Chicago and Back again

We have had an eventful past week. We left Wednesday morning on our trek to cousin Robyn's wedding in Chicago. We made it to Fulton, IL late afternoon and spent an evening/night at college friends Doug and Mindy's house. Their little guy is about 2 weeks older than Bennett, so it was really fun to finally meet Luke!
Thursday we headed into Chicago and found our hotel right away. It was a lot nicer than we were expecting... you never know what you are going to get with Priceline, but we were very excited! We had the afternoon to kill, so we took a cab downtown and went to the John Hancock observatory. Not exactly Janelle's idea of a good time since she is quite scared of heights and it was very high. However, it made Dale's day, so it was worth it. Then we had dinner plans with more college friends, Jeremy and Dalida. They really did a good job and we had such a nice time with them.
Friday we went to Navy Pier - a little too touristy for us, but it was fun to see. Then off to Shedd's Aquarium. That was a good place to go... we didn't get to the museums that we wanted to, I guess we will have to go back! Friday evening we spent at Robyn's place. It was relaxing and fun to see the fam. Bennett was once again a hit.
Saturday was the wedding and it was beautiful! Robyn was a gorgeous bride... we are so glad we went. That night we were adventurous and had our hotel make us dinner reservations. We ended up at an authentic Greek restaurant (the whole time we had lines from a Big Fat Greek Wedding running through our minds!). It was really fun to try something different. Sunday we made the 9 hour trip back to Iowa. We only had to stop twice, so that wasn't bad.... Bennett was born to travel!
The pictures are of Bennett and Luke - we told them they were going to be roommates at Dordt someday..... Dale washing windows at the John Hancock building.... everyone at the wedding that was related to Robyn.

Bennett Pictures

Not a lot to say today.... here a bunch of pictures of Bennett - most of them from the last few weeks. He was 12lbs this past week and it 3 months old today!

dogs days of summer

We have been having a fairly quiet week. Dale has been recovering from his Septoplasty surgery - they rebuilt and reshaped his septum. This was done on Friday and he finally went back to work today (Thursday). Janean was here from Thursday until Monday, so it was nice to have her help. She kept Janelle company in the waiting room at the hospital and also helped take care of Bennett. Dale was pretty much out of it for the rest of Friday and Saturday he was in and out of bed all day. Wednesday (yesterday) Dale had his splints removed from his nose and it wasn't the most pleasant experience, except now he can breath again!!!!
Tomorrow Megan and Mom and Dad come down for the weekend. Megan, Dale and Janelle are all going to the Rascal Flatts concert while Grandpa and Grandma babysit.
We have been trying to avoid the "Great Outdoors" these days because it is so ridiculously hot and humid in Iowa.