On Saturday May 24th Brian and I headed to Chicago to spend the day with one of my dear friends from college, Marie and her hubby Ryan, who were staying downtown celebrating their 10th anniversary. Some of you will remember that Brian flew one of my college friends in to celebrate my 30th birthday (one of the most thoughtful birthday gestures ever!!) Well, Marie is that friend! Ryan and their daughter Sydney also came along and while they were here we spent a day in downtown Chicago going to Shed aquarium and going to the top of the sears tower and then eating dinner at Ed Debevics. Well this time all children were left in the capable hands of grandparents and we spent the day just the four of us! We had a great time! We headed in to the city mid morning and first thing on the agenda was to see the Broadway show Wicked. Well we didn't realize until that morning that the Memorial Day Parade would be going on starting at noon and many of the downtown roads would be closed! Long story short what would have been a very easy drive to the theater parking lot, turned into about an hour trying to get to an alternate street and a lovely tour of the bowels of Chicago! Finally we got to an intersection where we could see the road that the theater was on, but the road ahead of us was closed. We were already late for meeting Ryan and Marie so Brian suggested that I hop out and walk to the theater, he would find a place to park and meet us there. Well those of you who know me well, you know two things about me. 1. I have absolutely NO sense of direction and 2. Downtown Chicago scares me! But for some reason, possibly the fact that Ryan and Marie were probably waiting for us, I grabbed my cell phone and the map and jumped out of the car, kinda without even thinking! And lucky me, because I took this leap of faith, I can now officially say that I was apart of the Memorial Day Parade in downtown Chicago in 2008 as I darted in front of a marching band as I crossed Michigan Avenue! So I met up with Ry and Marie in front of the theater and Brian joined us shortly after and let me just say, if you have not had the chance to see Wicked....GO SEE IT!!! It is WICKED AWESOME!!! =)
After Wicked we headed off on a fairly long jaunt to a restaurant called Fogo de Chao's. It is a traditional Brazilian restaurant that serves all you can eat meat that has been slow roasted over an open fire! I had read an online review that said you could expect to pay about $35 per person. We decided that it was a special occasion and that for downtown that wasn't really a horribly high price so we went for it! Well it was an amazing place and the meat was to die for! There was 16 different cuts that day and the servers come around with a cut of meat on a spit and if you want some they just shave it off right on to your plate! There is also an all you can eat salad bar and all you can eat side dishes. We ate our fill and were ready to leave, and then came the bill. I so wish we could have had a video camera on Ryans face when he opened that folder!
Oh well! It was a great experience and something we don't do, ever, so we will chalk it up as lesson learned that we should ask ahead of time and not make assumptions based on an online review!! Here are some other photos from the of the day!
Thanks in no small part to my sister Lauren and her hubby Derrick, the kids and I had the opportunity to travel to Bemidji, Minnesota this past week and we had a blast! We were even able to keep it a surprise for my dad. We have vacationed here for years and it is the place my dad vacationed while he was growing up as well! It holds lots of special memories and it has been 4 years since we have been able to go, so this was a real special treat! It was a long time to be apart from Brian, infact it is the longest we have been apart since we have been married! He kept himself busy (that could and may be a whole other post!) but was ready for us to return! I took oodles of pictures and don't even really know where to begin, but here are some of the best! Thanks again Lauren and Derrick for helping make this possible!
Isn't she just the "gerberest" baby you have ever seen?? Aunt Kori love you sweet Eden!
There is no one I love more than this man. I am so thankful that he is the father of my babies!
After Wicked we headed off on a fairly long jaunt to a restaurant called Fogo de Chao's. It is a traditional Brazilian restaurant that serves all you can eat meat that has been slow roasted over an open fire! I had read an online review that said you could expect to pay about $35 per person. We decided that it was a special occasion and that for downtown that wasn't really a horribly high price so we went for it! Well it was an amazing place and the meat was to die for! There was 16 different cuts that day and the servers come around with a cut of meat on a spit and if you want some they just shave it off right on to your plate! There is also an all you can eat salad bar and all you can eat side dishes. We ate our fill and were ready to leave, and then came the bill. I so wish we could have had a video camera on Ryans face when he opened that folder!
Oh well! It was a great experience and something we don't do, ever, so we will chalk it up as lesson learned that we should ask ahead of time and not make assumptions based on an online review!! Here are some other photos from the of the day!
