Adventures in Chicago

We had a wonderful weekend in Chicago with the Fords! The Fords have been our family friends since my mom grew up down the street from their mom, long before any of us kids (and now grandkids) were in the picture. We see them 2 or 3 times a year and this time we met up in Chicago. It was great because we got to see Justin too since he's at Northwestern. We all stayed at the same hotel, which was nice since we really got to spend all our time together that way. It's so much fun to watch the kids play together now. Owen is one and he and Ryder have just started to play some, mainly with Ryder handing Owen toys to look at. Ryder told me on Saturday, "Owen is my friend. He likes to play trains with me!" On Saturday afternoon we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which I hadn't been to in forever. Ryder was thrilled with the train room full of model trains, the chick hatchery and the toy maker exhibit where you got to watch your own toy get made--it was really cool! The kid has seemingly unending patience--he wanted to watch the chick trying to hatch for 15 minutes of essentially watching the crack in the egg wiggle when the chick moved inside the egg. Carter was fascinated watching all the lights and people too. All in all, a great visit!