Seventy-two

Chicago
Labor Day weekend, 2009

Saturday: rode the train (Seth loved it), got to Chicago a half-hour ahead of schedule (everybody loved that), had a steak dinner at Hotel Arnold (yum), watched a movie when the kids went to bed (by Grabthar's hammer!).

Sunday: went to church (and did NOT burst into flames), lunch at Cafe Arnold (on the house), afternoon at the Museum of Science & Industry (rock star parking!), deep-dish pizza at Moretti's (topping compromise reached after some intense--but bipartisan--negotiations), Settlers of Cataan until 1:30 am (guess who won).

Monday: breakfast at McArnold's (Seth finagled some waffles), packed the bags and stashed them in a locker at Union Station (with fingerprint scanning! on a luggage locker!!), walked to Michigan Avenue (OMG my feet hurt), saw the Oprah brouhaha (she shut down two blocks of Michigan Avenue for her show), found the LEGO store (spent some money in the LEGO store), homed in on the Girardelli chocolate store ("Would you like a free sample?" "What do YOU think?"), caught the bus back to Union Station (oh thank god), arrived in KC on time. And tired.

Thanks again to James and Kristal for being such great hosts. Gabriella is beautiful and you make great parents ... and you're great friends as well. We miss you but it's nice to have such a cool place to go visit now.