The Best of Chicago...

The girlies loved playing with baby Ned (who isn't much of a baby anymore)

Everyone wanted to walk through Chinatown

No that's not Toby..yet... it is Ned ...we count him as one of our kiddos too.

An annual (well sort of ) event ...taking a group pic of the kiddos with our Chicago friends... this pic has expanded a bit over the years

Ned just fits right in...

Lovin' it

The Best of Chicago is that we get to visit with friends! In preparing for our upcoming trip to China, we have to obtain Chinese Visa's for our passports. There are courier services available, but we have friends in Chicago. It is more fun to make the trip, and the way we figured it, the cost to go were only minimally more than a courier (of course, that is because we can stay with our friends while there). We are "penny-pinching" more so than ever to cover trip expenses, so our "fun" activities were limited to mostly free things to do. We did enjoy one lunch out at Harry Carey's (yummy food) and a trip to Starbucks (Pumpkin Spice Latte...oh so yummy!). We were able to walk a bit through downtown Chicago while taking the Visa's to the consulate, and a trip to China town always adds to the excitement and fun. Our kiddos (especially the big boys) love to just walk around and take in the sights, sounds and window shopping there. We vistied with Scott, Rachel and Ned. Their warm hospitality was so appreciated, and we love to share family time with them. One evening, we spent with our dear friends Shawn and Tina (Brad and Shawn are Navy buddies). We had a blast visiting, reminiscing, and sharing about our lives. The only problem...time went way to fast. Our trip was a short one (only 3 days), and it sped by much faster than we would have liked. So, we began making plans for a future visit to Chicago in which we can spend lots of time seeing the sites and enjoying friendships to the fullest. First things first...gotta get our precious baby boy home...
Thanks Again Scott and Rachel and Shawn and Tina! We love you guys!