Chicago

Millennium Park "The Bean" - our reflection

Obama's house - surrounded by police & we were asked not to take pictures. This was a quick drive by.

The best hot dog Eric has ever had (we went 2 times)

Chicago Tribune building

McCormick & Schmidt dinner

Cantigny Park - Eric w/his arm around my dad

Elder & Sister Jenks at Naperville River walk

Announcing Mr. & Mrs. Eric Bateman

We are getting really good at being spontaneous. With only 4 days of planning, we jetted off for Chicago where my parents are currently serving a 1-year LDS mission. We left the kids with our friends, Katie and Brett Johnson (hopefully they're still our friends), Monday through Thursday, and knew they were in good hands. Boston keeps asking when they're coming back.

Some of the places we visited or viewed from the car were: the Naperville river walk, Cantigny Park, Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, the Museum of Science and Industry, Obama's house, the mission office, a Broadway musical, and the entire city of Chicago (nice & really rough parts). We could probably be employed as food critics as we sampled Italian and Mexican and everything in between. We never miss a meal when we're on vacation.

The city and country side were gorgeous this time and year. Fall was in the air and we took in every bit of it. It was so fun to see my mom and dad and get them all to ourselves. They're an inspiration of where we hope to be 30 years down the road. Thank you for entertaining us and showing us what Chicago means to you.

My Superhero

A friend from Eric's work brought this to him. I thought it was classic.

Wrestling

The boys have been waiting a long time to start wrestling and Eric has been waiting even longer. He came out of the parent meeting the previous Monday just beaming. I asked him if he was having a "moment" and he smiled and said, "yes, I am." He said he's always dreamed of taking his boys to wrestling practice. Eric was actually a wrestler long before he played football. He wrestled up until his junior year in high school and only on a dare, did he go out for football. Wrestling was curtains from there.

Eric took the boys to buy their lovely head gear and found out that Jackson's head is bigger than Leighton's. They were a different size. Actually Jackson is currently about 15 pounds heavier than Leighton. Hopefully that will change with wrestling practice 3 times a week at 2 hours each time. Last night (Monday) was their first practice and I thought for sure they'd have a hard time but all they said was that they sweat a lot. And they went to bed without any complaints. They were completely exhausted.

Adventures

No school last Friday meant we could take advantage of Eric's crazy Thursday/Friday days off so we left Wednesday evening to go to Utah for some fun. We were very adventurous and crammed quite a bit it. We wanted the kids to see what fall really looks like.

Thursday we took in Sundance and hiked to Stewart Falls. The 1.1 mile hike played out to be difficult as Jackson cried or complained the whole way up, Eric through a rock at a beehive right next to the trail (a swear word was justified coming from me), Kennedy had stomach trouble, and Boston wanted me to carry him half the time. The feel of the cold falls on their faces made it all worth it once we reached the top. I must say I was feeling a little winded and hot but of course I was in flip flops because I didn't get the memo we were going hiking.

We then ventured to Heber for a little lunch after finding out Sundance was an hour and half wait. Eric was so disappointed. Sundance was one of his favorite places to eat when we lived in Utah.

Mid day, we went to Temple Square taking in all the sights there. We walked around until the "Joseph Smith" movie started - what a emotional movie. It was difficult to watch and the kids were scared half the time but a stark reminder of what the early saints went through so we could enjoy life as we know it. We ended the evening at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building with dinner at The Garden. The kids wanted to eat at The Roof but we were very under dressed. To say the least, I was exhausted from a very full day.

Friday we made plans to go to the BYU vs. USU game in Logan. We drove up early and went to a great little corn maze and farm just outside Logan. It is a 1920's working farm just perfect for us city folk. The kids had fun seeing the animals, sitting inside an authentic Indian tee pee, and an old car. The corn maze started out fun then Jackson started crying, "we're never gonna get out." After 30 minutes inside, we found a straight row and just followed it out. We cheated. Oh well, Jackson was going to have a nervous breakdown if not.

The game was the kids first experience at a BYU game and it was very crowded. Sometimes your expectations are grander than they really turn out to be. Such was the case. Boston kept kicking the person in front of us and the twins kept asking when we were going to get more to eat. We lasted until after half time and called it good. We'll chalk it up to a life experience.

Eric had to fly home Saturday for work but I stayed and went to Chuck E. Cheese with my sister, Shannon and her four kids. My camera died at that point and so did my back up.

Thank goodness for the the Bell family! They always welcome us in their home and put up with our chaos. Aside from a few family members, they are the only family that can handle us. Saturday evening, I went to dinner with Nate and Michele (Bell) to celebrate Michele's b-day. I was the third wheel but they didn't seem to mind.

Sunday just before heading home, we stopped at Shannon's house and Mike & Melinda Wallis' house. So fun to see their finished basements and projects. It made me want to go home and get started on some unfinished projects. Time to check in with reality.

Disclaimer: As I was typing this and posting pictures, I realized this was a little wordy and had a lot of pictures. However, this blog, in the end, is for my posterity and to take care of my guilty conscience as a mom, so sorry if you were bored reading it.