twins game, trip to chicago, grandparent time

hello may! it's hard to believe we are approaching the final month of the school year already (last day is june 10th). we are shaping up to have a very busy rest of the spring/summer and i am so excited about it (but maybe also a little stressed). :) 

 last monday azalea had an orthodontist appointment. she found out she will be totally done with her invisalign in 12 weeks. wahoo! then ashford will be starting up. ha! i dropped her off late at school. it rained allllll day. winnie was wet and dirty a lot of the day, but of course she still does things like jump up and sit at the table. 

 my brother bought tickets to take ashford to see the twins vs. mariners. we wondered all day what would happen with the game since it was so wet. it ended up starting right on time at 6:40 and brandon, my cousin austin, and ashford actually got to sit in a nice, covered area because the stadium was dead. ha! twins won too! i love that ashford and brandon can do this together more easily now that we live close. they both love baseball :) 

thatcher, azalea, winnie and i watched a movie. i had to take a picture of her resting on thatcher so sweetly. but don't be fooled...she jumped off the couch a dozen times, and we had to chase after her because upstairs is not her safe area to roam around.

tuesday winnie had a vet appointment in the morning. blood work for her future spaying, which is scheduled for the beginning of june. it was the first time she was scared at the vet and hid under my chair. she's also up to 24 pounds! in the evening, i dropped off azalea at her friend aly's then drove over to book club on my old street just a few blocks away. it was a very small group this time (5 people), but it was nice to see everyone and to meet the woman who's house we went to. i only knew the previous owners of the house. we had wine and charcutie, and melted over her sweet 4-month-old baby.

wednesday i went to the gym, ran some errands for our upcoming trip to chicago, and had my weekly staff call. since the kids and winnie were staying behind, we spent a lot of the day getting the house ready for thatcher's parents to stay with them. 

thursday morning we got the kids off to school and winnie into her crate (thatcher's parents would arrive soon after). my mom took thatcher and me to the airport. our flight to chicago felt so quick - just about 60 mins in the air. thatcher and i have not flown somewhere just the two of us since azalea was one year old. wow. i had not been to chicago since 2013 and thatcher had not been there since 2004.

we arrived in chicago just before 1pm. we took the train into downtown. we got lunch at a food hall called 'sterling.' thatcher got mediterranean, i got an italian hoagie. 

then we checked into the hotel and headed over to thatcher's office where he met up with his co-workers. they planned an all-day meeting for friday (with a kick off dinner thursday night) for his team who live all over the country. some of them he met in person for the first time. i also met a few people and we checked out the amazing view from the 24th floor. 

then i left to take the "L" to my friend katie's neighborhood. katie and i go back to 7th grade and i had not seen her in person since 2014, though we have kept in touch all these years. needless to say, we were very excited to see each other. :) i dropped off my bags at her place and then we went out for happy hour at a nearby bar. 

then we walked over to a restaurant called 'void' to meet her husband andy for dinner. it was my first time meeting him. we got delicious foccaccia, whipped cheese + olives, and pasta dishes for dinner. it was so good. we headed back to their place for the rest of the night. katie and i had big plans to watch some 'dawson's creek' and listen to 'hanson' two of our favorite things from the late 90s. and i got to snuggle with her dog, pico, who was the sweetest girl. 

friday morning there was more doggy snuggles. 

 katie and i got brunch at a place called 'dash of salt and pepper' in lincoln park. 

then she drove me around some neighborhoods and near wrigley field and the waterfront. she had to work in the afternoon, so she dropped me off at the hotel. we snapped a quick picture because we realized we hadn't taken one yet. 

i still had a couple hours until thatcher was done with his workday, so i decided to walk down michigan ave and go in some shops and take in the city. 

i didn't buy anything, but it was fun to browse. then i walked over to thatcher's office again. we set out for more walking and to find some place for dinner. we walked through millenium park and saw the bean (of course). it was a little dirty for a picture. ha! 

for dinner we decided on a fancy mexican spot in river north called 'vela'. since we didn't have a reservation, we sat at the bar. it was a really pretty place and the food was delicious. 

then we walked back to the hotel, but not without stopping into four different train stations for thatcher. ha! union station is the prettiest: 

saturday we didn't have much planned except to walk and eat - and that's what we did! over 13 miles of walking. it was also a pretty chilly while we were there, about 45-50 degrees. we wore gloves. kinda depressing for may, but what can ya do?! the first stop of the morning was 'hero coffee' which was the cutest spot between two buildings.

 i got an iced americano and a bagel breakfast sandwich to go and we took it to a pretty park overlooking the city. 

then we took the "L" to lincoln park and walked around there and eventually got lunch. 

we walked all the way back to downtown along lake michigan. the color of the water is so gorgeous. 

we sat by the river for a bit.

we had checked out of the hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us, so we picked them up then started our journey to the airport. we ate dinner at the airport and enjoyed another short flight back to minneapolis. 

while we were gone, my mom and thatcher's parents tag-teamed the kids and winnie. durant and cheryl had all of them the first night and then just winnie the second night while the kids went to my mom's for a sleepover. i know winnie is a handful, but i think they had a mostly smooth experience with her. we felt very lucky to have everyone well-cared for. being able to do trips like this was something i really was looking forward to about moving back. 

sunday i don't think i sat down all day. i did four loads of laundry, re-made the beds, got groceries, walked winnie, and prepared for the week ahead. whew! 

ashford is starting baseball this week and in just a few weeks, we'll be heading to seattle as a family.