Ready Or Not, Here Comes The Garvey's
The "Griswald's" oh, wait I mean the Garvey's, took a little trip to the windy city. And boy, was it a wild ride adventure thanks to our wonderful travel agent...... ( who, will remain nameless, but rest assured "he" has been fired).
Our adventure started out with us almost missing our flight out of San Antonio, and when I mean almost, we had about 5 minutes to spare at the gate ! Talk about high stress levels on that ride to the airport. But we made it !!!! First stop ~ Dallas, Texas ( about a 45 minute flight, with a 2 hour lay over) then we were off again to Kansas City, then finally into Chicago. Talk about around about way of getting there. I guess our travel agent thought the $20.00 a ticket we saved was worth the 6 hours of travel time !!!!
The first half of the week we spent with Greg's Mom just outside of Chicago. The weather was beautiful, warm but not to warm. A BIG change from the Texas heat we left behind. Ever since we took Hunter to see and ride Thomas the Train in Dallas back in April he has been asking to ride another train. So that's what we did with Grandma Rose. We hopped on the Metra Train and rode it out to Bensonville, at which point we discovered we missed our actual stop. We got off there and got lucky with several huge freight trains making their way out of the switch yards. A little boys dream ( and Daddy's also). The boys had a great time waving at the engineers and making them blow the horns. We had a nice lunch and then hopped back on the train and rode it back to Grandma's house.
We had dinner with a long time friend, her boyfriend and his daughter, (kicking myself that we didn't get any pictures) but the pizza and company were great, and really make you home sick.
Doing what we LOVE best, watching the trains !!!!
Hunter watching out the window of the Metra Train !!! This was our stop we missed, but someone (Dad) was to busy taking pictures to notice the sign in the background.
A little boy's heaven :)
A little boy's heaven :)
On Wednesday, Grandma took the reins with Hunter, so Greg and I slipped off to downtown Chicago to eat our way through the Taste of Chicago. It had been about 10 years since we last did this, although it has changed a lot ( by, that I mean gotten smaller) we still had a great day together !!!! Thanks Grandma Rose for watching Hunter for the day :)
This is what a two year calls "vacation" snacks, sticker book, tablet computer and charlie the dog tucked into bed and relaxing !!!!!!
Our little adventure continues with a major down pour on the way back to Greg's dad's house. So bad we had to pull over along side the road for about 30 minutes while the storm passed. This is the company I had while waiting it out. Really Guys, it's pouring, thundering, lighting, hailing, crazy windy and you think it's time to nap !!!!
For months, Hunter has talked about fishing with Papa Jim. It had been so hot the second half of the week, so we got up early so we could get in some fishing before it got really hot. Walked out of the hotel to find it pouring cats and dogs. A little kink in the plans, plan B was meet for breakfast and see what the weather was going to do. Luckily, it cleared up enough for us to hit the river for some anticipated fishing with Papa. Hunter did pretty well, sitting with Daddy and Papa, until he found a puddle behind them and that became the big attraction. I would call the day a success, 3 fish caught, no one fell in the river, no injuries and our little fishing man touched he first fish. ( with some help from Daddy) I think it's safe to say, we won't have a problem with the fish tank Hunter is getting from Santa (Shhhh). He likes fish from a distance, not up close and personal !!!!
The Garvey boys fishing !!
One of my new favorite photos of the boys !
A happy little boy, thanks Papa Jim for taking him fishing. He still watches the video at least 20 times a day and says "papa come back"
So I bet you are wondering what made our little vacation such a "Griswald" experience. Well, Monday morning came, and we were all packed up, car loaded, out of the hotel and eating breakfast with Grandpa and Grandma before our travel agent realized that we weren't flying out until Tuesday afternoon. "What?" Back to the hotel, unloaded car, slightly unpacked again. Yay, for another day with Papa and Grandma, but Boo for a do-over on the morning craziness of getting ready again.
So later Monday night (10:00pm) Greg checks his voice mail and finds out that Hunter and I missed our flights back to San Antonio that afternoon. " What?" Yep, this when things getting really "Griswaldy". When the travel agent booked our tickets they were done separately from his. Hunter and I were scheduled to fly back on Monday, and Greg was scheduled to fly on Tuesday. So a late night phone call to Southwest, and a few hundred dollars later, we were all booked on the same flight back to San Antonio with a layover in Nashville. When we arrived in Nashville for an already super long layover, we were informed that our flight was delayed at least another hour. OUCH, cranky toddler who was up early, no nap and wouldn't eat.... Bring it on the "Griswalds" can handle it.
Thank goodness for smart airports, that have put in play areas for little ones. Life saving is all I have to say !!!!! All in all, Hunter did so well on this trip. We were really worried about his temperament, sleeping and eating. But he slept with me, and did great ( amazes me how something so little, can grow to be 6 feet tall and 400 pounds in the middle of the night, give him an inch and he will take the whole bed). We only had a few melt downs, 2 super scary moments of him running out in the street after his ball, he ate pretty well and napped well ( so did we :)
Waving Good-Bye to Chicago !!!! Thank you to everyone who made our trip home so great. We only wished we could have spent more time with everyone. ( An eaten at least one more hot dog and deep dish pizza) Until next time, we love you all very much and miss you more than words can express !!!!
