Chicago!

This past weekend we went to Chicago for the wedding of our nephew, John, the son of Peter's oldest sister, Beth. We booked our tickets and hotel back in May and were all set to go on this short Morris Family Vacation. Well, in July, right before we went to the beach, we found out that Peter was going to be heading to Virginia for his Store Manager Evaluation. He would be there from the Sunday to Friday - the day after we had originally planned on leaving. Unfortunately this was the only time in the next few months that this opportunity was going to be open for Peter, so he had to take it! We contemplated not going to the wedding, but really wanted to go, and didn't want to give up all that sunk cost. That means... I got to fly there with Nate and Mia (her first time on a plane!) by myself! Doesn't that sound fun?

First airplane ride! I tried to get Nate in the shot, but he didn't want to.

Checking out the amber waves of grain

 Well, it actually wasn't that bad. I think the stress of thinking about it was worse than anything else.  Mia did have a huge blowout from the newly introduced apples in her diet, but fortunately it happened before we left the house! I did everything I could to be prepared and everything went smoothly. Our shuttle dropped us right at our airline, so I was able to do curbside check-in. And I cannot sing the praises of the family security line more! I was able to wear Mia through in her Moby and get through in less than 5 minutes. If anything, I was probably a little too prepared because I got to the gate about an hour before boarding. I tried to plan on feeding her during take off, but she was a little too eager. Luckily I had a large stash of binkies on stand by! Our plane was full of business travelers, and one guy in front of me commented on how good they were, and how he didn't hear Mia cry at all, which surprised him a lot. She did cry out a couple times, but as soon as she got her binky back she was fine. She also really enjoyed flirting with the new military recruits sitting in the row behind us.

On Friday we headed to the beautiful Chicago Botanic Gardens. We went on a tram ride around the gardens while we were waiting for everyone else to show up, then went to the butterfly exhibit. That was amazing! It was a normal sized green house filled with hundreds of different species of butterflies. It is pretty amazing to be able to see them so closely for such long periods. They didn't seem to like me enough to land on me, which surprised me given how much mosquitoes seem to like me! After the butterfly exhibit we headed to see the model trains, which Nate just loved! Then we went back to the hotel for a nap before going to Beth's house for the rehearsal dinner.

This isn't California!

Pooped

Peter got into Chicago (after passing his evaluation! Yay!!!) late Friday night, so when we woke up on Saturday, he was there! He jumped right into the fun with a trip to the Shedd Aquarium. I think the best part of going to the aquarium was getting to drive through downtown Chicago, and then along Lake Michigan on the way home. Chicago is really a beautiful city! The downtown seemed so vibrant - nothing like Charlotte's "Uptown" that all but closes in the evenings and weekends, and the suburbs were beautifully green. I'm sure I'd have a very different opinion of it during the winter, but during the summer it is very charming.

After the aquarium we had a short time to get ready back at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony even though it had to be moved inside because of rain. Good luck for them! They had a bag full of fun stuff for each of the kids - puzzles, crayons and a car for Nate, rattles and books for Mia.. This was great for the time between the ceremony, dinner and dancing when Nate got a little antsy. But once the dancing started there was no stopping him! He was one of the first out on the dance floor, and didn't want to get off. He danced with all of his cousins, then even got a group of the bride and grooms' female friends wrapped around his little finger with his debonair dancing and charm. Mia did not have as much fun, and was a little overstimulated once the music got started. I kept having to take her outside, and a lot of people offered (wanted) to hold her so I could dance, but she's in her Mama phase, so it wasn't even worth it. Unfortunately we don't have any pics from the wedding, unless we get some from the photographer they had.

Mia and Nate with Aunt Cathy and cousins Aaric and Lainey

After going back to the hotel and crashing, we basically had enough time to pack and eat breakfast before heading back to the airport. It was a whirlwind vacation, but definitely a lot of fun. Nate loves getting to see all of his cousins! Can't wait for the next family vacation!

Yes, this is what a family vacation looks like!