Trip to Chicago and Lake House

Lincoln's way of blowing bubbles :)

Wow!  We have been busy this past week!  Lincoln and I were world travelers or at least Midwest travelers.  We ventured down to Cincy on Monday morning to visit my college friend, Jennifer.  She has three children - Jack, 5; Sydney, 3; and Audrey, a very sweet little newborn.  With three kids, she sure does know how to entertain little ones!  She had a water table, a little pool and sprinkler all set up along with spray bottles and water toys.  Lincoln enjoyed splashing in the water table and putting his hands in the pool, but then he found her porch steps and it was all over from there.  All he wants to do lately is go up and down steps.  He is now pretty insistent on doing them with big boy steps and puts one foot on each step with our help.  It can be exhausting, but he is so excited to go up and down, up and down, up and down that it is hard to resist.  We took a tour of their gorgeous home, played in the basement with their fun toys, and then enjoyed some grilled cheese and fruit.  We left with cookies and passed down toys for Linc from Jack- Lincoln was pretty excited!  Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the kiddos, but we will be back some time and I will be sure to pull out the camera then!

Lincoln and I drove to Chicago on Wednesday morning.  We did the drive by ourselves since Brian had to work and what should have been about a seven hour drive turned into a ten hour drive, but we survived!  Linc is showing his dislike for the car and like for obnoxious children music (he will cry when the radio is on, but not his CDs), and I am showing my lack of patience for ten hours of children's music.  We did have a treat - halfway through our trip we stopped at Indy to visit my college friend, Lindsay.  She has lived abroad since college and currently lives in Paris, but she was home visiting family for a couple of weeks.  It was a nice pit stop to stretch, grab some lunch, and catch up with her in person.  I am so thankful the timing worked out!

Our time in Chicago went by way too quickly and, at first, made me really miss my prior home.  We were able to catch up with great friends, visit some of our favorite places, and enjoy the city life (walking to Starbucks and a great local park).  But, after a couple of days back in Chicago, I realized that our quality of life is so much better in Columbus.  It just seems easier in our new house and neighborhood, and Linc has more freedom here in his own backyard, quiet sidewalks, and bigger home.  Our two car garage will never be taken for granted as I unloaded my SUV from around the block and up two flights of stairs (by myself with a toddler).  I really, really, really miss my friends and special places in Chicago, but I know as we become more settled here in Ohio we will have more friends and find new places for us to enjoy as a family of four.

The new Gaslight - Bald Mike was awesome with Linc.  At the end of the meal, Linc showed his love by leaning in for a forehead kiss :)

A highlight of my trip to Chicago was going back to Linc's day care.  We left in such a hurry on our last day, and Lincoln did not have a chance to say goodbye to his primary caregiver - Yasmin.  I know he is pretty oblivious to these things, but I had no closure on what ended up being such a loving experience for him.  We surprised Ms. Norma and crew with a knock on the door and when Yasmin saw Linc, she dropped to the floor to scoop him up and started crying.  She was beyond surprised and excited to see him and it made my heart melt.  Linc felt right at home and really seemed to remember where he was and where the toys were.  He shared his famous smiles, and the three caregivers were all throwing elbows to pick him up and play with him.  I was a proud Mama, and I am so happy we got to say a warm and happy "hello" and "see you next time" (since I am terrible at good-byes).

On Friday, Lincoln and I drove down to a lake house for the weekend to meet four other friends.  The lake house was in the middle of nowhere Northern Indiana and is owned by a Roycemore family.  The house was peaceful and quiet.  There was no cable television which was actually nice since the six adults and one baby found many other ways to have fun and spend time together.  Linc enjoyed the attention; we enjoyed cook-outs, family style dinners, Euchre, the game of Clue (so fun!), and reading and relaxing.  Tickets to a local amusement park were included and that led to some awesome people watching, game riding, and greasy food eating.  All in all, it was a successful trip with some wonderful friends.  I am so thankful we had that time with Lincoln as the "star of the show" since our next trip will undoubtedly include his baby brother!

First amusement ride - he LOVED it.  I felt quite sick afterward but worth it for his smiles :)

So serious and looks so "toddler" here!

We rented a boat one morning.  Linc was not a fan, and the bumps really bothered my very big belly so we only stayed on for a short bit.  But Krishna, Kasey, Pullins, Matt, and Brian had a blast tubing and exploring the lakeside.  Linc and I went to Kroger and took a nap - perfect morning for us, too! :)

We also discovered how much Lincoln is watching us and is learning from us now!  At dinner, he reached for my ranch dressing, took a french fry off my plate, and then dipped it in the ranch.  And, he actually loved it!  He then tried to drink the ranch, but I am pretty sure he has never seen me do that before (at least not in public!).  He also took Brian's phone, hit the home button, and then leaned down to talk to Siri just like Brian does with his iPhone.  It was hysterical!  We did capture a video of him talking to Siri...

We arrived home on Monday evening, had dinner at our dining room table, put Linc to bed in his own crib, and then laid on the couch to watch tv.  Brian and I looked at each other, and almost at the same time said, "I am really glad to be home."   We are so lucky to have great friends and have lived in a beautiful city, but this is where we are now - home.  And, it is a comfortable, happy, and wonderful place to be!