A few weeks ago we all tagged along with Richard on a business trip to Chicago. We had such a great time. I really wanted to make sure we did NEW things. And so we did.
We dropped Maddie off in Plainfield to spend the day with her friends and then headed for Des Plaines. Richard had a meeting there, so the other girls and I spent some time in their beautiful library reading stories and playing in their cool jungle themed reading area. When Richard was done we went for a walk to find some lunch and happened upon "Choo-Choo Burgers". It's an old diner and was totally packed. Richard didn't really want to wait, but I was thinking that anything with a 20 min. wait on a Thursday afternoon must be worth it. So we waited and we're so glad we did. Not only was the food great, for burgers and fries, the food comes to you on a train. The kids LOVED that. We will probably always remember our lunch there. So cool.
Then we went to the movie just to kill some time. Richard and the little girls saw Despicable Me and Emma and I saw Toy Story 3. We all thought the movies were great. I love the fashion show part of Toy Story. Hilarious!
Then kill time, kill time, kill more time, and finally pick up Maddie. We wanted to make sure she had her fill of fun. Then it was off to Chicago. We stayed at a nice hotel in the city with a great view of the river. Woke up early to take a walk in the city and happened upon the filming of the new Transformers movie. They had one of the city streets looking all torn up with crashed cars on fire and stuff. No, we did not see any of the actors, but they were there somewhere. We missed Shia Labeouf by "that much".
Then we headed up to Northwestern University to see a production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". The kids didn't really love it. I just think they aren't familiar enough with the characters to really understand why some of it was funny. However, Lauren really picked up on the entire meaning of "New Philosophy" and has been using that line regularly since then. eg. "Lauren, it's time to get out a book and do some reading." "Why you telling me? That's my new philosophy." Then we were going to go to the beach there in Evanston, IL and they wanted $8/person to go to the beach. We just couldn't see doing that, so away we went with two crying kids.
Then it was back to the hotel room to get ready for the big gala event for the painter group. We took a cab and he let us off at the top of Navy Pier. Well, of course our event was at the very end of Navy Pier. I don't know exactly how far that is, but I'm guessing at least 1/2 mile, walking, on uneven boardwalk, in heels. Well, we made it and stayed a while at that thing, but that is when my already painful legs started really hurting and swelling.
Next day we walked to the beach in Chicago(free of course), to let the girls play. I limped all the way. We walked to an art show. We walked to the American Girl Store on the Magnificent Mile, and my foot was swelling more as time went on. Yikes! More on that later.
We ended with Chicago style pizza at Exchequer. Love it!
Everyone got to do what they wanted. Success!
Right after school started I got to fly to Utah to have a luau with my family. It was so fun to see everyone. It's never quite enough. I wish I could have brought the kids, but they hate missing school and it just didn't seem worth it for just a couple of days. But it was a nice and relaxing time for me. Thank you JH for putting it all together. 
For a better description of the fun read here.
Richard's National Convention was in Florida this year. All that really means to us is that we get to go on a vacation to DisneyWorld. We had 3 days to spend there. We left the plans open so that we could just go with the flow when we got there.
Luckily, we were staying in the Presidential Suite, which is a room the size of the main floor of our house. Two bedrooms, plenty of bed space for everyone, 3 bathrooms, including a bidet which was absolutely enthralling even though noone dared use it, a full kitchen and dining room, 2 separate "living room" areas, and the best part of all. . . all the drinks and snack foods were free. Plus, we got a big basket of goodies when we got there from the hotel event planner. Yeah, we were spoiled. Day 2--Sleep in and spend the rest of the day at the hotel pool. Downtown Disney for dinner at the T-Rex. Animated dinosaurs everywhere and a meteor shower every 20 min.
Day 3--More swimming at the pools (3 large pools, 1 large waterfall that you could sit under, which I did most of this day, 2 large hot tubs, and a beach area), a husband who brings food and treats out whenever he has a minute, just like a cabana boy, peddaling the swan boats for a while, got dressed, went to the boardwalk for dinner, Lauren was picked to be the helper in a magic show, movie in the hotel room.
Our purchase was these chili limon chicharrones. Yummy!
Ellie made friends with Alana the minute we got on the boat and they spent every possible moment together, even proposing a sleep-over on the ship (didn't happen, but cute idea anyway). They just got along like bosom buddies and even performed in the Camp Carnival talent show together with their rendition of "Down By the Bay". Here's the weird part. . .she's from Elk Grove, CA and lived less than a mile from our house, but they were in a different school boundary. It's a small world. . .again! 
Finally our trip came to an end and we were actually pretty tired and ready. No more 24 hour food, someone to make your bed everyday, swimming, playing, karaokeing, etc. Reality sets in once more. Goodbye, cruise life, until we meet again.
Richard's souvenir was this hat. He liked it, but lost it in the limo on the way home. :(
Lauren found lots of shells and this perfect sand dollar. It was quite a treasure until she unwisely decided to take it into the hot tub filled with about 20 kids where it got bumped out of her hand and was lost for good. I got in and searached around for about 30 min. to no avail. We live and learn. Another :(
and tried some local desserts (because there weren't enough on the boat).
