Check!

Places to go, people to see, things to do:
We can now check Chicago off of our list. For good. (I will have to go back one day to redeem it as a vacation spot....... eventually)
This trip was a disaster. Let me rephrase that, Mark's conference was amazing, and our "vacation-time" was not very fun. I can write a whole book on all the mishaps that we had, but instead I'll give a few brief notes.

1. Lauren's first plane ride. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 6:30am on Monday morning. The SA airport is usually slow and you can show up at the most an hour before a scheduled flight and have time. Not this morning. The security line was an hour long, and thankfully we had a shorter one for family-use. After security, we heard our names on the last call, and we had to run to catch the plane. We caught it. The ride was smooth and Lauren did great. That was on the way to Chicago. On the way home. We got to the airport 4 hours in advance for an 8:45pm flight, our flight was delayed until 10:45, and Lauren had an ear infection. All together, Lauren cried most of the flight and we didn't get home until 2:30am. YUCK.

2. Chicago traffic is HORRIBLE! Hence, getting to the airport 4 hours in advance. Now, I am sure if I was from Chicago, I would now the back-roads, but seeing that our dear GPS named Harriet pulled up the major highways, that is what we took. And, we ate at Gino's East Pizza for the world famous deep dish. We ended up parking in a garage for $27 and when we walked to 6 blocks to Gino's, there was a valet sign for, get this, $7. HA! Things we should know before planning a trip.. parking and parking garages. San Antonio parking garages are nothing compared to this.

3. Lauren's ear infection. Lauren got her first real ear infection while up there. Nothing too bad, thank goodness, and we visited an urgent care clinic, so we were able to get antibiotics in her before the flight home. Plus, she wouldn't eat all week, and if you know Lauren, that is not her! She missed out on so many good foods!

4. Hotels! The first night, we stayed at this amazing Sheraton hotel. They had a gigantic inside water park- which unfortunately we didn't have enough time to play in; and, they had a walk-in closet attached to the bathroom where we were able to place Lauren's crib for the night. Beautiful! Now, the rest of the week, we stayed at a Holiday Inn. Now, I am usually a fan of Holiday Inn's, but I think it is always a gamble. Each one is different. The one we stayed in had different sections to it- like the original, and two add-ons. Well, we got an original room. Two beds, small dirty bathroom and sink, and just a tiny small bedroom with no room to move and relax. We didn't pay too much for it due to priceline.com, so I can't complain too much.

There were lots of good parts and funny stories to every bad part.
The Lincoln Park Zoo (advertises as free, but parking is $14.) was beautiful. They had indoor areas that you could watch the gorillas and monkeys, but you could also go outside and watch them as well. In the baboon area, there were a group of school kids teasing a baboon that was about 3 feet from the glass, trying to get it to come to them. As soon as they moved on, Mark and Lauren went up to the glass, and the baboon CHARGED her!! It scared me, and in turn, scared Lauren. For that brief moment, I forgot about the glass. The chimps were in heat, so it was funny to hear all of the comments about the "girl bottoms," and the "happy guys."

We went to the most amazing Children's Museum. Lauren had a blast. As did the rest of us. It was in Navy Pier, which was beautiful and not too crowded.
We also took a day-trip to Evanston to visit Northwestern University. We didn't spend much time there, but the University was BEAUTIFUL and so was the town. If/when we leave San Antonio, I would LOVE if God moved us to Evanston, Illinois. So pretty! Oh, we also went to this town called Long Grove, which is the equivalent to Salado, TX. Antique shopping and delicious food in a great historic town. (This was the day Lauren ran a 102 temp, so we didn't get to stay too long.)

So our trip was good... not great, not too terribly bad, just good.
The Saturday after we got back, I took a day trip to Houston to attend my good friend Elizabeth's wedding. BEAUTIFUL! I will have to post pictures when I figure out this computer.
(Yes, our laptop finally crashed with ALL of Lauren's pictures on it. Geek squad has it now, so I am praying they can somehow save Lauren's life in pictures.... I am an idiot for not taking them off of there myself.)

Well, that is life for now. I have been cleaning our incredibly dirty house since we have been back. This summer is hectic for our family, so we will be coming in and out frequently. BUT, if any of you come to SA, let me know, I would love to play catch-up!