Nathan, Jackson, Shara, Lauren, Jen, Ari, & Gina 05.21.11
LUNCH: Yum.
For several months now, we've been planning to meet up with a few of my Michigan cousins during a weekend that they were planning on spending some time in the Windy City. The weather was PERFECT, they had several hours to hang out, and the city was the perfect backdrop to our visit!
I have so many fond memories of spending time with Lauren & Jen at my Granddaddy's farm in Columbia, TN. Their grandmother is my grandfather's sister, & they would come down regularly for Easter vacation & summer trips.
We flew kites, climbed on hay, fed chickens, and chased fireflies.
Now we're all grown up...
with kids of our own!!
We met Jen + daughter Ari, & Lauren + daughter Gina for lunch (above photo) and then just started walking downtown...
We found ourselves at the Hershey Store:
We each had a few snacks & then headed across the street to the Ghirardelli store...
yes, we were in chocolate heaven.
We needed to walk off some of that chocolate, so we took in some of the
MAGNIFICENT MILE
including the Disney Store...
Trevor had to take photos of these vintage Disney safety-themed posters:
We decided to head towards Millenium Park (one of my favorite downtown areas). There we admired (touched, walked under, photographed, and stared at) "THE BEAN" :
We hung out some more...
laughed, shared memories, and just enjoyed the time together.
It was fantastic!
I hadn't seen these cousins in 11 years.
11 years!
Before long, it was time to say goodbye. Trevor hailed the ladies a taxi, we hugged goodbye and they were off to their evening festivities.
May our next gathering be much, much less than 11 years from now :)
We stayed in the city for a few more hours...walking around the park, enjoying some down time, and letting J run in the grass.
He also ran in some water...
which was adorable, and he was the side show for many on-lookers.
(There were other kids running around, but none as cute as J. What? You think I'm biased?)
We enjoyed the cousin get together and the family fun day--we haven't had a day out together in several months. We need to do this more often!
Our family. May 2011.
Chicago
3 comments:
i like the picture of you guys reflected in the bean. i also just like saying "the bean."
Um, those GINORMOUS chocolate bars look heavenly!
We had so much fun. Thanks for taking the time to meet up with us. We have to do another get together much much MUCH sooner and I'll bring my boys next time!
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