Thanksgiving Family Visits

Part 1: Friday, November 17-Tuesday, November 21
Marshfield with Mom
I took Mr. E to the airport for his early morning United flight to Chicago and then worked half a day from home before catching my own mid-afternoon Southwest flight to Boston. Busy travel day! Full flights! Lots of families with kids. And lots of canine traveling companions, too!

Mom and I didn't have too many plans for the visit, but we managed to check off everything on her to-do list: computer clean-up, Amazon orders, Xmas cookie dough, and turning her mattress. I made it to two Zumba classes at The Workout Club (yay!), and we went swimming together on Monday. Mom treated me to the movies to see Wonder over the weekend and out to dinner at Mia Regazza (formerly The Tavern) on Monday, where I had a yummy scallop risotto dish and she enjoyed a haddock and shrimp entree. The leftovers from both dishes gave her enough for three more meals!

On Tuesday morning, Mom went off to the office and I worked from her dining room for half a day while finishing up laundry and getting ready to leave for my flight to Chicago to join up with Mr. E and his family.

Part 2: Tuesday, November 21-Saturday, November 25
Chicago with Mr. E + Family
Mr. E met me at Midway, and we took the train back to his parents' place across from Maggie Daley Park in downtown Chicago. Decorations and lights were already up all around the city and at the airport, so we got a great view of the holiday tree in Millennium Park as we walked from the El Station to the apartment:

Mr. E's aunt J and uncle L from Cupertino flew out for the holiday, as did their daughter M from Los Angeles, so we had lots of family around during the week. They stayed at nearby hotels since Mr. E and I were staying with his parents. Their apartment has a great view of Navy Pier:

On Wednesday, Mr. E had to work, and I met up for lunch with K, an old friend from my Wesleyan days. We chatted for nearly two hours and got all caught up on work, life, and families. Then I headed off to meet Mr. E for a 3pm showing of Thor at the nearby AMC Theatre. Except I went to the wrong theatre at first -- oops! There are several AMCs relatively near his parents, and I thought we had purchased tickets for the location across from Eataly, but in fact we needed to be at the Block 37 site. Luckily, there was enough time for both of us to change direction and arrive at the correct spot on time. When we got back to the apartment, we met up with the rest of the family. Mr. E's parents and aunt and uncle had recently returned from a late lunch, so M, Mr. E, and I headed off to Mariano's for some drinks and dinner on our own.

I went for a run on Thanksgiving morning along the Riverwalk and then met up with M at the corner of Randolph and State to watch the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade. We saw lots of marching bands and other types of performers, including a cheer squad and a troupe of elves in wheels:

We went back to the apartment to meet up with Mr. E for lunch and ice-skating at the Skating Ribbon in Maggie Daley Park. Unfortunately, our timing was off for the skating as the Zamboni was just about to clean the ice for 45-60 minutes, so we decided to just walk around a bit enjoying the beautiful day and try again tomorrow. Mr. E got a great photo of Cloud Gate, aka The Bean, which has become an iconic sculptural feature of Millennium Park:

For Thanksgiving dinner, L and M hosted us at their home in Oak Park. Mr. E had arranged for an SUV car service to take us there and back, so we left downtown around 4:30pm and sat down to the dinner table around 6:30pm. Lots of yummy food and wine!!!

The car picked us up at 9:30pm for our return trip, which included quite a few leftovers in the back of the SUV as well!

On Friday morning, Mr. E and I met up with M at the Art Institute for the Annual Wreathing of the Lions. A local choral group performed a few songs, and two leads of the Chicago cast of "Hamilton" served as emcees for the unveiling of the stone lion statues with their holiday attire:

We then used Mr. E's mom's Family Pass to visit the Art Institute, where we explored the Russian Revolution exhibit, the Rodin and Impressionist rooms, and the Chicago Architecture fragments. For lunch, we paused at Cosi just across the street and then headed off to the Skating Ribbon to try again. After waiting for about an hour in line (yikes!), we laced up our skates and glided off on the ice. Well... M and Mr. E glided off... I made it around one time holding onto the rail the whole way and decided that was enough!!! I guess I need more practice!

That evening, Mr. E's other cousin, M, who's a grad student at Northwestern, came into downtown to visit. The four of us enjoyed some of the holiday caroling at The Bean, featuring a local high school choral group and a sing-along:

Then we took a taxi to meet up with the rest of the family at Kiki's Restaurant in River North for a group dinner and walked back downtown afterwards, enjoying all of the lights along Michigan Ave.

Mr. E accompanied me to the airport on Saturday morning, and I was back home in Sac and reuniting with the kitties by 11:30am. Mr. E met up with his friend, M, for lunch and watching the Badger game, and he returned home on Sunday evening.