Feeling Illinois II

There were side trips. Excursions. Adventures. Trains. Planes. Shetland ponies.




We spent Labor Day with the Michauds in Madison. At least one person was excited to see us:



We had not seen our dear friends from Portland since before Louis was born. They fed us, took us on a tour of campus, shared parenting tips and tribulations. The four kids nearly got the best of us, but we persevered with a united front.



Louis, age 3, entertained us with a world geography lesson.



Days later, the Hansons sent Brent on his way alone by train into the city to visit Uncle Kurt and Aunt Bobbi.



The view from their condo near Rush and State had changed since his last visit more than a decade ago, with more condo towers plugging up the skyline.



Kurt & Bobbi remodeled their condo beautifully. We spent time catching up on family, the kids, the parents and our futures.



With the Republican convention in full swing, we talked politics, too. Here, at Corner Bakery, instead of saying cheese for the camera, Bobbi & Kurt say, "Barack Obama."



Of course, no trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to Wrigley Field. Kurt donned his earphones, Cubs shirt and Cubs hat and took Brent via the L to the game with the Astros. Just our luck, the Cubs were mired in their longest losing streak of the season, and we caught loss No. 5, a shutout. Here, Kurt calls the farm team in Iowa pleading for them to send someone up who could hit the ball out of the infield.



Even at night, Wrigley is a pretty nice place.



Brent got home the next evening to find a teething Paige had been listening to the game on the radio and gotten snookered by a beer ad. Parents: Do not try this at home.




Later we went to the area zoo -- not a bad little place for a non-metro zoo. Yes, some of the animals had depressingly confined lives. But Claire enjoyed the pony ride.





Sarah ran into one of her best high school friends, Darcy, who just happens to have a daughter close to Claire's age. They caught up as they could near the fish and elephant exhibits.








The girls sure miss all the attention that granny and grandpa showered on them.