Chicago...On a Train

We celebrated our 13th anniversary last weekend. We are old. 

We have always had the tradition of going somewhere new every year for our anniversary. It started out as a new city every year. Then we started having kids and we had to settle on Kansas City a few years, and even Wichita one year. All in all, we have kept it up and have been able to go to some fun places over the years. 

This year, we decided on Chicago. We have been there before, but only for a night. There was much more left to explore. Brent wanted to take me on the train. A great idea if you don't think about leaving at 3 am! Yeah, that was rough. Let's just say we almost missed the train because I was too sleepy to remember my phone the first time we left the house...Don't worry, we made it!

sunrise in Kansas City. This was also when I received a phone call announcing the birth of our newest nephew, Noah!

We got a sleeper car which did not guarantee sleep. We got some, just not much. It was crazy small too. I made Brent sleep on the top bunk and we had a few laughs when he was trying to get up there. Oh my, did I mention how small the quarters were...

Twelve hours later, and we finally made it to Chicago. This was the first thing we saw when we got to the street. Ahh, fresh air. We found our way to the hotel and crashed for a couple hours. 

Then it was time to hit the town. Cities are so magical at night. 

We met up with cousin Michael, who lives in Chicago. We stayed up way too long.

Anniversary Soccer

Today is Brent and my 12th wedding anniversary. Yup, 12 years. That's crazy! Brent made me breakfast in bed. This man has come a long way. I love his determination! We then headed to the kids' soccer game. Our anniversary celebration is coming soon! I can't wait.

This picture cracks me up. They look so tough! It's almost as if Ava is saying, "Bring it!" Funny kids.

Mexico Trip: Day 8-Going Home

Packing and breakfast on the patio

Goodbye beach. We will miss you.

Brent enjoying a good book on the plane with a lady that looks exactly like my highschool English teacher in the background. Funny stuff.

A warm welcome from our kiddos. They had me crying, I was laughing so hard at their enthusiasm. They all wanted to tell me about their week. All at the same time. All at the top of their lungs. Ahhh, it's good to be home.

Mexico Trip: Day 6: Part 2-Another Sunset

Mexico Trip: Day 6: Part 1

Aren't I cute?!

This was an unexpected stop on our bike ride. We though we were just going sight seeing around town. But instead, we got to go see the dolphins!

Mexico Trip: Day 5: Part 2 - The Big Switcheroo

This is still a bit of a sore subject, so I'll be brief.

Our lovely hotel offered us an "upgrade" to a nicer room at a "nicer" hotel-their sister resort on the other end of PV, at no additional charge. This is a new area that we noticed is really being pushed for business. We thought, "this place is great. why not go try their other hotel (which we assumed would be great too) on a different beach and enjoy some different scenery?

We said, yes.

POOR decision.

We thought it was a great sign that the day we were to move it was raining. A great day to travel and not miss good beach time. Apparently it was more likely a sign of doom and gloom. I was pretty bummed.

In short, the new hotel was nicer, only because it was new. It was clean, but cold in decor. The service was HORRIBLE-not the pampering we were used to. People were less friendly. The food was nowhere close in comparison. We called the old resort and tried to go back, but they had already booked our room! (Apparently the whole reason why they weren't telling their guests that they were actually degrading their service!) I could go on, but I'm getting a little sick to my stomach just thinking about it, so I'll stop.

All in all, we were still at the beach and that says a lot. We made good friends with the bar tenders by the beach (that helped!) and went on a bike ride with one of the entertainment guys, which was humorous. Oh, and we weren't the only suckers. We met up with many other groups from the last resort who had switched too. They were just as unhappy as we were. That helped a little.

So, that wasn't so brief, but I really could go on forever, so in the whole scheme of things...

View from our room. The sun was peeking through a break in the clouds out at sea. Pretty magnificent in real life.

another rainbow

After the rain finally stopped, we decided to go exploring on the beach.