I cannot tell you how excited I was to take a day trip to Chicago this past Sunday!!! There were two reasons my heart JUMPED for joy at the chance to go to the "Windy City" yesterday with my family, with the second reason being greater than the first. For starters, this was the first time since I arrived in Illinois in August, that I left my new little city and ventured beyond the borders of my town!!! This may not seem like a big deal for some, but coming from Southern California, I was used it taking 45 minutes to get anywhere...the beach, mountains, parent's house and so as much as I love my new home, I couldn't wait for a chance to get out and EXPLORE!
When Bryan got back to the hotel from his lunch with Mayor Daley and other former Olympians, we were off for a walk through Millenium Park for an early dinner at a restaurant in the park along Michigan Avenue...so fun! Sarah and I were laughing that the concierge at the hotel called this a "family friendly restaurant" when we walked up and saw white table cloths and nice glasses on the tables through the windows! They ended up having white paper on them that the boys could draw on, so we were okay! We had a great dinner catching up on life since we'd been apart...a lot had happened since we'd last seen each other...we'd moved to Illinois, found out Cole was deaf, had Cora, and Bryan had won a gold medal! With all the time that had gone by and all the events that both our families been through since we'd last been together it still felt like we'd never been apart. I love the way that happens with good friends. No matter how much distance has been between you, it only takes a few moments of catching up to make you feel as if you've never left.
As for the weather, we've learned to start expecting the unexpected! This is even more true of Chicago and so here we are a week before Easter and one day after the pictures you saw in my previous post on the day of our sunny Egg Hunt...we walked to the restaurant (3 blocks from the hotel) in chilly, cloudy 35 degree weather (without wind chill) and returned an couple hours later in rain and even chillier temperatures. We all but ran back to the hotel (almost all of us holding a child!...(don't worry Cora was the toastiest of all, bundled up against Daddy in the carrier with a hat and cover) We thawed out in the hotel for a while wishing Jacob and Kate, their kids, were with us to run around and wrestle with the boys while we watched it SNOW out the hotel windows!
On our way out, we came out to the lobby to find security a bit more heavy than when we had noticed before and were told we had to stand to the side while the International Olympic Committee made their way from their limousine buses into the hotel. There was a crowd out front waving posters saying, "We back the Bid!" and get this...a marching band complete with flags waving them in!!! Now for the best part...we had valet parked our car since there was no other parking available and right after the committee made their way inside and the crowds are gathered in all their intensity, the valet brings our little 95 Honda Accord station wagon right up in the middle of it all for us to get in and drive off in all our glory. Ha!!! In case you've never traveled with kids before, let me tell you that it's not the smoothest process in the world...we did our best to get our stroller, 3 kids and bags into our car as eloquently as possible while people are yelling,"We back the Bid!" and asking Bryan for a picture. We hugged our friends, thanked them and said we couldn't wait to see them in May...As we got on our way, I was laughing saying, "Well isn't that a pretty picture of real life!" We are so thankful that though the world now knows our friends, they haven't changed a bit and the things we love about them are still true...They love the Lord, their family and the people around them well...we are blessed to be in community, though far now, with our friends, the Clays. While there, we saw Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Nadia Comaneci, and other former Olympians in the hotel and though it was amazing to see such Olympic icons, we were most thankful to have gotten to spend time with our friends.
