Brody's First Road Trip-Chicago!

Last weekend we ventured to Jason and I's old stomping ground...Chicago!!! We left on Thursday night around 7pm. The goal was to drive late at night so that Brody would sleep in his car seat the whole way and it worked!! He did so good and slept about 5 of the 6 hour drive. The only downer was that we ran into a very bad rainstorm (in the dark), which was scary as water was covering the road in many places causing the car to hydroplane, but thanks to Jason's good driving we made it to Chicago in one piece!

We stayed with Shannon and Sammy in the city. They have a big beautiful home with every baby toy you could imagine so we didn't have take a ton of stuff with us, which really helped! On Friday, Shannon had her nanny watch her two boys and Brody so that Jason could nap and do whatever and we went for mani's and pedi's. Friday night we had some friends over to BBQ, it was one HOT evening in Chicago!

Shannon, Andrea, me and the babes

Gianna giving Brody a big kissDean, Tiff and BrodyGreat Dad's-Leo and Jason On Saturday morning we ventured to the southside of Chicago to visit Jason's childhood friend Pete, his wife Lia, their daughter Gabrielle and their newest addition, Sydney (10 weeks). Also, Dan and Emilee came over too so it was fun to see the old crew. We had a wonderful low calorie breakfast of cinamon rolls and scones with fruit (i believe fruit cancels out the calories of the pasteries right?!?!) The time together was far too short as we had another event to get too...of coruse we were running late and in typical Chicago traffic, it took us 2 hours to get back to the Murante's...one thing we DON'T miss about Chicago!!!!

Dan and Brody Brody's already making the moves on Sydney with his hand on her leg!!Emilee and Brody Me, Brody, Lia and SydneyGarbrielle enjoying her sucker!!Jason, Brody, Pete and SydneySaturday afternoon Brody and I hung out at the Murante's, Auntie Tiffy and Auntie Andrea came over for some suntime on the deck. I must admit that i wasn't about to wear a swim suit at this point, post baby with Shannon, Andrea and Tiff who all have hot bodies...WOW does this mama have some work ahead of her!!! My old friend Kristen and her husband Eric and their cute little boy Leland (8 months) came over. Believe it or not Kristen and I met at the gym in Chicago, we always took the same kickboxing class, who'd have thought i'd have a friend from the gym! Anyway, we've kept in touch since we moved to Minneapolis and it was so much fun to see them! Again, for the sake of good friends with kids we still wished we were in Chicago to hang out and watch our friend's kids grow up and spend time together!

Kristen and LelandMe, Brody, Kristen and Leland

In the meantime, Jason was out with Dean (Tiff's boyfriend, who we just love!) for the afternoon. For Father's Day I arranged for Dean to take Jason to the race track in Jolette IL to race. Dean has raced cars for years and is a member of the track, so Jason got to drive a "souped-up" convertable x3 that is equiped for racing with roll bars and a drivers seat. Jason had a ton of fun and said he went about 120mph and said the hardest thing are the turns in the track!! Thanks again Dean for a great time!!!!

Jason ready to race!!

Saturday night, Shannon arranged to have her nanny over for the evening so we could go out on the town. Our reservations weren't until 9 at Athena in Greektown...so we were able to feed Brody and put him to bed before we left for the evening. We headed to Greektown and started in the bar and boy am I outta drinking practice...I had two glassed of wine and had a nice buzz. Are you kidding me?! I used to drink an entire bottle before i felt a nice buzz, boy have times changed!!! So we didn't actually get seated at our table until 10:30, which nowadays Jason and I would have been in bed for at least an hour by now!! So by the time we were done eating it was midnight and the place was still hopin'...typical Chicago style...a city that doesn't go to bed until way after 3am!! While the rest of our group headed to a bar, Jason and I went home (i know, where'd the old Geri go?!). It was the first time Brody had a babysitter outside of someone we didn't know so I wanted to get home. Damelda (nanny) said he didn't wake up once, good boy Brody! Of course Brody didn't care that we went to bed at 12:30...he was still up at 5:30am Sunday morning!

The Ladies...And the gentlemen!Sunday morning we got ready and got the car packed and headed to Elgin to meet up with our friends the Leppin's. They had a little girl Isabelle a month after Brody so we couldn't wait to see them and introduce the little ones to each other! Unfortunatly Brody wasn't in the best mood that morning, perhaps he knew that he had to sit in his car seat for 6 hours! It was so good to see them even if it was a quick visit!

Annie, Isabelle, me and Brody Jason, Jason and the babies!

So now was the time for us to venture back to Minneapolis. The traffic was really bad getting out of IL with the construction and the rain (again). Brody did NOT enjoy the first two hours of his car trip, he didn't cry but he fussed almost the entire time. I tried entertaining him books and toys, but you could tell he just wanted out of his seat. Finally he feel asleep and slept for about 4 hours and woke up about an hour away from home...again slightly fussy but for the most part did very well!

We loved our trip to Chicago and seeing our old friends. There were several people we didn't get to see while we were there but we'll catch you next time around!! There just wasn't enough time in the weekend to see everyone. While we love Chicago (and always will) and loved our experiences while we lived there, both Jason and I agree that we are happy living a slower paced life in Minneapolis while we raise our family! We don't miss the traffic and the countless hours you spend in the car just trying to get from one place to another...