CHICAGO

We just returned from an 8 day oddessey to Mishiwaka, Indiana, to see my brother and his family, and eventually to Chicago. We had a fantastic time. Here are some highlights:

This is my brother. He says he is not texting, but I think he is. No one really knows what he is doing. In this photo, you will see his happy, excited state. His other emotions look pretty much the same.

This is Wes and Griff swimming with Trey and Frank. They would be second cousins...no wait. First cousins, once removed. No, twice removed. No....second cousins, twice removed. I don't know. But they are family.

We had a good time at the hotel swimming pool in Mishiwaka. Nobody gave us a hard time about the 8 guests that we brought with us to swim. Way to go Hyatt Place, 5 stars for you.

After Mishiwaka to see the fam, we headed into Chicago to stay at the Drake (the conference that I had to attend later in the week for my job was held there). That's where Oprah puts up her guests so I guess they are used to seeing weird folks there. Nobody gave us too much guff, even when we hauled all of our own luggage up to our rooms. What a circus that was.

Nice hotel. No swimming pool or vending machines though ($7 for a bottle of water from the mini fridge -- are you serious? You lost a star there and one for the pool, Drake).

Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Very cool. Lots of trains, planes, and automobiles.





















A couple of exhibits seemed surreal, yet familiar.....
















After the museum, and an excellent meal at a downtown restaurant Carmine's, we went back to the hotel and managed to catch most of '24'. Dang that Tony Almeida.

On Tuesday, we went to the Shedd aquarium. Overall it was very good, but it made us realize how great our own aquarium in Jenks, Oklahoma really is.





















After a long day at the aquarium ("Hey look everyone, it's another tank with some fish in it!") we went back downtown to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. I know, that's not really native Chicago fare, but we had a good time and the food was great. We finished up with a dessert called the volcano, complete with a gen-u-ine sparkler on top. Very decadent.

We walked off some of the chocolate cake and magnesium tainted vanilla ice cream with a short jaunt to the Hard Rock Cafe. Here Griffin and Wes posed with one of Jimi's guitars.




S'cuze me while I kiss the sky....





We also visited the John Hancock building a couple of times. The first time we went up to the observatory, it was too cloudy to even see the ground. We managed to catch a break in the weather on our last morning there and got some good photos (including the one at the top of this page).
















Another highlight of the week was a trip to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game. They lost, but we had a blast (and a hotdog).


At the end of this historic day (first major league game for any of us) the kids testified that their favorite part was the ride out to the park on the subway. Go figure.