chicago, meet my kids

This post is a doozie.  You get an award if you get through the whole thing.  I don't know how to do simple posts.  I just don't .  

There is something about me that hates to leave stuff out.  

I see those boards with the vinyl letter cutouts on it.  A lot of people have, "simplify" hanging on their walls.  I am going to get one, too.  But, mine is going to say, "complicate."  Then it is going to have 67 little pictures hanging under it because I can't choose my favorite."  Actually, I take that back, the sign won't actually be hanging on my wall.  It will be sitting around waiting for me to hang it.  

Oh, this a Chicago post?

Eva was born in Chicago but she can't remember it.  We left when she was only one.  We started out the Chicago leg of our trip by finding out that Karl was (in his words), "no longer gainfully employed."  So, we went through this part in a daze.  We were in shock.  But we were determined to make the best of it.  Back in Chicago and poor again...

  

This is in front of the law school.  So many memories came back as we pulled up.  They have remodeled it so a lot of it is different.  But the same feelings still come back. 

Let's just hope that this is only time I see Samuel behind bars.

  

The last time Karl held Eva there, she was tiny. 

   

Our first apt. and our second apt.  We move a lot.  Seeing those brought back memories,too.  Like, memories of how much I hate cockroaches.  HATE them.  

The little produce store that I loved to go to grew up and moved.  It is all fancy, now.  That is what happens, I guess.   They grow up, move, and get all fancy.  But my favorite part was still there.  You can buy herbs by the pound.  So, if you only need a little, you only have to buy a little.  Unlike everywhere else where you have to buy a big ol' package for too much money and then you use a little and the rest goes to waste.  

   

A couple of our favorite spots because we could afford them.  Ribs N Bibs (because it tasted like the stuff we fell in love with in Texas) and Hyde Park Gyros (because we could both eat for a few dollars).  

  

This is where the world's fair once was.  Do they still have those?  This is also where the drunk beggar tried to grab my camera to see my pictures and then asked me for money.  Gross and scary.  I can't believe I used to live here. 

 

There was a fire on top of a building.  It was exciting.  And I didn't feel bad gawking because no one got hurt. 

Eva counted 8 fire engines.

We went back to the school and there was a family with 7 kids.  We gawked at them.  I guess it is because you never see that in Chicago.  They let their kids run in the pool, so we did, too.  They had a blast.

  

When we lived in Chicago before, we didn't take advantage of all of the great food because Karl was in school.  

I tried to make up for it on this trip.   

I e-mailed my fellow food lover friend, Paula, who also used to live in Chicago.  She sent me back an awesome list.  We went to a few of her suggestions.  Dinner was at Cafe Leguardia and it was delicious.  They had one of our favorite sandwiches, the Jibarito.   It is a Chicago thing.  Instead of bread you get smashed, deep fried plantains.  I love them.  Samuel does, too.  He ate half of Karl's meal.  I got a sampler.  Because that is what I do.  Dessert was a super fancy description of what ended up being a chocolate covered ice cream ball.  

   

Even though we were super stuffed we headed over to Margies Candies because we were in the neighborhood and because we thought Samuel needed some energy. We all shared a chocolate shake.  You know it is good when you still want it after being totally stuffed.  

We parked at Millennium Park and enjoyed all of its glory.

The cleaning people had a sense of humor.  This is how we found Eva's stuffed dogs.

 

The next morning we headed over the Hancock Tower for Karl's reunion brunch.  I still think about the chocolate croissant.   95 floors up.  Wow.

We went over the the Hyde Park ward.  It was so fun to see old friends.  So, so, so, so fun.  Feels weird to reporting about church and then talk about all the non-Sunday-ish things we did.  But I justify it because we are vacation.  But then deep down I still don't like it.  Oh well.  Moving right along...

 

I thought these see horse things were the neatest things there.  This photo is great for many reasons.  1) It shows the guy totally picking his nose 2) It shows the lady that was clearly dressed for a night club and not the family friendly aquarium.  For whatever reason we were observing in the same path and speed so we saw her so much.  I was freaking out so much that Karl said, (in his best black girl impression) "don't hate."  3) It shows Samuel on the neat boat.

 

These were taken outside the Shedd Aqurium.

Dinner was at Giordano's.  I didn't have a photo.  It is hard to make 10 pounds of cheese look good anyway.  Yum.  There are a lot of great stuffed pizza places there.  Our favorites were in Hyde Park but we wanted to go closer to our hotel.  

And just so one worries and starts sending donations (unless they are from my wish list post :))...

Karl is doing work on his own and he seems to be doing really well.  It suits him, right?

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."    --  Alexander Graham Bell While Karl is great at looking at the doors opening up, wish me luck on not missing that oh-so-safe closed door...