The One with Cousins

This weekend was really fun- Nicole and Emerson came from Texas. We definitely had a big weekend- trying to squeeze a lot in.
Nicole and Em got into Midway on Thursday.  Since the weather looked kinda crappy, we decided not to do all of the things until Friday.  In hindsight, this was a bad decision, because Friday was the hottest day of the year and all the things we wanted to do involved being outside and walking. A lot.

So Thursday night, we just hung out at the house and did some coloring.  Friday we got started pretty early, making our way to Maggie Daley park (a huge new park down by the Lake).  It is a pretty sweet park- but it's huge.  And the trees are still little- so there wasnt much shade to be had.  In fact, the slides are all made out of metal- which made them quite hot.  But the kids didn't seem to mind.  At all.  Check out this video of Nico coming in hot and losing control of his landing. To be fair- the slides were super fast and he wasnt the only one to wipe out on the landing!


After that, we walked by CloudGate (the Bean) on our way to grab lunch.

We made our way to Navy Pier so we could ride the Ferris Wheel.  The Ferris Wheel is kind of famous because it is apparently, the one in Ferris Bueller's Day off.  Also, it is going to be replaced soon.




Friday night was pretty chill at the house.  Nico and Em had a good time hanging out with each other and watching TV.  Saturday morning we went to a nearby Barnes and Noble, where Nico reminded me of all the things that he wants for his birthday.  We ended up with a new book about battleships and aircraft carriers.  It is pretty sweet.

Saturday afternoon, we headed out to Lisle for a Red Stars game.  Julie Johnston, Christen Press, Lori Chalupney, and Shannon Box (USWNT) play for the Red Stars.  Karina LeBlanc, Adriana Leon, and Melissa Tancredi all played for the Canadian National Team for this World Cup, which is cool.  Nicole got in touch with the facilities guy for Benedictine University (where the Red Stars play) and he let us on the track for pre-game.  We were standing there when the players walked by.  When Karina LeBlanc and Michelle Dalton (GKs for Red Stars) walked by, Michelle Dalton fist bumped Nico and Em- which was basically the highlight of the day.

The game ended in a tie and the kids were gems.  Nicole and Em left on Sunday.  Nico and I kinda moped around the house for the rest of the day.