Scott, Hannah, and Aaron Visit Chicago

I was SO lucky to have my big brother Scott and his two kids, Hannah and Aaron, come visit Nate and I in Chicago. Scott has this goal to see all the major and famous baseball parks in the nation and since we were living in a city that just happened to have 2 of them, it was perfect for them to come! We did SO MUCH while they were here, including a 2-day trip to Nauvoo, which is not included in this post since it deserves its own entry. But we went to see Cubs vs. Angels (GO ANGELS!!!), the White Sox vs. Braves, we went to parks, the zoo, saw Toy Story 3, Navy Pier, and all that good stuff. And almost every night, Scott, Nate and I played Texas Hold Em with the new poker set Scott got for Nate (thanks Scott!) I was consistently destroyed (good thing we play for bragging rights and not money) but I had fun anyway. Honestly, I love LOVE LOVED having them here. And Lyla was in cousin heaven! She could not get enough of them... which, for me, was a nice break. It really meant a lot to me that they came out all the way from California and it just gave me a much needed dose of family. So, thanks guys for coming out! We love and miss you already!!! So, here are some of the highlights of the billions of pictures I took, in order...

They arrived on Nate's birthday (which happened to be one of the stormiest days IL has seen in a long time (even the power in the airport went out!). We had a nice steak dinner that was pretty dang good, if I do say so myself :) and had a great mint chocolate chip ice cream dessert!

Hannah Banana. LOVE that smile!

Lyla warmed up to Aaron almost immediately, and not so much to Scott. She climbed up on his chair and hugged him with such great love, and also probably out of fear of her uncle.

VERY interested in what he is eating

Lyla is still checking Scott out to see if he can be trusted :)

Lyla was seriously loving her cousins. The one night she slept horribly, she was anxiously awaiting for them to wake up.

The day after they got there (Saturday) we went to see the Cubs play the Angels. Angels won, of course, but that's to be expected :)

When the crowd cheered as the Cubs made a good play, Lyla got a little freaked out. Okay, maybe more than a little. Look at that face!

The whole crew.

Aaron, Scott, and Hannah down by the field.

Hannah was really intimidating with her upside-down peace signs :)

Lyla was very quick to warm up to Uncle Scott and she's loved him ever since!

The kids on the bus from the game.

After the Cubs game, we headed over to Navy Pier.

Hannah running through one of the fountains in front of Navy Pier. I love the face of pure joy!!

Scott and Hannah

I decided to take Lyla in since she seemed like she was just edging to go. This was her face the whole time. Then once we were about finished, Lyla kept going back because she ended up loving it. Not that you can tell from the picture :)

On the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. Aaron and I didn't go on but we hear the view was great!

Scott and Hannah

On the merry-go-round. Aaron's face is so precious here!

Hannah, again, with the upside-down peace signs. She cracks me up!!

I was mean and made everyone walk to the very end of the pier (may as well since we're there, right?). At the end we found a big anchor and a bunch of flags representing the US, Illinois, Chicago, and of course, the Blackhawks! We were all pretty exhausted.

On Sunday, we went to a park by our house, and fed the deer.

Monday we went to see Toy Story and then Tuesday, we went to this splash pad/community pool by our house. It was nice to get in the water and cool off from the IL heat and humidity!!

Lyla may look excited in this picture like the kids, but she is actually pretty ticked that I was making them hold her down for a picture. She just wanted to be free!

Getting over it (the picture).

Tuesday night we went to the White Sox game and it was SO FUN! We were in row 7, so close to the field! We even had a ball hit right next to us!

Here are Hannah and Aaron down by the field. They literally could touch the field if they wanted to!

Hannah, Scott, and Aaron.

Everyone minus Lyla.

The next few days we were in Nauvoo, which I will post about later. Then Friday we went to Brookfield Zoo.

This lion came right up to the window and just started pacing back and forth. He was HUGE! I think his head made up like 2 or 3 of mine!

Everyone looking at the giraffe's

And then, lastly, one of Scott's things on his list of "things to do in Chicago" was eat at the original Geno's East Pizza. So since he wasn't flying out until late in the evening, we decided to make that trip on his last day. We were all first-timers there and although it was quite delicious (as was their ice cream), I think I'm a bigger fan of Giordano's. But the restaurant was fun and you got to write on the walls (wherever there was space) and we also got to watch the US play Ghana in the World Cup, which Nate in particular, loved :)

Again, we had such a blast having these three come visit us and it really did mean the world to me! They were such great company and Lyla really grew up and was saying so many more words after watching her cousins. So, thanks guys!! We love and miss you!!!