14 August 2007

Cousins in Chicago

Owen, Jonah and I have one thing in common: we love our cousins.

My cousin Norman's wedding (see below) was an opportunity for me to get back together with family, including my cousin, Donnie. When Owen & Jonah heard that my sister would be there with her kids, they signed up immediately. Ellie & Jenny stayed home.

I left early Saturday morning (5:15) and drove straight to Chicago. I desperately wanted to show the boys the Field Museum and take in the natural history and dinosaur exhibits there. The trip took us a total of seven hours, giving us 2 1/2 hours to explore. It was so much fun: we viewed artifacts of Ancient Egypt, all the stuffed and posed animals (including passenger pigeons, which I had never seen before). The museum staff practically had to drag us away from there.

The highlight came that night when we saw my nephews, Jacob and Joshie. Jo-Jo and Joshie's birthdays are just a few weeks away, so we had a birthday party with lots of gifts. The boys swam in the hotel pool and later played in our hotel room until midnight. It was a party!!

We stayed in South Bend, Indiana. The next day we drove up to Berrien Springs, Michigan, to see my cousin Norman get married. We got back home near midnight Sunday--the night before the first day of school! (Yes, it may have seemed foolish, but there are three men in my family who think it was worthwhile, just for the chance to hang out with cousins that we love!)

Of course, I was very happy to see my own cousin, Donnie. He lives just three hours away, but we only get to see each other every other year or so, so it's always good to see him. I'll include a picture of him and my sister as well.

3 comments:

Garnet said...

Did you see my blog entry on our visit to the Field Museum this summer? We also hit the Egyptian Exhibit and the animals -- at least the African animals. They were all so clean. I came away feeling I wish I lived next door. There's so much to see it's overwhelming. We took the train from South Bend so the kids could have their first train ride -- well, rather first for Xander and first in memory for Larissa.

JD said...

Cool. I'm checking this out. We only got to spend 2 1/2 hours there, which was about 1/10th of the time we needed.

April McNulty said...

It was great having you up there, and seeing all of the cousins. We appreciate the time you took to see this special occasion! It was hard for me to go back to school the next day too,it was a very special day that I won't forget!