In Good Company

Here are just a few more odds and ends about the Chicago leg of our trip that I wanted to jot down.  We loved staying with Karen (Dave's sister) and her family.  They had plenty of rooms and beds for us and endless entertainment for the kids.  Calvin, Aidan and Theoren were such good friends to the girls and their house had so many cool and different toys. The girls could hardly take the time to stop playing to eat or sleep, at first!  When you're living with someone, I love all that extra quality time you get.  Some of our good times included late night game playing, silly dance parties, sampling Christopher's crazy Mexican candy, rearranging furniture and watching Arrested Development.  

The girls are still talking about the night they had a sleepover at their grandparents' house.  Grandpa and Grandma wanted some of their own special quality time with the girls, so they took them in the afternoon and gave Dave and I the whole night and morning off.  We went on a lovely date, reminiscent of the ones we took as high schoolers and college students, home for the summer.  Ella and Delia got to go out too, to the Rainforest Cafe.  They had a great time and were spoiled with stuffed animals, exotic dessert and staying up late to watch a new Tinkerbell movie.  Do they have the best Grandpa and Grandma or what?

Kyle spoiled all of us when he brought home a dozen Georgetown Cupcakes.  This is the bakery featured in the TLC show DC Cupcakes.  It's also located in the building Kyle works at in Washington DC.  We cut all the famous cupcakes into fourths, so we could sample a whole bunch-- lemon, red velvet, chocolate volcano, strawberry, mint, birthday cake, etc.  Yep, they were amazing. 
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Karen and Chris were such wonderful hosts.  They made us feel totally welcome, gave us their minivan to use for the two weeks, treated us to one fantastic meal after the next and loaded up on fun and goofy goodies for the kids. 

For taking time off work, a loaned minivan, Cubs tickets, rides to the airport, planning a whole birthday party, fabulous meals from Giordanos, Portillos, Gullivers and Adelles, zoo passes, fancy cupcakes, little gifts, love and attention for the girls and so much more-- thanks to every single one of our family members for making our time in Chicago so easy, indulgent and memorable!