Chicago & Madison

At the beginning of May we headed for Chicago (for an annual conference I attend there with other faculty and students in my department). I brought Chris and Oli along last year and we decided we'd all go again this year. We drove to Madison Tuesday night and stayed overnight at my sister's before heading to Chicago on Wednesday. At this age Oliver is a little higher maintenance than he was last year (when he just hung out in the baby carrier), but we all had a great time! We ate a lot of good food and saw a lot of beautiful sights. Favorite foods for me were the tart frozen yogurt at Freshii in our hotel and the kale salad at Native Foods Cafe. Oli especially loved exploring the city streets, playing in the hotel pool, and watching the trains.

Chicago at night

taking some meeting notes in the hotel room

picnic dinner in Millenium Park

color coordinated with the tulips

Oli and the bean

happy about the bean

father and son near the bean

posing in Millenium park

hotel pool!

watching the trains

loved exploring Chicago

He also loved the hotel bed, as evidenced by this video:

Saturday afternoon we stopped at Chicago Diner, one of our favorite Chicago restaurants, before driving back to Madison . Spring had arrived in Madison and we grilled in Shell and Graham's backyard. The weather was perfect and it was great to sit and talk with each other and watch the cousins play together. Sunday Shell packed us a picnic and we went to a park. Shell and I got a little sister time and went for ice cream too (Do you see a food theme?). Thanks for the great visit Ayres-Wilhelms. We always love seeing you!

cousin picnic in Madison

living the dream -
eating grapes outside with no shirt

Bodie and his great smile

my niece is adorable

scootin'

Izzy and Oli sit on the front of a firetruck at the park