A couple weekends ago (end of May) we visited Kelly and Heath in Evanston, with our kids! It was a fun trip down, the kids were really good in the car. We had a DVD player and put in a couple movies. They each slept (a little, but not at the same time) and there was minimal screaming! Friday night we went out to eat at a great little restaurant in Evanston called Gulliver's. The kids were crazy. They ate a ton of fries, and although they were really tired, they were in good spirits. A little more screaming than I would have liked. However, the owner / manager (?) and our server were amazing, did what they could to keep the kids happy, and never showed the slightest bit of annoyance. Well, that makes the kids sound really bad... but it wasn't their fault. Actually we came totally unprepared, and the the kids got bored, so they didn't know what to do with themselves (other than spill water, fight over keychains and menus, and eat limes). I learned I should always have crayons or stickers or something!
Saturday we went to Lincoln Park Zoo. We had perfect weather. There were so many cool animals to see. Henry hated riding in his stroller - it was nice to keep him contained and convenient for a while, but we took him out so he could walk and get a closer look at some things, he seemed a lot happier! Lucy scraped her knee falling on the rough ground (tripping on her own foot, running, etc.). She'd calm down, until she ripped open the same knee again... and then again. The nice thing is, the zoo is free (you only have to pay for parking), and they have an incredible collection of plants, animals, fish, and the whole thing is so beautifully designed and landscaped. I don't think I had ever been there before. We were there for quite a while, and again the kids were beyond tired. They both took a nap that afternoon when we got back to Kelly and Heath's apartment. That night we ordered dinner in, and relaxed, watched "Cars" and after the kids went to bed, hung out and had some drinks - we were all in desperate need of a little wind-down time!!!
Sunday morning we walked over to a playground less than a block from their place, the kids were in their element again, just playing and happy. Lucy was running an ice cream parlor and Henry was grabbing fistfulls of dirt. We walked over to Starbucks and had "breakfast" (Lucy wanted the "C-One" - a croissant. It looked like a good one too, big and fluffy! Ron and I had big lattes, apple fritters, and iced green tea for Kelly and Heath. Later we decided to go to a great buffet place in Wilmette (?) for lunch, then Kohl Children's Museum, so the kids could play some more. We headed home around dinner time. McD's (which tasted soooo good!) and lots and lots of screaming in the car. Ron even had to pull over by a toll station to give them a stern talk, which stopped things temporarily. Wow. They were both so exhausted, we were sure they'd fall asleep before we hit the highway. Neither one slept a wink until we got home and put them to bed. Yikes!
Here are some of the photos we took while were were there!
Thank you so much Kelly and Heath for letting us stay at your place! All in all, I think the kids did pretty well, and it was a great experience for them to see where their magic aunt and uncle live (who usually appear out of thin air at our house, when the kids wake up in the morning). :)
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