Cousins' Last Day

Friday, June 15, 2012

Not until their last day with us did we have a late, relaxing morning in pjs while their parents' began organizing and packing.

There were, however, two very important places to visit before they left. After finally getting dressed, we drove over to Greg's and Jenny's so that they could show Amber their home and introduce their canine family members to everyone.

Our last stop was our grands most favorite park because it has such cool playground equipment. It is also very close to our house...win, win! That day the temps had risen dramatically and we were all getting ready to have some lunch so we didn't stay long, but it is always a fun place to play.

Those of you who have been around a while will recognize that this is our grands' very favorite piece of playground equipment...anywhere!

Adults can go flying off of it too! It's not easy to stay on when the kids or G'pa get it spinning.

I love this set of swings...all of the kids were on it here and still didn't use them all. Okay, well yes, Dylan and Riley are trying to get Riley either into or out of a little kid swing; Shelby had been swinging in one like it just minutes earlier.

We came back to the house for lunch and some serious fort building in the front room. This was an incredibly exclusive fort that required a personalized ticket to enter. As Amber found out, you cannot enter without a ticket and you cannot successfully trick them by using someone else's ticket...teehee

I didn't give even one thought to photographing the goodbyes; it was just too bittersweet. We all agreed though that we were very grateful to have so much time with them this year and get to do so many fun things!!!

The boys retreated to their own interests for the evening. There was straightening and laundry to be done. Then Shelby helped me prepare food and bake desserts for the gathering we were hosting the next day.

Lovin' Life ~~ Occasionally Sleeping

Millenium Park & Willis Tower

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It takes me quite a while to post photos of places we go with our three grands and one camera. Add three more cute kids and two more cameras and the time it takes expands exponentially! Our third day in the city was just as terrific as the first two. Our plan was to see the city itself and experience public transportation, novelties to all of us except Rich.

We parked our vans near Union Station and walked a short distance to the bus stop.

The bus driver was a tad frustrated with our clumsy attempts to find correct change but here we made it, onto the bus.

From our bus stop it was just a short walk...

...to Millennium Park, a favorite spot of mine in the city.

The Grants Park Orchestra and Chorus was rehearsing in the Pritzker Pavilion so we sat on the grass a bit and then walked down closer to listen.

From there we walked over to the Art Institute on the Nichols Bridgeway over Monroe Street, which gives you great views of the city, a glimpse of Lake Michigan, and an overview of Millennium Park.

Returning to the park, we grabbed a quick hot dog for lunch before exploring Cloud Gate, often referred to simply as The Bean.

This is the ceiling inside Cloud Gate. Every where you see that peach color is where we were standing. My top really stood out that day.

The kids were holding hands in a circle; three out of the four of us are holding cameras. The other two holding cameras were strangers who were entranced by our kids.

A group photo on the other side of Cloud Gate with the city reflected in its shiny exterior.

This the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. The scene on the fountain changes and is most often the face of a person so I was happy to see that I got this shot of it. Water constantly cascades down the sides and occasionally gushes out the front for a short time. Another, identical fountain sits at the opposite end of the huge splash pool.

I am posting way too many photos of the kids playing in the waters of the fountain but they had an absolute blast and were totally soaked by the time we insisted on leaving there.

We took a break to dry out a bit before walking to the station to ride the "L" to our next stop.

What a treat trying to figure out how to pay for our tickets. Public transportation is clearly not designed for the occasional rider. But, again, Rich got all of us on there.

Our grands demonstrated their experienced, strap holding form since they have ridden this before...one time...last year!

We were excited about taking them to the 103rd Floor of the Willis Tower (we're slowly getting used to the name change). 

Here is our group stopped at one of the first windows you come to after stepping off the elevator. There's so much to see, so much to absorb.

You can see the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and Lake Michigan in this photo.

In the background of this next photo you see the black Hancock Building with the lake behind it.

Here are all six of the kids on The Ledge. Like our grands the first time they were there, their cousins didn't even bat an eye at stepping out onto that clear cube.

I lost count of how many times that week Amber and I would look around and, sure enough, the two guys were deep in conversation. They do have much in common.

Another exhilarating day comes to a close as we walk across the Chicago River toward the parking garage.

But wait, there's more! As we got out of our vans on the top floor of the parking garage that morning, I looked up and saw this. Can you see what I pointed out to the kids? This was such a great start to our day of exploring the city with its myriad things we would never see at home.

Did you click to enlarge so you could see them? There are two window washers hanging from separate sets of ropes/cables swinging from window to window as they did their day's work. The kids were fascinated.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Days in the City