Our Chi-Town Adventure

Warning: There are no less than 48 pictures in this post! And by no means did I put all of the ones I wanted to on here!! But here it is, as promised...our Chi-town weekend adventure for my cousin, Eddie's wedding. My mom, Ava and I left early Thursday morning, and thank goodness we did because Thursday was the only nice day, weather wise!

A sleepy Ava...waiting to get on the airplane.

Such the little business traveler!

"Let's get this plane off the ground people!"

All I have to say is thank goodness for the portable DVD player I purchased for this trip! That thing was a life saver for not only me and my mom, but for all of the other passengers on the plane, too!! We had a little issue with Ava kicking the seat of the poor man in front of her...she thought it was hilarious when I would grab her feet to make her stop...which only made her want to do it more! We apologized profusely, and the nice man was very understanding...whew!

We arrived in Chicago around lunch time, so we stopped at this cute little neighborhood cafe to grab a bite to eat. After lunch, it was time to let Ava run around, so we went to the park across the street from the cafe and turned her loose!

Ava thought it was way more fun to climb up the slide than to go up the stairs...you know, the right way!

And once she got to the top, she had just as much fun sliding down!!
Just swinging away!

After an hour or so at the park, we decided it was time to go to Aunt Kathy's for a nap. Of course Ava fell asleep in the car on the way there, so once we got there, she was ready to play again. No nappin for this chica!

Watching "whirly-birds" in Aunt Kathy's backyard...

For dinner we had none other than the oh-so yummy Lou Malnatti's pizza {my mom's favorite, btw!} Ava had the spaghetti and loved every bite!!


Sweet Auntie Kathy got her this cute clown cookie. Don't tell Ava, but I ate it...all!! He he he!

Friday morning...before the wedding...we took Ava to the neighborhood park so that she could get some of her energy out. Wishful thinking...

The Wedding

This is how we watched the wedding....outside, in the foyer, looking through the glass doors and listening to the ceremony on the speakers. Now, it didn't help that we were a little late...okay, so we were 25 minutes late. But in our defense, it was raining, and the traffic was bad and the route that google maps had us take had road closures. So, what should have been a 15 minute drive took an entire hour! Whatever, dude. Its not like Ava would've sat quietly through a Catholic ceremony anyway.


We caught up with the fam outside...in the rain. My Uncle Jack... acting as our personal umbrella holder :)

The happy couple! Mr. and Mrs. Edward Blumer

The Reception

The reception was held at the River East Art Center in downtown Chicago...and it was b-e-a-utiful!!! A view from the top...

The centerpieces were absolutely gorgeous! Everything was!!

The cake...oh the cake! Need I say more??

All of the cousins...we're a small family :) Yes, I'm the oldest and quite frankly, probably the tallest. My brother may have me beat by an inch or two...but not with my heals on.

Left to Right: my brother Kyle, Jessi, Michael, Me, Christopher & Eddie

The girls...well most of them. I think Jessi and Ava were off dancing :)

Me, Janice, Jeanne, Mary Beth, Mom, & Nana (in front)

Kyle, Nana {our Great Grandma}, Ava and Me

The sweet bride and groom, Alicia and Eddie

a reunion of sorts....I haven't seen my brother, Kyle in a couple of years :( and this was his first time to meet Ava. They were so sweet together!!

Jessi and Me

Kyle and his girlfriend, Maleah

So, this picture is really cool {to me anyway}...the man standing next to my mom was a groomsman in her wedding to my father 31 years ago! Danny and my father have been good friends for years and years, and I haven't seen him since I was probably 2 years old. He got to meet Ava, and she even let him have a dance!

:)

Mom, Danny, Grandma Betty, Me, Ava

Alicia and Eddie...their first dance as husband and wife. Say it with me...awwwww.

And then there was dancing....lots and lots of dancing! We stayed until 11:15, and even then I had to drag Ava off of the dance floor!! She was having a blast and certainly did not think it was time to leave!

Ava dancin it up with Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Jack

Ava and cousin Jessi

Ava and Auntie Jeanne

Grammy and Ava...you girls are having too much fun! :)

Christopher and Grandma Betty

Ava and her Great Grandma Betty

Somehow, mommy found a way to sneak in a dance

still dancin!

A video of the dancing!!

We got home around 11:30 pm and went right to sleep. After all, we had big plans to go to the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday. Unfortunately, everyone else in the greater Chicago area had those same plans, so when we walked up {in the pouring rain, mind you} we saw a line that was at least 1/2 mile long. And I am not exaggerating! It was wrapped around the building and not moving one inch. All these crazy people were just standing there in the rain....waiting to get into the Aquarium. We decided that, for our own sanity, we would just go over to the museum and hopefully there would be something there Ava would enjoy. There was, thank goodness. However, my camera went into hiding that day, so there are no pictures of our museum adventure.

chillin at Aunt Kathy's

Sunday we had planned to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house and have a get together with the whole family. Sadly, it rained and rained and rained some more...so much that we couldn't go because of the flooding and road closures. It was the most rain Chicago had ever gotten in one day....ever. We were afraid that if we had gone out there, we wouldn't have been able to get back in time to catch our flight that evening at 6:30. Talk about a bummer....stupid rain.

Saying our goodbye's to Auntie Kathy!! Thank you for letting us stay with you!!!

So, we left super early for the airport and ended up getting there with plenty of time to spare. Our flight was delayed til about 8pm, so we definitely had some time to kill.

Chili's seemed like a good place to pass the time

Thank you Mom for going with us! We loved getting to spend so much time with you! And thank you, Aunt Kathy, for letting us stay with you! We had so much fun hanging out! Kinda disappointed that the rain messed up most of our plans, but I'm so glad we went. It was good to see everyone, even if it was only at the wedding. My cousin, Michael is getting married next September, so I think we'll have to plan a trip back up there for that.

So there you have it...our rainy trip to Chi-town. Kudos to you if you made it all the way to the end!