Great Weekend

Whew, this weekend went by in a flash. Brandon’s company rented out Six Flags, Great America near Chicago on Saturday. This used to be somewhat of an annual event for us, but the last time I was there I was six weeks pregnant with Alex. I was very cautious, and had to be talked into riding the carousel. The weird part is, that trip seems like it happened a week ago. I swear time moves faster once you have children.

We left fairly early Saturday morning thinking it would take us four hours to get there. Turns out, it only takes three hours including a lengthy stop for breakfast.

You know what’s funny about having the new car? When we had the van and were traveling; we hit the through drive-thru and ate with wheels turning. I’m determined to keep this vehicle clean. (I once stepped on an errant juice box on the floor of the van. If you want a physics lesson in velocity, try stepping on a juice box with a size 10 loafer.) So now we go in to eat and it turns out it’s much easier. I’m not fiddling around opening apples with my teeth and handing out napkins in a panic.

But, I digress…Even with a breakfast stop we made it to Great America an hour early. Oops. I had us dressed like we were headed for the slopes. I thought since the high temp for the day by us was 78, it would probably be around 70 there. You know, it is three hours north after all. It was warm, and thankfully I packed shorts for Alex. Brandon wore shorts despite my warning that he “would freeze to death.” Meredith and I hoofed it all over the park like Nanuks of the North. After nearly boiling in my three quarter length black sweater, I finally shed the top layer and schlepped around in my coffee spotted t-shirt, which was a bit too tight. I looked the part of an amusement park goer to say the least. I was horrified to see my rear in side view. I realize why I tend to wear longer sweaters.

We rode all the rides for which the kids met the height requirement and/or were willing to ride. I really wanted to ride some of the bigger roller coasters but Alex wasn’t interested. Meredith had the chutzpah, but lacked the height. The big hit of the day was the log flume. The kids thought it was hilarious that Brandon and I were both soaked. We left late in the afternoon and we were exhausted. We checked into our hotel before getting some dinner. Alex checked out the place, and said, “Well, this is a fairly nice hotel.” Again, he’s six going on 40, and yet still throws tantrums. He gets it honestly, I threw one on the way home.

Our hotel was in the middle of a business park in Deerfield, so there weren’t obvious choices around for dinner. This is the reason I love navigation systems; we typed in Portillo’s Hotdogs, and viola it took us to one. I know I’ve rhapsodized about my love of Portiollo’s before, but just to reiterate; a Portillo’s hotdog is on my “last meal” list. Yes, I think about what I’d eat before an execution. I’ve converted our children. It didn’t take much. For whatever reason, I can't figure out how to rotate this video. Argh! It's a very enthusiastic restaurant review from Meredith, so just watch it with your head cocked sideways. Oh, and kindly ignore my Marge Simpson voice and Brandon clearing his throat. And one more thing...click on play and then immediately click on pause so the video will load completely. Then click play, othewise it's jerky.