I am not kidding when I say that Brian and I are barely going to be home for a month. We went to Grand Rapids for Valentine's Day, and this past weekend, we went to Chi-town for a visit with his BFF John and his wife Erica, and their gorgeous kids, Lia and Dominic.
The Fontana's moved to Wilmette, north of Chi-town, late last summer after John took a different job within his company. We've been wanting to visit them since they moved, and just now got a chance, due to many things that have happened with us, and things that have happened with them. Things are finally settling down, so we planned the weekend and went. We left at 10:30 am for the 4.5 hour drive so that we'd get there before the crazy insane rush hour traffic began. We were lucky, we did miss it for the most part, and made it there in 5 hours with a stop for gas and lunch. As we were driving through the neighborhood, I was struck by how narrow the streets are, even the main thoroughfares! I don't think I'd feel comfortable driving there, especially not Brian's truck. Maybe my car, but with as bad as my depth perception is, I'd probably be taking off other people's mirrors!
John and Erica's new house is nice, in an old neighborhood that looks like it's really great for kids. Lots of neighbors, and easy to ride bikes and push strollers through. The house itself is old, from the 1920s or so, so it has lots of character and details that our circa 2001 McMansion just doesn't have! (To frequent reader A--you would love this house totally and completely, it is right up your alley!) Their house is actually about 1 block from Northwestern University's football stadium, so I see more tailgates in my future. Tailgates right in John and Erica's driveway. We spent Friday night in Evanston, having dinner with the Fontana's and the Adams', other friends who live in Chi-town. We haven't seen Tom and Meridith in ages, and haven't seen their daughter Olivia since she was 6 months old, and now she's almost 3. Dinner was great, but chaotic with 3 little kids, and trying to wrestle around for parking spots. We played some Rock Band and MarioKart also, and had fun.
On Saturday, we just hung out, and ended up going on a drive up through the North Shore suburbs. Holy Crap. Some of those houses look like castles and have servants' quarters that are larger than John and Erica's house (which is not small, mind you). We got coffee in Winnetka, and came back to the house. The Adams' came over for dinner, and the kids played great by themselves for a long time, so we adults got to play games for almost 2 hours. We played some more MarioKart and went to bed! (As a side note, I think 3 year old Lia is better than many of the adults.)
Sunday coming home was fine, thank goodness, all the bad weather had passed. We came home down Lake Shore Drive, which is always pretty, and Brian pointed out to me his old neighborhood. We actually ended up stopping in Chesterton, Indiana for lunch, which is about 10 miles up the road from Valpo, off the same exit. That was weird, I obviously haven't been there in almost 5 years! We made it home in good time.
So, the next post here will probably be from Florida. We leave Saturday for MickeyMouse Land and then a visit with our friends Steve and Nancy. I'm so excited to go to warm weather, and we really need some time for ourselves to have fun together!
The Fontana's moved to Wilmette, north of Chi-town, late last summer after John took a different job within his company. We've been wanting to visit them since they moved, and just now got a chance, due to many things that have happened with us, and things that have happened with them. Things are finally settling down, so we planned the weekend and went. We left at 10:30 am for the 4.5 hour drive so that we'd get there before the crazy insane rush hour traffic began. We were lucky, we did miss it for the most part, and made it there in 5 hours with a stop for gas and lunch. As we were driving through the neighborhood, I was struck by how narrow the streets are, even the main thoroughfares! I don't think I'd feel comfortable driving there, especially not Brian's truck. Maybe my car, but with as bad as my depth perception is, I'd probably be taking off other people's mirrors!
John and Erica's new house is nice, in an old neighborhood that looks like it's really great for kids. Lots of neighbors, and easy to ride bikes and push strollers through. The house itself is old, from the 1920s or so, so it has lots of character and details that our circa 2001 McMansion just doesn't have! (To frequent reader A--you would love this house totally and completely, it is right up your alley!) Their house is actually about 1 block from Northwestern University's football stadium, so I see more tailgates in my future. Tailgates right in John and Erica's driveway. We spent Friday night in Evanston, having dinner with the Fontana's and the Adams', other friends who live in Chi-town. We haven't seen Tom and Meridith in ages, and haven't seen their daughter Olivia since she was 6 months old, and now she's almost 3. Dinner was great, but chaotic with 3 little kids, and trying to wrestle around for parking spots. We played some Rock Band and MarioKart also, and had fun.
On Saturday, we just hung out, and ended up going on a drive up through the North Shore suburbs. Holy Crap. Some of those houses look like castles and have servants' quarters that are larger than John and Erica's house (which is not small, mind you). We got coffee in Winnetka, and came back to the house. The Adams' came over for dinner, and the kids played great by themselves for a long time, so we adults got to play games for almost 2 hours. We played some more MarioKart and went to bed! (As a side note, I think 3 year old Lia is better than many of the adults.)
Sunday coming home was fine, thank goodness, all the bad weather had passed. We came home down Lake Shore Drive, which is always pretty, and Brian pointed out to me his old neighborhood. We actually ended up stopping in Chesterton, Indiana for lunch, which is about 10 miles up the road from Valpo, off the same exit. That was weird, I obviously haven't been there in almost 5 years! We made it home in good time.
So, the next post here will probably be from Florida. We leave Saturday for MickeyMouse Land and then a visit with our friends Steve and Nancy. I'm so excited to go to warm weather, and we really need some time for ourselves to have fun together!
1 comment:
I bet I WOULD love your friends' home!
Have fun in FLA. JB's parents are leaving for there tomorrow, too. So if you see a familiar-ish-looking couple running around with a couple of Brits, don't be too surprised!
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