Finally....as Promised (warning...long post)

I have been back from Chicago for almost a week and have been fighting with my internet for as long. Seems that one should not try to save a few bucks by getting Comcast digital voice. Ever since we did, we have been without internet and phone service off and on. Mostly off. As a result I am switching back to my old phone company. Digital voice is NOT my friend!

Before the Chicago recap....today is Scott's 21st birthday! I can't believe my baby is 21! We had a nice day hanging out. Went to lunch and he had his first Margarita...not sure he liked it. That could be a good thing. Then we went to get his gift....as 32 inch LCD tv. I wanted him to pick it out. He got a Samsung and loves it. He is in his room now hooking it all up. Cake was red velvet. From Whole Foods and it was really good. Guess my babe is a man now. He is headed out soon with Becky (his fiance) and some friends. He has gotten the drinking speech. Becky is dd (and the voice of reason)...she is not 21 until June.





Now on to Chicago.....arrived Thurs late and mostly hung out in the hotel on Friday waiting for Rob to get back from work. We did go to dinner at a great German restaurant. Saturday Rob worked half a day then we headed into the city. We went to Millenium Park and took pictures of the Cloud Gate (dubbed the bean by the locals) then headed down Michigan Ave to the Magnificient Mile. And magnificient it was. We didn't buy anything....just wanted to take in the sights. Went into Tiffany's and Cartier (everything in there was gorgeous!!). Got a Chai tea at Starbucks. Found a Chicago bag for Lauren to match her Orlando and Miami bags. Went to Navy Pier and rode the Ferris Wheel. Gorgeous views of the city. Oh, also learned not to drive to Chicago...parking will break you. We were at Navy Pier for about 35 minutes (just long enough to ride the ferris wheel) and it cost us $24 to park. Outrageous! Live and learn. Then tried to find a Giardno's for dinner where we didn't have to wait 3 hours. No such luck! Every one was packed! We did end up underground somewhere (thanks to the GPS that kept recalculating) and some guys that may have been homeless started yelling at us and coming toward the car so we locked the doors and got the heck out of there! Sunday we checked out of the hotel and went to the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum and finally got that Chicago pizza. I loved it...Rob not so much! We had parked at the aquarium so we took a cab to the pizza place. What a ride! I wanted to cover my eyes for most of it. The cabbies are crazy speed demons! So fun! It was freezing on Sunday....it actually snowed! The lake was ice blue with white caps and the wind was blowing like crazy....hmmmmm, must be why it is called the Windy City. Although I LOVED Chicago, I do remember why this Yankee lives in the South now! I'll leave you with some pics of our trip.