Chicago

After our stay in Minnesota, our family traveled to Chicago for a wedding and some more time with extended family. On our drive to Chicago, we actually stopped in Madison, WI, as well to visit my cousin Marcie and her three kids. I completely forgot to take any pictures of our time with them, but we had a wonderful lunch, and the boys were thrilled to have some playtime with fun, new toys! Thanks, Marcie, for hosting us for that afternoon lunch!

We arrived in Chicago in time to check into our hotel, change clothes, pick up Jason's tux, and arrive at the wedding rehearsal (perhaps a tad late, but we made it!). The wedding was for a good friend of ours from Montana, and Jason was honored to be the best man. The groom's parents hosted a very kid-friendly rehearsal dinner following the rehearsal. Jaden and Cody got to meet Captain America, picked out LOTS of candy from the plentiful "candy bar," received gigantic superhero coloring books, and even got to try out sparklers. The sparklers were a little tricky to light in the windy night air, but once we finally had them lit, it was a joy to seeing the boys' beaming faces!

Jaden took his sparkler-watching duty a little more seriously, or perhaps just a bit more cautiously, than his brother!

On Friday, Jason spent the day with the groom (his good buddy Josh) and the other groomsmen at a Chicago Cubs game. Jason enjoyed his first time visiting Wrigley Field and the conversation-time with these great guys as well. The Cubs even pulled out a win.

Meanwhile, the boys and I drove out to my cousin Becky's house to spend the day with her family. Becky and Brian have a lake within walking distance of their home, so we went for a nice (though chilly) swim.

All the kids got cold fairly quickly in the water, so we attempted a game of kickball on the beach. Cody and Jaden were much more interested in building castles, or "mountains" as they called them, in the sand.

The rest of us just continued our game-play around the boys. Eventually, our kickball game just turned into a sequence of kick the ball, keep running around the sand court, and don't stop even if you're tagged. These were the kickball rules as determined by 7-year-olds. These rules seemed to keep everyone happy and provided some good exercise all around! :)

After our time at the beach, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out at Becky and Brian's home. We had lunch, the boys had a rest time, and then they played with Natalie and Noah's toys. The boys particularly liked their Legos and their trains. It was a perfect relaxing day after all our recent travel. For dinner, we were joined by Marcie and her kids as well as my Aunt Jeanene and Uncle Mike. The day happened to be Aunt Jeanene's birthday, so we were happy that they let us join in on their family celebration for her. At the end of our visit, we had to pose our kids in a "cousin line-up picture," as Becky and Marcie and I had done annually with all our cousins when we were young.

Nathaniel, Cody, Jaden, Megan, Noah, Natalie, Amelia

Aunt Jeanene with her grandkids

Cody and Jaden with their Great-Aunt Jeanene

Thanks again, Becky, for giving our family a perfect hangout spot that day. Our time with you felt so relaxing and was an easy way to entertain the boys!

The next day was the wedding for our friend Josh and his new bride, Ellen. Jason had the privilege, along with the rest of the wedding party, to witness Josh's first glimpse of his sweetheart that morning. The guy in the foreground is the photographer, getting ready to capture Josh's face when Ellen walks into his view. What a precious moment!

The wedding was a beautiful late-morning ceremony. We were so happy to see this couple, a pair grounded in Christ, join together in marriage. As a DCE-teacher pair (just like Jason and me!), we know that they will serve the Lord mightily, both as a individuals and as a couple. We loved meeting Ellen for the first time this weekend and thought she was a perfect match for our friend Josh. :)

Cody, Amy, Josh, Ellen, Jason, Jaden

The reception was one of the most fun wedding events we've attended in a long time. They kept things moving very quickly (including cutting the cake immediately after being announced and walking into the reception hall). The dinner had multiple courses and included a pasta appetizer-- right up our boys' alley!

But the greatest part of the reception (at least for families like us with active kiddos) was that it was held at a very unique spot, an "entertainment venue" called Pinstripes. In addition to the reception hall with tables and a dance floor, the center also had multiple bowling lanes and bocce ball courts. Josh and Ellen had rented out several of each for their wedding guests. What fun!

It felt a little funny bowling in our wedding clothes, but we got used to it eventually. This was Jaden and Cody's first experience on real bowling alley lanes (as compared to the much smaller Itz center versions).

With the use of the bowling ramps, both boys got a higher score than Mommy (which actually isn't all that hard to do...).

The boys had a fabulous time! Cody's bowling follow-through made us laugh every time.

We didn't think the boys would get into bocce ball quite as much, and it was harder to find an open court, so we weren't planning on playing this event at all. But, while we were watching some other wedding guests finish up their game, these new friends kindly invited Jaden and Cody to try out a couple rounds themselves. A few turns were about all that held their interest, so it was perfect. 

In addition to celebrating with Josh, we were also excited to connect with other Billings friends at this wedding. We spent quite a bit of time with our friend Janese (who was just wonderful with the boys and always made them laugh like crazy!) and her parents, Brent and Vicki. So nice to make these connections again!

We loved our time in Chicago!!