Christmas in Chicago

We have long had the Christmas tradition of the Chicago Christkindlmarket with Ryan, and since we wouldn't get to go with him this year we took a new spin on it by having a mini staycaytion in the city.     The guys met me in Chicago after work on Saturday afternoon and we stayed the night in a river view room at The Renaissance hotel at Wacker and State.    We were so busy that we didn't get to use the hotel pool, so we will have to try again!  But we loved the view out our window!

Our first adventure was to walk along Michigan Ave. to the North Face store at the John Hancock tower because John realized he forgot to pack his winter coat!  After a few boring minutes trying to help John, William and I went next door to Water Tower Place to the Lego store to spend his birthday gift card. 

Then we cabbed to the Lincoln Park Zoo for Zoo Lights.  It was a fun (cold!) walk thru to see the lights.  A few minor exhibits were open to see, as well.

We ended up walking from there all the way to Lakeview because the traffic was so bad that it was faster to walk than Uber.   Our only stop was for a donut and bathroom break at Firecakes.   A giant donut for first dinner isn't a bad thing on holiday, right?!  William was a little tired but John was getting grouchy that I kept making them walk!  And I was getting a little anxious that we would be late for our tickets to Blue Man Group.   But we walked fast enough to make it and really enjoyed ourselves!   My original plan for the Christmas staycation was to see a holiday show but tickets were limited and expensive, and I happened upon a great deal for BMG.  I've seen it in Orlando but it was a first for both John and William and they both loved it!   

After the show we were tired but needed to eat a real meal.   We ended up just getting food from the lobby bar and eating in our room, which was a great idea!

 

 On Sunday morning, we dropped our bags with the bell hop and headed out for brunch at my favorite stop (Beatrix in Streeterville), enjoy the sites along Michigan Ave, see the Marshall Fields holiday windows and hit the Christkindlmarket.   Unfortunately it was so busy at the market that we had to divide and conquer for the ornament house line (Lisa and William) and the drinks line (John).   After our beverages and buying our favorite cinnamon-sugar pecans, we just headed home.   It was too busy to venture through all the little shops and we were full from brunch so didn't need more food.

 

 

Thanksgiving/Christmas in Indiana

We spent our traditional Thanksgiving Day and day after in the Indianapolis area with John's siblings, parents and their families.   We packed Thanksgiving, Christmas and November/December birthdays all into one day, but apparently I didn't take any photos of those festivities!   I'll borrow this group photo of the grandkids lined up from youngest to oldest:

William (10), Lexi (10), Jake (almost 11), Lily (11), Carter (18), Ali (almost 20)

The Friday after Thanksgiving has its own traditions.  Jake and William play video games at Jake's house for hours on end, the guys go to a local beverage establishment (and most years to Best Buy or similar to get Pat a new TV!), and the older kids and ladies go to the Carmel Christkindlmarket.  The market has gotten so much better over the last three years as it has grown.  

 The cordoned off snow just makes me laugh.

 

 

 

 I never knew there was more than one kind of gluwein.  At the Chicago and Naperville Christkindlmarkets you just order gluwein!  Here there were 8 or more flavors to choose between.   So instead I chose glubier!  It was a warm beer and was tasty.   It paired nicely with my favorite roasted pecans.   I usually love a crepe or a raclette as well, but I had eaten lunch at the hotel right before we left and wasn't hungry enough for those.  Next time I'll plan better!

45th Wedding Anniversary

On November 9, 1974, my parents were married in McPherson, Kansas!  So for November 9, 2019, the two of us kids plus the grandkid returned to McPherson to help them celebrate.   The weather was an amazing 70 degrees and sunny one day.  We were in heaven being outside!

Kid Chef and Grandma went right to it making us a delicious lasagna for our first evening meal.  I enjoyed it the next day for lunch leftovers on the patio with the local brew I sourced in the spacious, clean aisles of the small town Wal-Mart!

William was tasked with helping my dad with some outdoor projects but mostly he and Uncle Ryan just played in the yard!  Dad took advantage of the sunshine to hang Christmas lights on the house.

We enjoyed a prime rib dinner in Hutchinson to celebrate on Saturday night.   Since we had to get there early before the prime rib was gone, we saw the gorgeous sunset as we were driving.

 

Family Photos

We had family photos done early one cold Saturday morning!   I wanted to get them for our Christmas card and intentionally scheduled them post-fall leaf peak because all of our prior family sessions were fall and I wanted something different.  But funny enough the best ones turned out to be with a leaf background!   Oh well!  We used a few of them on the back of our Christmas card and went with a formal photo from Ryan's wedding for the front to get the colors I wanted.

 

 

Halloween

Snow and wind and cold = fun!   The wind mostly tapered off by the time it was to trick-or-treat but it was still cold and Mr. Dinosaur didn't wear a full snow suit under his costume.  I, on the other hand, was wearing a full winter coat and gloves, and the neighbors were serving adult beverages, so I was fine!   William made it about 90 minutes and then we went home and invited friends over for food and hanging out (and video games).

We joined up with buddy Zac and his inflatable to trick or treat.  Inflatables were pretty popular in the neighborhood this year.  At the first house we ran into Steve and his awesome tax form costume!