The flight there was very early, as United had changed our flight from 9:30 AM to 6 AM. We made the best of it, and Andy was kind enough to come pick us up during morning traffic. Arriving at his house, we saw his bathroom wallpaper was just like Barbara Magill's once was.
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Our first stop was the Chicago Botanical Gardens. The weather was beautiful as we passed display after display of amazing flora. Joanne looked particularly lovely next to the red roses.. It was nice as always to see my niece Ariana.
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We started our day with a visit to a fun pet store with a large turtle who walks around to greet everyone. The weather took a turn for the worse, but we moved on see Lake Michigan, which was quite agitated. We ended the day with a drive up to Wisconsin to shop at River Valley Ranch, a store with lots of mushrooms and wholesome products, and got some great stuff including Portabella Enchiladas and some fabulous stuffed portabellas.
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We started the day with a really fun trip to the Chicago Field Museum. They had a roving exhibit of Jurassic Park with animatronic dinosaurs that were so realistic some were a bit scary -- especially the T-Rex! They also had a very good Egyptian exhibit, and a gem and jewelry exhibit with some lovely pieces. Back home later the rain started clearing up, revealing a double rainbow!
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We started the day taking the train and subway to downtown Chicago and wandering around. We got to see the plaza where the Blues Brothers ended their crazy journey ("That's where they got that Picasso.") which everyone slid down for fun. We bought some delicious carmel popcorn and then moved on to take an architectural boat tour. We learned a lot about architecture! We walked around some more and then went back on the train.
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Sadly, we had to leave that day so we only had the morning, but the weather was great. We walked around Andy and Genevra's old neighborhood, had a nice lunch, did some shopping, and then headed to the airport. I made sure to leave some teasy notes for Ari, and when she found them, she texted me, "I'm gonna get you back, and you know it and fear it!"
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As usual, Ari and I had fun teasing each other, but this time she's become very good at using technology. I copied her and followed suit. Amazing what one can do with phone apps nowadays!
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