Good Company

This past weekend we had some good company come to visit us. Dave's brother Scott and his wife Katie came to Chicago to celebrate Scott's graduation from college. We took a little "staycation" while they were here and a had a lot of fun with them. Scott and Katie are newlyweds, married about 9 months, so it was great to get the chance to know Katie better and just visit with them.

The girls loved having their Aunt and Uncle around, especially because they were literally a captive audience for the girls singing. The girls "treated" Scott and Katie to a lot of sing-a-longs while we were driving in the van. Since Dave and I were in the front, Scott and Katie bore the brunt of the musical renditions!

Now, when I say Scott and Katie are good company, I mean it. They were so easy-going and laid back, it was very nice to have them. But don't get me wrong this doesn't mean we weren't busy and they weren't go-getters. They were here for 4 days and did so much stuff, they must be bionic. Here is a list with some pictures:

1- First up, the Museum of Science and Industry along with the Harry Potter Exhibit.

Train engineers

Wouldn't Ashley look great in this dress made of lights?

Watching butterflies land on your shadow

Navy sailors working at the periscopes

Car first, license later



Harry Potter's flying car

2-Navy Pier and an architecture boat tour on the Chicago River


The weather was a warm and sunny, a perfect day to cruise the river!

3-Dinner at the original Pizzeria Uno, then a walk up the Magnificient Mile with stops at the Hershey's store and the Cheesecake Factory.


The girls playing hand games on the steps at the bottom the Hancock Building, which also happened to house the Cheesecake Factory, how convenient! I had a caramel and macadamia nut cheescake...yummy.


Did I mention that we did all of the above in the same day? As you can see from this picture we were doing some "serious" sight seeing. Of course, maybe they are somber because they were entering a food coma...we did just finish eating deep dish pizza and cheesecake!

4-Major League Baseball game at U.S. Cellular field, the Chicago White Sox vs. Texas Rangers.

Dave and the girls are all decked out in White Sox gear, but since it was 42 degrees it had to be covered up by sweatshirts, coats, hats, blankets and gloves. Brrrr. It was pretty cold and I worried about Katie and Scott but they didn't complain and seemed to have a good time (and some hot chocolate too!)
Paige throwing pitches on the Fundamentals Deck (a place were kids can go to throw pitches, run the bases and do batting practice.)

Paige wore crocs to the game and we didn't know that you must have tennis shoes to bat and run the bases. Paige was almost in tears she was so upset she couldn't play, but fortunately, she has the best big sister ever. At first, Ashley said, "if Paige can't do it I won't play either," but Paige was still pretty sad. So Ashley, in cold weather took off her shoes and let Paige wear them into the batting cages. Ashley shoes were only about 6 sizes too big for Paige but she managed. Afterward, Ashley got her shoes back and took her turn batting and everyone left happy.

As a reward for staying at the game during cold weather, we got to see the White Sox comeback in the 8th inning and an exciting 9th inning save to win the game, followed by a great fireworks show.

This is the end of our touring with Katie and Scott (hence no more pictures), but they sure kept going:

5, 6, and 7-The Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Adler Planetarium,

8 and9-The Field Museum and the musical Mary Poppins, and

10-One of the best burgers ever at Boston Blackies (okay, we did this one with them.)

Scott and Katie sure know how to make the most of a trip. I am so glad they came and hope they come again soon!