Weekend in Galesburg and Chicago

Brian worked last Friday and Saturday so the kids and I headed to Galesburg. Friday night was late for Alaric with his cousin's baseball game and Saturday morning was spent garage saling in G-Burg. Bri arrived around noon and we headed out to Chicago for an extended weekend WITHOUT the kids. Saturday night we went to my friend Jenny's and just ordered pizza and watched movie. Sunday morning after an amazing brunch, we met up with Brian's best friend, Anthony and his new fiance, Maria. We didn't know what was in store for ourselves but as always, it proved to be amazingly fun and we drant way too much with wonderful friends.

We walked everywhere and probably clocked 5 miles by the end of the day. It was sunny, hot, and perfect for festivals. After walking through Blues Fest, we hit Millenium Park and the Park Cafe where Anthony and Maria ate and we all drank 32 ounce beers. Our server was hung over and forgot to put our food order in so she bought us a second round. We left there with a half gallon of beer in us and a good start to the day.

We did the touristy thing and took pictures on the bridge with locals got pissed around us!

Our bladders told us it was time for a pitstop so we headed into this little bar, Celtic Cross. It was dark and Irish and what we thought would be a quick bathroom stop. The new owner, Bill Sullivan, was super excited to see us since we were the only people in the place on the beautiful day. He offered us each a shot ( or 3 for Brian) of Irish Wiskey and we bellied up for drunken stories and good times.

Then, in walked John, the real bartender, who didn't give away free drinks but was a story all of his own. He is here just for a few months from Ireland ( everyone leaves Ireland during the 5 month rainy season). He's just working, drinking, and having lots of fun. Funny thing was, as soon as John arrived and started pouring drinks, our dear friend Bill disappeared to pass out ( he seemed to have been drinking for quite awhile when we arrived aound 1PM).

After this bar, the day begins to get fuzzy for me. We walked to Old Town Art Festival and drank and hung out more.

Then we found our way into Shananigans ( sp?)- another dark bar WITH A B-BALL HOOP!!!! Maria played college ball so Bri was up for the challenge.

We went to another bar after the shootout but by this time I was uber drunk and crying for no reason so no pictures were taken. We headed back to Anthony and Maria's to toast their engagement and order pizza. I passed out while the others watched TV.

The next morning was tough-Maria and Anthony had to go to work- poor them. We got on Interstate 290 to head back to Galesburg at 8AM on a Monday morning. Not a good idea. We were both exhausted, hung over, and contemplating vomitting. It took forever to find a restaurant but after a Dunken Donuts run, we were ready to go and by the time we got to Galesburg, we were no longer an embarassment to our kids.

Nana and Grandpa had so much fun with the kids while we were gone, including hosting a birthday party for Amara with cake and presents. Here's Grandpa with his pride and joy!

Mara shows off her ability to multi-task-stand, eat, and drink all at the same time.

Daddy and Alaric read before naptime.

We stayed through the kids afternoon naptime and caught up with Brian's mom and aunts and uncle. It was a wonderful weekend. Thanks to Anthony and Maria for showing us Chicago in the city and helping us get away from our kids for awhile.