Don't Sweat My Swag

Aaron's birthday was this past week, so I surprised him with a family trip to Chicago! Before I get to some of the fun details of the trip I need to pay tribute to my awesome husband.


10 REASONS WHY WE LOVE DAD!

1. He is a witty guy. He is constantly making us laugh. The guy loves a good pun and can deliver on que without hesitation.

2. He is an incredibly hard worker. He knows what he wants and goes after it.

3. When we go to chuck E. Cheese's he does NOT mess around with the basketball "Shoot Out" game. No 12 year old stands a chance! We can't leave Chuck E. Cheese until he holds the high score. Last time we went some of those 12 year olds could be overheard whispering about Aaron if he was professional basketball player and "which one is he?" It made Aaron's night.

(Aaron's on the left. Notice that there is another Dad not letting the kids play shoot out. Don't worry Aaron schooled them all.)


4. Some people may not know but Aaron is a gourmet cook and loves to make fancy food. We eat really good on the weekends when Aaron takes over cooking. He's a far superior cook than I, and he actually enjoys it, where as I do not. I would eat cereal every night if I could. He's perfected the art of stuffed french toast and one day would love to open restaurant.

5. He is a sucker for a free T-shirt. You can pretty much get him to do anything if a free t-shirt is involved. Especially if there is something related to bacon on it.

6.He is a HUGE sports fan and has a jersey for pretty much any occasion. (i.e. we went to Chicago and went ice skating at Millennium Park, he had a Chicago Blackhawks jersey on hand just cause.) He also sported a homemade (by Aaron) Brian Wilson costume for Halloween this year.

(BTW-that is a real beard he darkened with black mascara.)


7. He's an aspiring runner. He decided he wanted to run a 1/2 marathon this past year and not only completed one with an awesome time but ran a second one two weeks later with his Dad out in San Fransico (which he just happened to meet the real Brian Wilson who was cheering runners along on the course. He wants to do a full marathon sometime in the future.

Brian Wilson was just hanging out in the middle of the road cheering the runners on in the Giants 1/2 marathon

8. He's an amazing Dad. The girls adore him and "Dad-um" or Daddy is currently Avery's only word. (She is 16 months old).

9. He's an awesome "Good Cop" when I am at the end of my rope with kiddos at bedtime. He's good to step in and calm us all down before I go postal on them.

10. He's my Best Friend! I love you lots and Always will!



Now onto Chicago....

I had found (months ago) a sweet groupon for a posh hotel downtown Chicago and thought it would be fun to surprise Aaron for his B-day with a fun weekend away and chance to eat at one of Rick Bayless (gourmet mexican food chef) restaurants. Both items were on our bucket list. We made it a family affair and all took last Friday off.

I'll spare the details of the road trip with highlights (or low points) being: we came upon one of the most horrific accidents either of us have ever seen, missing it by about 30 minutes - we give thanks to McDonalds and taking their unbelievable sweet time making an extra crispy snack wrap for Zoe that spared us from being involved in the mile long pile up complete with smashed semi-trucks and cars that look like the had been through a trash compactor. However, it wasn't until a SUV came flying across the other highway, crossed through the median, and miss our jeep by about 10 feet that we decided we needed to stay the night in Madison, WI and get off the road.

Here we are at the hotel beat and tired after a long drive..


We spent the rest of the night swimming at the hotel pool and enjoying dinner at Texas Road House. Quinn was so tired she didn't even make it through dinner.

Here are a few pix of when we actually made it to Chicago (ones of when I actually remembered to pull my camera out)

Ice Skating in Millennium Park complete with hot chocolate and churros...



And the star of the ice... His shirt said "Don't Sweat My Swag" He spent the entire time popping and locking in the center ice dancing to the beat of his own drum. Pretty sure he was living his dream and lovin' every minute of it.

Aaron is convinced he needs that shirt now.

We also visited the "Bean" I'm sure there is another name for it, but that is what the girls kept calling it.

The inside of the bean...




We did make it to a Rick Bayless restaurant called Xoco. We ate at Hot Doug's the most amazing hot dogs ever!!! And we ended our Chicago trip with a stop in at the Bongo Room, which may be the best breakfast I have ever had in my life. Aaron agreed too that it was hands down the best pancake he ever had! A must for anyone visiting Chicago.

Our trip home was uneventful and we made good time. No accidents this time.

Thanks for having a birthday Aaron! It was an awesome vacation!