We are back home after an oh-so-fun week in Illinois. I am utterly exhausted but promised myself I would update the blog tonight. And since it's not yet 8:00 pm and pitch black outside, I'm already thinking about bed.
And yes, I realized I sound like a 70 year old woman named Agnes trapped in a 39 year old body when I say that.
The kids and I drove up to Illinois after church on Sunday. It was a later start than I prefer, but we made it up there by bedtime. Of course, it was pitch black by 5:00, and as I may have mentioned, I get pretty tired once that happens.
Sorry, there goes Agnes again.
Anyway, we sprung into action on Monday morning and divided along gender lines for the day. While Gus and Matthew went to
Legoland Discover Center in Schaumburg, GG, Gracie and I hopped the train for our long awaited American Girl excursion.
Despite my
hope thought that the redhead would abandon her interest in a doll, it has remained front and center and really, the only thing on her Christmas list. We had the whole American Girl experience, starting with brunch in the American Girl cafe, which admittedly was oh-so-yummy and downright adorable with all it's sweet details.
From there, we met up with our personal shopper, Enchantra (yes, really her name and she was the sweetest thing ever and more helpful than you can imagine!) who helped Gracie select her doll and two outfits to go with her. The personal shopping sounds froofy, but let me point out that it's a complimentary service and wildly useful to any parent who is not really doll savvy.
And that would be me.
There was no up-sell. She asked me in advance what we were shopping for,and when Gracie had selected those items she said, "Okay, Gracie, we're finished." Niiiiiiice!! Then she took me to a lounge area where she rang up my loot (cha-ching!) and sent me out with gift bags of bottled water, candied popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels for each of us for the ride home.
These people didn't miss a trick. Very Disney-esque. It's all in the details.
From there, Gracie went to the photo studio where she had her picture taken with her doll that was made to look like an American Girl magazine cover. She loved that. But after the photo, it was time to say goodbye to her yet-to-be-named doll, as she won't officially be hers until Christmas, although I did let her keep the picture!
We met up with the boys for a late lunch. Legoland Discovery Center was a hit, although there are no pictures to share. Gus and the iPod touch camera are a little incompatible, it seems. But Matthew gave us a blow-by-blow description and it sounds nothing less than amazing. I'd like to go over there next time, too.
Monday night, I got to enjoy an awesome girls night with my pals, Betsy, Beth, Michelle, Mindy, Jenni, and Kim. So grateful that they changed their schedules so I could be there for their monthly gathering. Always great to catch up with some of my oldest and dearest friends!
And speaking of dear friends, on Tuesday I drove to Kankakee to meet up with my friend Kendra who lives near Champaign. We lunched, we shopped and talked like we had last seen each other a few days ago instead of last July.
The kids spent Tuesday at the Arboretum with my parents and then that evening got to go out on their regular excursion to Enchanted Castle with Aunt Amy. They came home with full bellies (only Aunt Amy would let them get chocolate chip pancakes for dinner!) and a bag full of prizes.
A large portion of Wednesday was spent getting to Midway aiprort, sitting around Midway airport and attempting to get home from Midway airport. Bassam's 1 hour flight turned into almost 7 hours of travel due to heavy fog in Chicago. Really, it was still a 1 hour flight, but there were 2 1/2 hours sitting around the Nashville airport, an hour flight, 90 minutes sitting on the plane waiting for a gate and then the long ride back to my parents. The day ended on a high note, however, as we had Portillos for dinner.
Finally, Thanksgiving arrived. While my mom got to cheffing up the feast, the rest of us went bowling on Thursday morning. The kids were so hyped us, I think it was probably good to get them out of the house. Besides, Amy had to work that afternoon, so it was a chance to spend part of Thanksgiving with her.
We bowled three games before returning to a house full of good smells. Dinner was amazing and my big contribution to the day came afterwards when I cleaned up the kitchen and all the dishes. Some people cook, some people clean. I'm the latter.
The rest of the day was spent combing the ads, watching football, a trip to the park (it was around 60 degrees all week!) and finishing off the day watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Although it was as few people as I can remember around my mom's Thanksgiving table in a very long time, it was a great day!
We were up early this morning and on the road before 8 am. While we had originally planned to stay in Illinois another day, Bassam's sister and her family were in town back home and leaving on Saturday morning. We rolled in to Nashville a little after 3 and were at B's folks by 4. Not only did his mom have a wonderful dinner for us, but we got to catch up with Lina and David and the kids got some cousin time.
Although I haven't unpacked a single suitcase and there is a pile of mail to sort, I just might head off to bed. After all, we still have a full weekend with virtually nothing on the calendar. It's been quite a while since we've had a day like that.
Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. And thank you for keeping tabs on us here at
And Charlie Makes 5.
