Super Slider

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of showing Andrew how to go down his slide head first.  Now this seems to be his preferred method of sliding execution.

You don't mess with a NINJA!

This is what happens when you sneak up on a NIT - Ninja in Training.

"Are you trying to take my car?"

"You better watch yourself!"

Morning swim

With Andrew running a fever and such during our stay in Chicago, I didn't know if we would have time to take advantage of the hotel pool, but luckily Andrew broke his fever the morning that we were leaving.  So, before we checked out, we made a mad dash to the pool...well, I guess not "mad dash" because we still stopped long enough to take pictures of Andrew.

He was fascinated with the floor to ceiling windows.  He would spend countless minutes just standing there staring at the cars speeding by.

He would take his car and drive it by the windowsill with the moving ones below.

I don't have any pictures of him in the pool, but that might be a good thing seeing that I don't want your retinas to disintegrate when you see me in a swimsuit.  :)

MSI

What's a trip up to Chicago without going to a museum?  Once again, we visited the Museum of Science and Industry, but this time Andrew was a little bit older (and could enjoy it) and we had Nana and Papa with us. 

Andrew watched the trains pass by.  He tried to touch them but couldn't get past the glass.

Papa being a clown.

Andrew did not want to partake in this.

But I did.

Dustin and his dad were excited to see the U-boat.  

Andrew was exhausted after climbing down 50 steps to get to the exhibit.  

Dustin and his dad decided to take the tour inside while the rest of us wandered off to areas where Andrew could run around.

I'm pretty sure airplanes could land with someone wearing this.

Papa loves trains!

Andrew was at just the right level to reach the lever that controlled a prism.  He spent a lot of time pushing it up and down.

Even though Andrew was feeling under the weather for this outing, he was actually exceptionally well-behaved...and so were Nana and Papa.  :)

Dustin (poblano pepper) Rick Bayless!

So, Dustin loves Rick Bayless.  Simple as that.  Well, maybe it's not so simple.  Dustin absolutely adores Rick Bayless.  He watches his shows, uses his cookbooks, dreams about him...well, maybe not.  Anyway, you get my drift.  While in Chicago, we have to eat at Frontera Grill - which is one of three restaurants owned by Chef Bayless.

Well, his restaurant gets crowded very quickly, so it was recommended that we get there before they open to guarantee immediate seating.  So, as we are standing outside his restaurant, Dustin looks in the window and sees the wait staff surrounding this chef.  We think nothing of it except that they're probably having their staff meeting before opening.  Dustin makes a comment that the chef could be Rick Bayless.  Now, we're all curious and wonder if that could be him, but his back is to us.  Well, lo and behold, he turned and Dustin saw his face and wouldn't you know it, but it was RICK BAYLESS!  I told Dustin he had to covertly take a picture of him because this will probably never happen again, so here it is.

The picture reminds me of those Sasquatch sightings.  :)  Rick Bayless is the blurry guy in the center of the picture wearing a chef's coat.

Anyway, it was totally awesome that we saw him and really made our night.

Andrew wasn't feeling so hot that night.  He was running a fever and had a snotty nose and no appetite, but he was very well behaved in the restaurant and loved the cold walk back to our hotel.

So, this will probably be our one and only Rick Bayless sighting (unless Dustin finds our where he lives), but I don't regret our blatant staring through the window to catch a glimpse of him.  :)

Chi-Town

With Dustin's parents visiting us for the week, we thought we should take them to Chicago since they have never been there before.  Andrew wasn't feeling the greatest when we got there, but he was such a trooper. He rarely complained and when he did, all he wanted was some mommy love.  

Here's the view from our hotel room.

As long as Andrew had his cars, he didn't care where we were.

Funny enough, our room received nightly turn-down service and even chocolates on our pillows while Nana and Papa received none.  

Here we are on the Chicago Riverwalk.

I have more pictures, but will post them under a different heading.  Overall, great trip!

Is it too early for bifocals?

Andrew was obsessed with Papa's glasses.  For the 5 seconds he sat still, we were able to put them on him.  There's nothing cuter than a baby wearing glasses.  Although I think it's still a bit premature for bifocals.