A GRAND Visit

As promised, Grandpa and Grandma Smith brought Paige back to Chicago and fortunately, stayed with us for a few days.  Unfortunately, it happened to be during the hottest, most humid and driest time of the summer, but they were troopers.

We always have a great time during their visits.  We eats lots of good food and go to lots of fun places.  They came in on the weekend and were able to go to church with us, which was really nice.  We also played lots of card games.  The girls love card games and are so happy to have two willing players in Grandma and Grandpa.

On Monday, we of course, had to eat lunch at Portillos for some good ol' Chicago style grub.  Then we all went to see the movie, "Brave."  Sitting in an air conditioned movie theater is always a good call when it is over 100 degrees outside.  Later that evening, Paige taught the family home evening lesson and Grandma taught the girls how to lead music properly.  We sure needed that!  Thanks Grandma.

The next two days we gave Grandpa and Grandma a pretty big taste of Chicago humidity with back-to-back outdoor activities.

First up, we went to a Cubs game.  We must have inherited our love for Major League Baseball from Grandpa and Grandma.  The Cubs, were in town this particular week so we planned a trip to Wrigley Field.  Dave actually went to work that day and drove the van into the city.  Later that afternoon, the rest of rode the train downtown and met Dave at his office building.  We then walked over to eat dinner at the "Italian Village."  It is like the original Chicago Italian restaurants, one of the oldest in the city.  It is famous more for that reason than the food, but it is fun to say you have been there at least once.  We were seated in this dimly lit alcove, very old-fashioned feeling. 

As for dinner, Dave drove us to the game.  It was a hot one, pretty sticky but still fun.  There were lots of runs and even a grand slam, but since the Cubs are horrible it was mostly from the other team!

 

Aren't they cute?

On the next day we went to Starved Rock State Park for a hike.  In retrospect this was probably a little crazy, because it was SO HOT AND HUMID.  We did it anyways, because we really wanted to go.  Grandpa and Grandma like to hike and this is a nice place to go.  Usually there are waterfalls and streams, set in bluffs or "canyons" that were cut by glaciers.  This year, we are pretty much in a drought so there is no water.  After our hike we were soaking wet, we looked like we had stood under a waterfall, but it wasn't water--pure sweat.

We also had the pleasure of seeing a black snake sitting on the trail along with a few birds.  Another pleasure was hearing Paige yelp and scream everytime something rustled in the bushes or flew by her.  Silly girl.  We packed a picnic lunch, but by the time we finished hiking, we were so hot that we just sat in the air conditioned car to eat instead. 



One tired crew!

 

The best part of the trip was a present that Grandpa and Grandma bought for us at the gift shop.  It is an Audubon Society bird clock.  It has birds of the Midwest and makes a different bird call sound at the top of every hour.  We LOVE this thing!  It's fun to have it in the house chirping away all day.

 

The worst part of any trip is having to say goodbye which we did the following day.  Grandpa and Grandma were probably happy to get home and avoid anymore outdoor adventures in the stifling heat, but we sure love and miss them!