Sept 23rd - Oct 3rd, 2010
I can't believe ten days could pass so quickly. When Lindsy and Ben offered us plane tickets to visit them it was an easy decision. Besides we could spend Carter's third birthday with him and see how Emilia and Avery have grown. The weather in Chicago was a little cooler than back home for the first few days but it was a nice change from last January. On this trip we did far less exploring of the city and a lot more hanging out with the family. Our desire was to help out with the kids and Dad was given a small list of fixit jobs to keep him occupied. The first day there Carter had fun at the playground with a new friend, three-year-old Abby. He had a very nice birthday party with lots of friends, an amazing Thomas the Train cake and lots of presents including a super play kitchen. It felt like Christmas eve with Dad helping Ben assemble it the night before. We visited the Brookfield Zoo and took Avery and Amelia for shots. We baby sat for Lindsy to take Carter to the doctor, for a hair appointment and for Ben and Lindsy to have a date night. Carter is now potty trained and the doctor was talking him into no more thumb sucking which he was already doing well at. Avery and Emilia are so adorable. They smile and giggle and sit and play at stealing toys from each other. They seem to be getting even harder to tell apart and we could no longer rely on the color-coded binkys. Emilia would do the most adorable hand wave with her arm extended while twisting her tiny hand back and forth like a princess on a parade float waving at the crowd along with the cutest smile. Dad went with Ben Thursday evening to the Chicago temple to perform baptisms for the dead. Dad and I took a couple of rides around the neighborhood on some very nice 21-speed bicycles that a neighbor had given them. While there we booked a Southern Caribbean cruise for next February that we will take along with Ben and Lindsy, Laurie and Evan and Lance and Aubri. We are excited but sincerely regret that the other three families can't be there with us. Lindsy and Ben treated us to an amazing breakfast at the Bongo Room in downtown Chicago the Saturday morning before we left. That evening we had dinner alone at the Golden Steer Restaurant near where Ben and Lindsy live. They have the most delicious steaks and we enjoyed our meal every bit as much as when we ate there on our trip last winter. Finally, we did our best to watch all five general conference sessions with intermittent baby/Carter background noise. I think we have almost forgotten what it was like to watch conference on television when our children were small. As usual it was hard to leave but the traffic at the airport departures drop off forced our goodbyes to be very short. Thanks Lindsy and Ben for showing us a wonderful time!
I can't believe ten days could pass so quickly. When Lindsy and Ben offered us plane tickets to visit them it was an easy decision. Besides we could spend Carter's third birthday with him and see how Emilia and Avery have grown. The weather in Chicago was a little cooler than back home for the first few days but it was a nice change from last January. On this trip we did far less exploring of the city and a lot more hanging out with the family. Our desire was to help out with the kids and Dad was given a small list of fixit jobs to keep him occupied. The first day there Carter had fun at the playground with a new friend, three-year-old Abby. He had a very nice birthday party with lots of friends, an amazing Thomas the Train cake and lots of presents including a super play kitchen. It felt like Christmas eve with Dad helping Ben assemble it the night before. We visited the Brookfield Zoo and took Avery and Amelia for shots. We baby sat for Lindsy to take Carter to the doctor, for a hair appointment and for Ben and Lindsy to have a date night. Carter is now potty trained and the doctor was talking him into no more thumb sucking which he was already doing well at. Avery and Emilia are so adorable. They smile and giggle and sit and play at stealing toys from each other. They seem to be getting even harder to tell apart and we could no longer rely on the color-coded binkys. Emilia would do the most adorable hand wave with her arm extended while twisting her tiny hand back and forth like a princess on a parade float waving at the crowd along with the cutest smile. Dad went with Ben Thursday evening to the Chicago temple to perform baptisms for the dead. Dad and I took a couple of rides around the neighborhood on some very nice 21-speed bicycles that a neighbor had given them. While there we booked a Southern Caribbean cruise for next February that we will take along with Ben and Lindsy, Laurie and Evan and Lance and Aubri. We are excited but sincerely regret that the other three families can't be there with us. Lindsy and Ben treated us to an amazing breakfast at the Bongo Room in downtown Chicago the Saturday morning before we left. That evening we had dinner alone at the Golden Steer Restaurant near where Ben and Lindsy live. They have the most delicious steaks and we enjoyed our meal every bit as much as when we ate there on our trip last winter. Finally, we did our best to watch all five general conference sessions with intermittent baby/Carter background noise. I think we have almost forgotten what it was like to watch conference on television when our children were small. As usual it was hard to leave but the traffic at the airport departures drop off forced our goodbyes to be very short. Thanks Lindsy and Ben for showing us a wonderful time!
Thank you. Really. For coming and for being so great while you were here. I keep hoping one of these times when I offer permanent room and board you will take me up on it. ;) LOVE YOU!
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