Fourth of July 2008

On the 4th, Jason and Amy Ruth Bartlett drove up from St. Louis to celebrate with us (he was in the wedding party for those who don't know him). We grilled out that night and heard fireworks close by. So we walked around after dinner to see if we could find some in clear viewing distance. We were running at times to get a better view afraid we would miss the show. But it turned out to be the longest running surround sound fireworks show we had ever seen. We ended up standing in the middle of a street watching a show as our neighbors let off sporadic fire crackers. Unfortunately, we had to view them through the tops of trees but at least we didn't have to fight the traffic upon returning home.

On July 5th we rode the train into downtown Chicago. We took the Barletts to Millennium Park to see the Bean, Grant Park to enjoy "Taste of Chicago", gardens and the Buckingham Fountain, and walked along the shore/marina to the Field Museum. We brought some food for momma, but the others enjoyed eating a Chicago hot dog for lunch and a Chicago pizza (both are famous, yummy and all must try) for dinner. After returning home, we drove by the lake that is near our house and found fireworks again...so we enjoyed a great ending of a fabulous and exhausting day.

This is one of our favorite views of Chicago and the marina (from the Shedd Aquarium Museum campus).

18 weeks photo of baby. He loves the view also.