A star-studded visit

Last weekend, my best childhood friend (of 30 years!!) came from California for a visit!  Ashley, it just so happened, was shooting a new film in Ohio and decided to swing by the old stomping grounds (aka. Naperville) for a visit beforehand!  We had so much fun and she got a good taste of parenthood (and perhaps, some extended birth control:)

On Friday, she and I took the kids to Santa's Village Azoosement Park, about an hour away.  Although it was a place I frequented as a child, Ashley didn't remember ever having gone there.  The kids had a BLAST, and we were able to chat as they enjoyed themselves.  This is catching-up, family-style!

(touching the North Pole--a pole made out of ice!)

After an exhausting day at the park (and a short catnap in the car for Connor), we headed into Naperville for a peak around the old neighborhood (Ashley lived kiddy-corner from where my parents still live).  We visited our junior high school, to search (in vain) for the much beloved ROCK that once stood out front.  Despite rumors that it was no longer in existence, we had to search high and low for it, not believing until we saw for ourselves.  (Juliana found a nice pile of rocks in the back of the school, and she became convinced that "our" rock had just gotten broken by the recent storms!  So she and Ashley grabbed a piece each for posterity:)  We also drove around our neighborhood, pointing out houses of people we had known and wondering (or searching Facebook!) what has become of them now.  After a quick visit with my parents, we headed home.

On Saturday, all of us (including Joe) headed into the City on the train.  Connor was captivated by the train (and all the others we saw along the way), and Juliana challenged everyone she saw out the window to wave to her!  Once we arrived in the city, we headed straight to the old Sears Tower (now Willis Tower to the rest of the world, but not to true Chicagoans!)  We rode up 103 floors to the top, something I hadn't done since I was a kid!  It wasn't quite as exciting a ride as I had remembered.  We were crammed into a teeny tiny elevator with not even and room to move, and the ride only lasted about 60 seconds.  But once we were up, the view was amazing!  We were blessed with a relatively clear day, so we could see for miles!  Juliana's goal was to try to see our house in Aurora.  SHE thinks she succeeded, so let's just go with that!  The kids got restless pretty quickly, though, which made for a not-so-pleasant experience.  After waiting to stand on "the ledge" (a ledge made of glass all around), we headed down.

The SEARS (Willis) Tower, 103rd floor

 Buckingham Fountain

 (connor was more interested in the rocks on the ground!)

After a bit to eat to recharge (and fulfill the obligatory Chicago pizza experience), we headed toward the lakefront.  Buckingham Fountain was beautiful, as was our walk along the lake.  We eventually ended up at Navy Pier (what I had thought would be the highlight for the kids).  But by this time, we had two very tired and crabby kids.  We decided to catch a water-taxi back to the train station to avoid all the walking battles!  However, we hadn't counted on the ride taking quite as long as it did.  When we boarded, we had about 30 min till our train left.  We were informed that the first stop was about 5 min away, and then the train station would take another 20 min, leaving us approx 5 min to make our train!  (we weren't feeling very hopeful, but we decided to try to run for it, instead of waiting a whole HOUR with the crabby kids!)  It was literally like a scene in a movie, the 5 of us huffing and puffing through the train station, darting around janitors who just happened to stop their HUGE cart right in front of us, guessing which direction our track was, seeing the conductor head back to the train doors, jumping on (hoping we had everyone and everything!), finding 5 seats together (HOW???) with about 30 seconds to spare before the train left the station!!! I'm not even kidding!

The following morning was Juliana's dance recital.  We had to say good-bye to Ashley right after the recital, but we are so glad for the time spent together and can't wait for her to come again (next Tuesday? said Juliana!)

Here's a short video of how brave Juliana was, riding the dragon coaster!   (don't know why it wouldn't let me move it!)