Y3W

Chicago Was Fun

Frank and I just returned from a fun-filled trip to Chicago and the Great Lakes area. We went down to see our friend Koepsel before he shipped off to Florida after graduating from basic training today.

Thursday we went to the Shedd Aquarium. The Caribbean Reef exhibit was my favorite by far. There was a diver in the tank feeding the fish (and sharks!) while we were there which was pretty cool to see. How awesome of a job is that? Where do I sign up?

I was a little disappointed with the small representation of tropical fish though. They had a lot of fresh water fish, and I my friend, enjoy a little color in my fish.

We also caught a short 4D showing of Happy Feet. It was super cute, but the first time my chair attacked me I was sure the guy behind me had kicked me.  

Next, we took my first ever taxi ride to Gino's pizza. I have to admit it was a bit of a let down; it didn't really live up to all the hype. The atmosphere was really cool though with it's graffiti covered walls. I must start traveling with white Sharpie in hand. 

Next, my love took me to...IKEA! Hells yea! I'm pretty sure this may have been my favorite part of the trip. Well, the 11 glorious straight hours of sleep may have beat it. Nevertheless, it was pretty freakin' awesome. 

That place is huge, and has eeeeeveryyying. I did utilize a great deal of self control, but you bet your bottom dollar I will be making a return trip some time in the not so distant future.

Here's what I did purchase: 1 PAIR of curtains for the living room ($14.99!!), curtain rod ($7.99), 2 chair pads ($4.99 each), finger puppets for little man ($4.99), fabric play fruit and basket for little man ($4.99), white planter and fake plant they forgot to charge me for ($1.99), and I think that's it. 

I had to really restrain myself so that I wouldn't buy all the cool jars they had there. I have a crazy jar obsession lately, and I'm pretty sure we might be living in a house of jars if I keep it up. Frank agrees.

Then, we headed back to Gurnee to check into our hotel. After checking in we went to the Gurnee Mills mall because Frank just had to have these hot, cinnamon glazed pecans. They were pretty delicious, and I'm pretty sure I ate more of than he did. Oops. That mall is huuge. I think I would really have enjoyed it more if I wasn't exhausted from the day. Plus, it paled in comparison to Ikea. I mean, how can you top that? 

We finally headed back to our hotel for the night and poured ourselves into bed at.... 8:00pm. Ahh, yes we are hardcore. The hotel bed was so comfy and I slept great. Unfortunately our bodies have gotten used to our early wake up calls courtesy of a certain little fella, so we woke up long before our 9:30am alarm. But still, we got 11 glorious hours of uninterrupted sleep. Pure bliss.

Then this morning we met up with Mr. Koepsel at his family's house in Kenosha for great food, great company, and some Wii bowling. (Frank would probably like you to know that he won both games). 

Good times. He will certainly be missed. Frank and I told him we hope to get out to visit him sometime soon....only if he gets stationed somewhere warm though. ;)

We had a great "weekend" away (hey, I work weekends, so it was like my weekend). It was some much needed alone time together and nice little break to recharge. But, we were both thrilled to head home today and could not wait to snuggle our little man. It was the longest and farthest I had been away from him ever. The huge smile and cuddles he gave us upon our return was really the icing on top of a really great "weekend".