Going Through Life One Blog Post at a Time
We spent the evening with the EEE 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders and their families watching the movie, Gremlins. It is amazing that it premiered 30 years ago. My how movies have changed… Still, it was great to watch it with our kids. As for the kids thoughts on the movie? Well, Gizmo was super cute, and the movie was both funny and scary. Fun night!
I planned today off work so that I could do two things:
I got the laundry started right about 8:30 am and then put our Christmas cards in the mail.
After Andy made breakfast, he helped me get box after box of Christmas decorations out of the crawlspace. Did I mention that I am getting too old to be getting in the crawlspace? My knees were killing me when we were done!
I spent the rest of the day putting up decorations. We have a *lot* of decorations… I finally got our Christmas tree up, lit, and ready for ornaments about 6 pm. We spent the rest of the evening decorating the tree. The kids were excited to put their new ornaments from the Christkindlmarkt, along with all their other ornaments on the tree.
Each year, the kids pick out a new Christmas ornament to add to our tree. Eventually, the ornaments will be given to them for their trees. It is a fun tradition and the kids are always so excited to pick out a new ornament and hang it on our tree.
I finally went to bed about 11:00 pm with the laundry completed and most of the Christmas decorations in place. Only a few more things to do inside, but *that* is for another day…
We left Scot and Sheila’s about 1 pm and stopped at Portillo’s for lunch – Italian Beef for Andy, Chicago-style Hot Dog for me, and Cheeseburgers for the kids. Check that off the list!
We finally got on the road about 2 pm for the trip home. Unfortunately, we came across an accident that slowed us down some. We had hoped to be able to get all the way home without having to stop for dinner, but that was not to be. We eventually stopped in Hannibal, Missouri, for a fast dinner and then arrived home at about 9:45 pm. We rushed the kids to their bedroom only to discover that Chippy, our Elf on the Shelf, had returned! He was getting some exercise on the tricycle for Laura’s American Girl dolls. The kids were so excited to see him!
Once the kids were in bed (and they went to sleep nearly immediately), I unpacked as much as I could and then crawled in bed myself. It was a great Thanksgiving, but there really is no place like home.
We took full advantage of our last day in Chicago. We began the day with a tasty breakfast in our hotel and then I took Laura to American Girl Place. She saved over $100 in allowance money so that she could buy the School Locker Set and School Desk Set. I am so proud of her for working towards a goal! Along with what Laura bought, I took advantage of some Black Friday deals and bought her a few other things for the “girls.”
With our hands loaded down with American Girl bags, we met Andy and John at the Lego store so that John could spend his allowance money. He chose a Lego City plane set and told everyone that the age range was 6-12 and, since he is 6, he could get the set. Andy and I bought a few other small sets and Laura used the last of her allowance money to purchase a tub of random legos. She made sure to pick out pieces that they do not have or need more of like fence pieces.
We spent the rest of the morning “high in the sky” at the John Hancock Building Observation deck.
It was such a clear, beautiful day that we could see much further than we have been able to see in past years. It was just gorgeous.
Andy and Laura also got to take a turn on “Tilt!” It is a series of windows that tilt out from the Observation Deck so that you are looking down on the street. John and I happily watched and took pictures as the two crazy members of our family tilted outwards. Both Andy and Laura thought it was pretty cool, but I am good without “tilting!”
We also got to see Santa. Laura hopped right up in his sleigh to talk to him, but then immediately forgot what she wanted. Silly girl! John got rather shy and did not want to get near Santa until we coaxed him into a picture with all of us. Then, he started telling Santa all the things he wanted.
After a quick stop at Binny’s Beverage Depot for beer that we cannot get in Missouri, we went to Scot and Sheila’s to enjoy some time with them. We spent the last night of our trip relaxing and hanging out with great family. It was the perfect way to end our trip.
We spent the morning relaxing at Ian and Amanda’s. After tasty donuts for breakfast, Laura helped Amanda decorate their Christmas tree. Laura was so excited to get to help decorate and she talked Amanda’s ear off.
We headed for downtown just before lunchtime. After checking into the Westin Michigan Avenue, we stopped at Billabong in Water Tower Place to say hello to Scot before going to Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch for a late lunch. It was a fun, tasty lunch and the kids ate sundaes made in souvenir Cubs helmets for dessert. After lunch, we walked to Dealey Plaza for the Christkindlmarkt and to see the Christmas story in the Macy’s windows. The theme for this year’s window display was “The Journey of a Christmas Wish” that tells the story of a girl who sends her wish to Santa and takes viewers to Santa’s workshop and along for the ride on his sleigh. As always, the windows did not disappoint!
Then, it was off to the big Christmas tree and the Christkindlmarkt. I stopped to take a picture of the tree before we crossed the street. It was as pretty as ever!
And, of course, we snapped a picture (or five) of the kids in front of the tree.
As we wandered around the Market, we discovered that the Mizzou Tigers Football game was playing on the 40-foot big screen outside of CBS studios just across from Dealey Plaza. We got to watch our Tigers win the SEC East Championship while we shopped! Go Tigers!
After finding some great new ornaments for our Christmas tree at the Christkindlmarkt, we walked back to the Subway and took it most of the way back to our hotel. We rested for a bit and then headed back out to dinner. It was our intention to eat dinner at Portillo’s, *but* once Laura saw the Rainforest Cafe, those plans changed… Oh well, dinner was still good and the kids loved it, so we will just try to eat at Portillo’s before we leave town on Sunday. It was a long, exciting day that ended with two sleeping kids and some relaxation and wine for Andy and I – the perfect end to the day.
It was the perfect Thanksgiving full of family, relaxing, football, drinks, and just fun. The day started with Andy and I preparing the turkey and stuffing. We put it in the oven about noon to begin baking.
We followed that up with family pictures! Thanks to Amanda for serving as photographer.
Of course, I had to get a picture of the cousins and Jack LOVES to smile for the camera. Kudos to Laura and John for sitting in the background and continuing to smile so that I could snap a picture with a smiling Jack!
Of course, I had to snag a picture of the brothers too. Thanks to both Andy and Ian for tolerating some pictures. Andy is used to it, but Ian *could* have said, “Jump off a bridge!”
We spent most of the day just relaxing, chatting, having some good drinks and snacks, and enjoying the day. We served dinner right about 4 pm. Andy did an amazing job carving the turkey with nearly no meat left on the bone. By the way, that husband of mine also did an awesome job preparing that turkey (complete with brining it the night before). It was excellent! I think I’ll keep him a bit longer…
It was a good spread of food. Between all of us, we put on quite the spread – turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, rolls, etc. Just yum! All of it. Yum!
Personally, the day went by too quickly. I would have been happy with just a few more hours. A great Thanksgiving! Exactly as it should be. Family. Food. Fun.
We left for Chicago for Thanksgiving at about 10 am this morning. Oddly enough, we drove through snow for the first couple of hours, but then it stopped about the time we got to Illinois. Snow in Missouri, but *not* Illinois? What?!? After stopping for a late lunch and hitting a bit of traffic in the Chicago area, we arrived safe and sound at Ian and Amanda’s around 6 pm. It was a relaxing evening with great family, baby snuggles – love me some Baby Jack! – and food. The perfect start to our Thanksgiving trip!
