I arrived in Chicago on July 30th around 5:30 in the evening. I realized that the train wasn't too bad. It is much more roomier than the Greyhound, but still not quite as fast as an airplane. Jeremiah loved the train. He usually plays with his toy trains and God forbid we drive across choo choo train tracks, because he will beg that we do it again. So, actually being on a real train thrilled him beyond his wildest dreams.
We spent the entire first week of our stay with my mother and my little brother, Jonathan. My brother isn't too little anymore. He is 13 years old and basically a teenage boy. When I seen him I hardly recognized him. Within one year's time he had changed so much. He is getting a mustache and hair on his legs. I couldn't believe it. We went shopping, swimming, and there were a couple days we did nothing but watch tv and relax. It didn't matter to me though. Being there with them, talking and laughing was good enough for me.
The second week we were there we spent with my grandmother Katie. We went to my Aunt Karen's block party and Jeremiah had a blast. He spent an entire hour inside the bounce house with his uncle Jonathan. And after some coaxing and lots of praise he loved the water slide. He spent around three hours on that. All that playing worked up an appetite and we enjoyed gyros and cotton candy. We were also there to celebrate my grandmother Katie's 60th birthday and we seen the Smurfs movie.
All in all the vacation was everything I hoped it to be and more. I was filled with joy to be there with my family. My family is loud and crazy. They fight and don't always use the most appropriate language. Some of them lie, some of them have serious problems, and some of them are not the brightest crayons in the box. But I think we can all relate. All of us have crazy families.
And I love my wild and crazy family. I wouldn't change them for anything in the world. I have fun with them. I can tell them anything, we can laugh about everything, and even though we may not always see eye to eye we are there for one another. We have each other's backs...and that's what family is all about.
I am defenitely going back next summer for another two weeks, and if I am lucky I am going to try to see them for a week during Christmas vacation, but we will have to see. Until then I have all those precious moments, treasured memories...that I will hold close and dear to my heart.
*By the way...for the record I took tons of pictures while I was there...149 to be specific. But I didn't want to have a photo bomb going on here. So, I chose my favorites and shared them with you. I hope you enjoy my Chicago Vacation photo collages. Smile =)
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