An Iowan in Ireland: Back in America. Part 1

We returned to the U.S. after Christmas to visit my family, with a stopover in Chicago to visit friends.

The trip to Chicago went pretty well. The kids were well behaved aside from FABJ not napping.

Outside Chicago O'Hare Airport

Best part was getting picked up at the airport by one of our hosts, TK (to protect her identity). Even better was that it was our other host's (JK, to protect her identity) birthday. So we arrived to a house with a small party going on. It was great for the jet lag, as there were a lot of people around and a lot of good food to eat. The kids survived dinner and were off to bed. We lasted a couple more hours.

I was awakened at 2am by the kids playing in their room. Turned out it was just FABJ; ORBJ was in bed looking tired. I explained to FABJ that it was 2am and pointed to the clock. Surprisingly, she went back to bed, and the kids slept until 6. Too bad that it took me until 4 to get back to sleep.

The kids slept until 5am the next morning, and after 7 the following morning. So the jet lag was minimal.

We had a good time in Chicago even though the weather was very cold - too cold to make any snowmen despite the snow on the ground.

Playing outside in the front yard

A rare outdoor adventure at Morton Arboretum

We did a lot of fun stuff - the Aquarium, Morton Arboretum, and Al's Beef (not a highlight for LBJ, who's not a beef eater). And we celebrated LBJ's birthday. In fact, we got JK's sister to watch the kids (2 of which were in bed and the other 2 were on their way) so the four of us could go out for dinner and a drink.

Here are a few photos: