Chicago

Always fun to go back for a bit, mostly because of "Uncle Jeff" but also because of the food! Oh, the food. I digress. We took Bella's Fall Break to see Uncle Jeff and Chi-Town.

Our first stop was the Museum of Science and Industry. Uncle Jeff scored us free passes, and we found street parking for free-bonus! Cool for the kids because they got shoulder rides.

 

 

Astronauts Bella and Ryan!

 

The kids practice their combine-driving skills.

And of course we HAVE to see the trains!Here's this year's picture....

This is last year's picture! Ryan's grown a TON!

 This exhibit allowed kids to choose a design for a toy, then watch it go through the building process! Custom color and personalized with educational experience, all for just 5 bucks!

Bella follows her purple toy (it's a rip-cord top).

Ryan chose green.

 Taking turns wearing the pilot's hat. He's the same guy as last year, but he was kneeling down, so I can't include that for growth comparison.

Saturday was fun downtown. We walked along Michigan Avenue and almost made it to the lake (the path we chose was blocked because they were building a new park). A stop at Buckingham Fountain before it started drizzling.

My two favorite men in the whole world.

The kids at "The Bean." It's technically called "Cloud Gate" but everyone calls it the bean.

What a great view of the Field Museum! (A museum for another trip.)

 The Buckingham Fountain photo shoot. Of course it takes about 10 takes to get a "normal" picture of my kids. But I love it. I particularly love this first one. So typical.

Take 2...Ryan never wants to hug back.

He's enduring patiently...

Okay, he gives in.

The best family shot we could get. This was our 3rd or 4th one and Ryan never would look at the camera. That he's not just a blur from all the movement is a mystery.

Ryan asked Uncle Jeff for a shoulder ride, so UJ told Ryan to hold still so he could hop on...

 Uncle Jeff is the ultimate to the kids. They absolutely adore him. I never had this kind of relationship with my uncles, so it's amazing to see the interaction. Here they all are goofing it up on Sunday afternoon before we left.

 I can't remember the last time I had a picture with just me and Jeff. Probably his wedding. And as I get older and more sentimental, I appreciate family more, so I wanted to get a picture of us while we are both so young and good-looking. ;o)