cross-country

Last weekend Nolan and I went with Jeremy to work. We flew to Chicago for a day, Cincinnati for a day and then back home on the third day. We had a great time, and actually made it to all of our destinations, which is a great accomplishment flying standby! (Too bad Jer doesn't always have this much fun on his work outings!)

Downtown Chicago

My favorite place in Chicago - Millennium Park,

a 24.5 acre downtown oasis.

Several giant steel sculptures live in Millennium Park. This one is my absolute favorite!

Nice skyline, eh?

Here's another great attraction in Millennium: a people magnet water feature that is bound on both ends by glass block towers. This picture doesn't show the water spewing out of this boy's mouth like a fountain!

Then water pours over the top.

Between the two towers kids run like crazy! (...even when a bride and her bridesmaids were posing for pictures in their fancy dresses in the water plaza, meanwwhile I overheard the groom nearby, "This is not a good idea!")

This place was amazing! It's a must-see if you're visiting Chicago! (Sorry, I probably get overly excited, no doubt due to the landscape architect in me.)

Self-portrait looking out toward Lake Michigan (downtown behind).

Jer left early the next morning for his work day, and we met up in the afternoon at the Cincinnati airport (which is actually in Kentucky??? Don't ask me!)

Here's Nolan waiting for the 9:30 a.m. flight, which unfortunately we didn't make! (remember, standby? sigh.) Thank heavens for the interactive children's museum-like play area in O'Hare! 5-1/2 hours in the airport with a four-year-old were actually bearable! (I forgot to mention that I left his backpack full of activities in the car in SLC....duh!)

Even with our four-hour delay, we made it just in time for dinner and swimming with my sister and her fam who made a 2-1/2 hour trek from Muncie, Indiana so we could meet up at our hotel.

We made it home because we caught the 6:10 a.m. flight Sunday. Keep in mind, we were two hours ahead of local time, which meant we woke Nolan up at 2:30 in the morning! He actually did quite well! Thanks, Nan, for watching Macy. She had a blast, too! This morning when Nolan woke up he asked me where Daddy was. When he found out he was at work, he burst out, "He forgot to take us!"