On Sunday, we were delighted to have Megan and Katie come to church with us. As this was my first Sunday at church after being released as Primary President, it was nice to have some company with me as I went to the "adult meetings."
After church, we decided to celebrate Megan's 9th birthday because we knew we wouldn't be home on her actual birthday (Monday.) Dave grilled/charred hamburgers and Katie made a delicious chocolate/Skor candy bar cake. After, Megan opened presents, the girls were all thrilled with the Flip camcorder.
On Memorial Day we all went downtown for a little sightseeing and to celebrate Megan's birthday. We started early because we were expecting crowds on a holiday, but to our delight the foot traffic every where we went was very light. Everyone must have been at home planning on family barbecues or something.
We started out at the Shedd Aquarium.
We saw all the exhibits, including the new Fantasea dolphin and whale show. Ashley even dared to touch a starfish.
The highlight may have been the body art. A very good artist painted a dolphin, a shark and a turtle on the girls' arms.
After the aquarium, we scrapped our plans for Millenium Park because there was a huge thunderstorm, so Katie and Megan went to Sears Tower to try out the ledge, while our family went across the street to hangout in Dave's office. The girls kept busy writing on the whiteboard, etc.
We then met up again for dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe. Yummy as always including the cheesecake and New Orleans beignets for dessert.
After the movie, we came home made pizza for lunch and just hung out for a few hours. Then we headed out again to watch 4 hours of the Illinois High School Girls Soccer State Championship Tournament. Having played in a few State tourneys myself it was fun to reminisce. Ashley was very interested and had a great time as well. We got to endure thunderstorms, a rain delay, see a PK shoot-out in one game and in another game watch a local high school, Waubonsie Valley, win the State Championship. After the game at 9:30 pm, we ate dinner at Five Guys.
I AM GOING TO THAILAND! My family, including my dad, gets to go with me. My daughters will get to meet their 96 year-old great-grandmother for the first time. We will get to learn more about and experience first-hand our cultural heritage and we get to share that with my dad. We are going to eat lots of fresh fruit and seafood. We will be playing on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We are going to ride elephants. The US State Department has officially lifted the travel warning. We were more than lucky to find Dave a good-priced ticket to Thailand and I don't have to worry about any harm coming to him in India or worry that my garden will die while unattended for over a month. I am very excited! Now get packing and no more worries.
