A Whirlwind Trip to the Windy City

When Julie mentioned she would be coming to visit this summer, I asked if she'd like to take a short trip somewhere to explore a little more of our country. I gave her a list of places that she hadn't visited yet within a 10-14 hour travel distance and where I had friends or family connections: Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, or Colorado Springs. She chose Chicago, invited a friend from high school, and we ventured up for a whirlwind trip to the windy city.

Twenty hours of travel via an overnight double decker bus, 41 hours very touristy hours in Chicago, and of course a ton of pictures!

We spent $29 for round trip bus tickets, $60 on attractions, plus food (Chicago pizza-- YUM!) ... but the experience was of course, priceless! Especially considering that I got to meet up with one of my high school besties. The last time I saw Dana was four years ago and it was for a brief 15 minute visit. She's living the life up in Chicago in the cutest little townhouse and is beginning her doctoral degree this month! 

See those bags under my eyes-- that's what happens after an overnight bus ride that arrived before 7am the day before, non-stop tourism for two days, all while carrying my backpack that held everything I needed for the 4 day trip. Oh, an upcoming midnight departure for our bus ride out of Chicago awaited me just a few hours later. 

I'm quickly becoming too old for this sort of trip, but these are certainly my favorite. Reminds me of my trip to NYC several years ago with my college roomie. Or the time we traveled down to Texas to visit the Dr. Pepper museum. Wait-- who am I kidding. I'll never be too old to travel. I may be tired (still) and have terrible bags under my eyes in photos, but I'll be traveling as long as I'm living! :)

Operation Keep-Busy-While-Derek's-Gone

When I planned to keep busy while Derek spent his two weeks at annual training {National Guard}, I didn't imagine myself being so pooped! Today we got home after being out and around the state for seven days. Whew! 

First stop: I went down to visit my sister who transferred to Missouri State in Springfield, which is also where Derek and I went to school {*cough* nine years ago.} Mom and Dad kept the kids for a few days and it was super fun hanging out with Laura and totally nostalgic to be back on campus and around town: eating at the student union, Thursday night ministries, late night at the coffee house.... parking tickets. Totally a flashback college experience. I also got to catch up with several college friends-- shopping, Starbucks, McAllisters {yum!}. It was super fun.

Second stop: I drove up from Springfield to stop by and see my other sister who is at Mizzou. My parents met up with us there and Ashley walked us all around campus and showed us around. It was fun because she was just so excited about it all. It was a definite reminder of how much walking I did in college. Geez. But I guess I wasn't carrying around a whiney, napless two year old then either. But at least we got to eat some Shakespheare Pizza. Delish.

Third stop: I spent a few days up with my parents next. Mom cooked fried chicken on Sunday {more yum!}, we took the kiddos to see The Lion King, which was cool in 3D. I taught Dad how to use Craigslist {again}. Jackson and I also made applesauce!

Pit stop: I drove the kids over to Derek's hotel {fancy army training, right!?} so that we could see him for a quick minute after he got back from the post, Fort Leavenworth. Derek's been working 12 hour days for nearly a week and he has over a week left-- no weekend! He's even more pooped than me and seeing the kids for a little bit really boosted his spirit!

Fourth stop: Mom, the kids, and I traveled up to Trenton to visit my Grandma's on Monday. Both grandma's were happy to see the kids {me and mom too, I think} and Grandma Trickel made homemade noodles for lunch today {even MORE yum!}. The kids and I did make a quick pit stop to visit a high school friend and her kiddos.

We made it home from Trenton at 3:30 this afternoon-- just in time for me to change and get ready to head to YoungLives club at 4ish and then off to book club at Panera {need I mention another yum?!}. Tomorrow morning is MOPS, which I'm super excited about. And tomorrow evening we have the Wednesday night meal and church. Thursday is Belle's 6 month doctor visit {yes, she just turned seven months... we're a little behind, okay?!} and then Friday we are headed to get Jackson's allergy shots and possibly meeting my mother-in-law for lunch.

Operation Keep-Busy-While-Derek's-Gone complete. Maybe a little overboard, but I've had a great time catching up with SO many friends and family even if we have spent way too many hours in the car this week!

The week Christian came to visit

This past week flew by in a blur! With Julie's brother, Christian, in town we were busy from sun-up and way past sun-down cramming in as much as possible. We tried our best to let him experience our every day American life and to see the things our city has to offer. I had so much fun playing host mom/tour guide. Here's a recap of some of the things we did!

Thursday, April 21st
Christian spent the day with Julie at school-- just what every 21-year-old guy wants to do when he visits America, on his Easter holiday no less! But it was good for him to see what Julie's been up to while she's been here and he even ended up with homework. More on that later. That evening we had planned on going to the Royals game so he could experience some baseball, but the weather was terrible so we lucked out that our hockey team had a play off-game instead! Christian's a hockey player (he even played on Denmark's national team!) so he explained a lot of what we didn't understand!

Friday, April 22nd
With the little kids and the Danish siblings, we all crowded into the car to go visit Derek at work and then headed over to Oklahoma Joe's BBQ, which was the one place Julie really wanted him to eat. Kansas City is known for the having the best BBQ and Oklahoma Joe's is definitely my favorite. Christian was pleased as well, as his comment was "This is the best sandwich I've ever had." That night we grilled burgers and then Julie and Christian went to a birthday party, where they serenaded the birthday girl with the Danish birthday song!

Saturday, April 23
The day started off with the Easter Egg hunt at church. After lunch, we headed up to the city. Christian was eager to tour the World War I museum (the only one in the country) and then he and Julie went to the top of the Liberty Memorial tower for the great view of the city. We headed over to the Hallmark Visitor's Center next and even go to see a Danish greeting card in the international display case! Before heading home, we stopped at Yogurtini. YUM!

Sunday, April 24th
We got all dressed up and headed to church for Easter Sunday. Christian was a good sport as he was succumbed to posing for pictures!

We headed to Wal-Mart on Sunday afternoon. As a Dane, he was excited to go as he's just heard so much about this empire called Wal-Mart and as an American, I generally have a bad attitude about going into the ginormous store! Christian was even more excited as he realized exactly how much cheaper items are here in the states than at home. Later on Sunday evening, we had friends over to hang out and Christian got to experience making and eating a S'more!!!

Monday, April 25th
This was a busy day! First, Christian had to go back to school... to teach a class!! He is studying mathematics at the Univeristy of Copenhagen (actuarial mathematics, to be exact) and so Mrs. Dahmer invited him to teach Monday's lesson to the Pre-Calculus class. I would shoot myself if any vacation I took involved pre-calc, but he seemed to enjoy it and did a great job!

Per Christian's request, we had more BBQ for lunch. This time, Arthur Bryant's. He agrees with me; it's good, but not as good as Oklahoma Joe's. Then we headed over to do some shopping at the outlet malls, where he and Julie were super excited about the strength of the Danish krone to our dollar- specifically at Tommy Hilfiger, Forever 21 (for his girlfriend), Converse, and Banana Republic.

Before leaving the shopping center, I took them into Cabela's. In the parking lot, I told them both that this store was unlike any store they'd ever visited. I'm getting a good chuckle just remembering their faces as we walked in... to see the mountain (literally) of stuffed animals that used to be alive, enough camouflage to clothe an army of hillbillies, and a wall full of hundreds of guns. The guns, specifically, were amazing to him as Denmark (and most of Europe) doesn't have the same appreciation for our second amendment.

Tuesday, April 26th
This is the day Christian had to fly home. But on our way to the airport, we did stop at Dilliard's for one last item to take back home for his honey. Julie was super bummed to say good-bye, but reality is that she will be on that same journey in just a few weeks. We heard that the flight out of Kansas City was delayed so he missed his connecting flight to Frankfurt. But it all worked out when he ended up traveling to a different route; he was only three hours later than expected and he got a first class seat on his trans-atlantic flight. You've seen how tall the guy is- I am so sure he totally loved all that leg room, especially on that long flight!

We had such a good time! I has taken a couple days of recovering to get all rested up from our super busy week. Julie, Christian, and any one of their family will forever be welcome in our home! And anybody who ever wants to visit, actually!