What a busy day! First up was lunch with John and Gerry Bruns at “The Choo Choo Restaurant” in Des Plaines. It was such a neat, little place. John was so excited because your food is brought to you as cargo on a train. He kept asking, “Where is the train Mommy? Where?” Every time it appeared from the kitchen, he would smile, laugh, and stare. It was also great to see and catch up with John and Gerry Bruns.
After lunch, we headed for our traditional day after Thanksgiving trip to downtown Chicago. We arrived about 2:30 pm and had some time to relax before the craziness of the evening began. At about 4:30, we met up with BlumeNation, Dave and Kristena and kids, and Scot and Sheila. While waiting for our table to be ready at Gino’s East (Chicago-style Pizza for the win!!!!), we went into the lobby at the John Hancock Building and discovered an awesome train display. All the kids thought it was so cool!
After a delicious dinner, some of us headed down to see the windows at the State Street Macy’s and to the big Christmas Tree at Daley Plaza. The kids really enjoyed seeing the Macy’s windows even if the adults found the story not as interesting as it was in past years.
Then, it was over to the big Christmas Tree, which is always a big hit. The kids “ooh’ed and ahh’ed” and we took some pictures.
Despite it being a cold night and two tired kids, the walk back to our hotel was not bad. William kept Laura and John entertained and their minds off the walk. Once back at the hotel, we changed the kids into their pajamas and went to Jim and Jill’s room for milk and cookies. We stayed about 30 minutes and then dragged our kids to bed. Despite Laura and John’s initial protests, they fell asleep almost immediately… and Andy and I weren’t far behind.