lighter for this trip. This was our first experience flying Southwest, and I’m not sure I’d choose them again in the future (at least when traveling as a family of 5). Southwest has open seating (sit wherever you want) and sorts travelers into three groups. Families with kids under the age of 5 are allowed to board in between the first and second groups, which was helpful, but Alyson won’t be ‘under 5’ much longer, and if we were in the third seating group, we would’ve had to split up.

On our flight to Midway, the boys sat with Bill and Alyson sat with me. Thankfully, the gentleman who took the aisle sit with us has grandkids and was very understanding when we had to wake him up every hour so Alyson could use the restroom. The boys spent the flight doing homework, playing DS, and watching movies. Alyson did stickers, colored, and played a little bit of DS.

We arrived about 12:30 and caught the hotel shuttle to the hotel, Marriott at Burr Ridge.

The homes in Burr Ridge are amazing. Massive beautiful homes on large lots. Even three hours before check-in, the hotel had our room ready. We had a suite, which was great. The kids shared the living room and we had our own room. Here’s the view from our room:

After we settled in, we went for a walk (in the freezing cold). The hotel was near a shopping center that reminded us of Redmond Town Center, without all of the restaurants and bustling people. We went out to lunch at Cooper’s Hawk restaurant, and stopped in at Eddie Bauer. Mom will be proud, Alyson wanted a stuffed puppy. It was a Steiff.

In the evening, Brenda’s dad Bob picked us up to go to dinner at Giardino’s. He was our chauffeur for the weekend, and we were so grateful. With Alyson, we needed a carseat, so it was really thoughtful of them to make sure she was taken care of. We had a lovely meal and enjoyed getting to know Bob and Lynne better, and meeting Brenda’s brother and sister-in-law Kelly. Alyson took the opportunity to draw a map of her community. The big house is ours, the green one is Grandma’s, and you can see our church and daycare in between. Grandma helped her spell a few names as well.