Chicagoland with the Sis and Cuz

I just wrapped up another great week with family here in Chciagoland. My little sister Krista and my cousin Hailey came out to stay with us for a week during their spring break, and it was such a blast hanging out with these two lovely young ladies. And Madeline enjoyed lots of love & attention from Krista and Hailey while they were here –they watched her while I worked throughout the week and she had so much fun getting to know them.

As I sit here typing this out, I realize I am exhausted because we did a lot this past week! In between my work schedule and James’ crazy week of comprehensive exams, we spent a day at the beach on Lake Michigan, had a picnic at Cantigny, strolled the river walk in Naperville, hung out on campus quite a bit, and spent a day in downtown Chicago. We had record streaks of warm, sunny weather while the girls were here: high 70’s and mid 80’s with sunshine almost every day! I’m still in shock with how warm it has been, and it has caused everything to bloom 2 months earlier than it did last year. Some pics from our week:

Sunday afternoon at the beach on Lake Michigan:

Picnic at Cantigny:

Downtown Chicago, starting off at The Signature Room which is on the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower. Normally you can see sweeping views of the city of Chicago and the Lake Michigan shoreline from this restaurant, but the one day it was cloudy, rainy and foggy was the day we were able to spend in Chicago. I was a bit dissapointed that the city was covered in fog and that we had to brave occasional downpours, since this was both Krista and Hailey's first time to Chicago. But we made the best of it! The city actually looks quite beautiful covered in dense layers of fog.

Walking through Grant Park, which is the main park downtown Chicago.

Here is Millenium Park, and the Frank Gehry building framed by the blooming cherry trees and tulips. It smelled incredible!

And we took lots of fun pics at "The Bean," which is this funny massive bean-shaped sculpture that has become a famous Chicago landmark. Madeline is currently enthralled with mirrors and windows, so she loved checking out The Bean.

Unfortunately James was swamped this week with his comprehensive exams for his program, but we did manage to snag him for some great games of Settlers of Catan, Chicago deep dish pizza, and a little sweet sixteen viewing.

We had such a great time with you, Krista & Hailey! You are both becoming such beautiful young women. So glad you both could come out, and we can't wait to see you again this summer!