This year was a tad different because they have moved to the suburbs, which I never thought I would see. They are renting a house while they are building another close by and from the time our Uber pulled up at the house we were making memories and having a great time! But really the fun started before we even left Houston when in the airport I finally converted Keagan to the dark side of loving Panda Express like Riley and I. And we all enjoy a good plane ride especially when we each get to watch our own movie of choice. Poor Riley still really hates that take off and landing and needs lots of cuddles then from both of us, but otherwise both Keags and Rys totally rock at traveling!
Thursday night we went to Uncle Julio’s as all the girls were dying to try the chocolate piñata which ended up being quite delicious! We were just thrilled to be together and that Vicki’s mom was there too! Afterwards we did a little shopping in the outdoor mall because the weather was amazing and Aunt Vicki introduced the girls to the store Lush. Keagan got to ride in Uncle Tyler’s Jeep with the top down for the first of many over the weekend and like every night we were there we all stayed up way too late chatting.
Friday morning we took it easy and listend to lots and lots of cousin giggles that made me happy and then went to the neighborhood park where Keagan made her first iMovie. We went to the movie “Lion King” and loved it so much that we didn’t even attempt to hold back from singing along! Then after a little more shopping including the coolest art store I’ve ever seen, we met Tyler to go to the Lincolnwood Neighborhood festival which was much bigger and better then any neighborhood festival I had ever been to! They had tons of fun rides, games, food vendors and a great Tom Petty tribute band playing a concert! Tess and Keagan did a fun house and very high swings that freaked them out to where they were thrilled to ride the younger rides with Riley! All three girls also played a bunch of games and won a bunch of prizes. We had such yummy food, loved the band and perfect weather, and enjoyed great people watching especially of “summer Santa!” The cherry on top was Vicki’s cousin Sam who we love from last summer came with us! It has to be documented that after all the fun Kate got so frustrated with the (admittedly annoying) trumpet that the three younger girls won as a prize that she snapped it right in half! But Uncle Tyler to the rescue as he let the girls paint his finger nails and toe nails to match theirs and they were beyond thrilled. We again chatted way too late as the girls built a fort to sleep in downstairs.
Saturday morning we woke up to the most amazing Chicago bagels Tyler had got and then we headed to just over the Wisconsin Border to the Bristol Renaissance Fair with Vicki’s brother Danny, Sister in law Kristy and their daughter Allie. Side Bar, Wisconsin happens to be the 25th state I have ever visited so I’m half way there! The Renaissance Fair was definitely something to behold with hundreds and hundreds of people dressed up in all kinds of get up. It was definitely the people watching Mecca of all time with everything from goat men, lots of elves, knights, fairies, lady’s of the court, and so much more. It was also comic con weekend so there was tons of people dressed up as Star Wars, game characters, transformers, Pokémon, fortnight, etc. We walked all over the village people watching and saw an amazing whip show, sword show, magician show, acrobat show and we all loved the bubble guy. We had street corn, butterfly potatoes, pork sandwiches and a steamed artichoke. Riley got her face painted and I thought she would want a princess crown but she absolutely insisted on a skull pirate! And Vicki’s brother Danny was super sweet and took Keagan to shoot a crossbow. Despite being pretty hot we all had a really amazing time!
After we cooled off, met Maya’s cute boyfriend and Kate and Maya went to have a night with friends, me, Vicki, Tyler, Tess, Keagan and Riley went and had the most incredible dinner at a Chicago famous Greek restaurant. And I do mean incredible! That flaming cheese was what dreams are made of and I was thrilled that both Keags and Rys tried new things and loved it!
On Sunday morning we were very blessed and honored to be apart of one of the Chicago Ginn’s most special traditions. The following day was the birthday of my sweet niece Sara who is in heaven and we were honored to be a part in celebrating her! We went to visit the mausoleum where she is placed and had the opportunity to pray with her family. Tyler said the most beautiful prayer that brought me to ugly tears and the spirit there was incredible. We then went outside to each send a balloon up to heaven to her and it was all incredibly sweet.
Then despite my warnings that I am totally not country club material we spent a really fun afternoon at the Ridegrmore country club. We swam and chatted and had a nice lunch there. Vicki’s cousins Sam and her sister Sabrina joined us and Riley particularly loved playing with them but we all had a really great time! Keagans favorite was definitely the slide and games with Tess and I particularly loved the virgin pina coladas and watching Tyler jump off the diving board!
We spent a perfect final night there eating Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner, playing scrabble all together, roasting marshmallows in the back yard and yep you guessed it, staying up way too late chatting. It was awesome!
Our flight home was definitely the most brutal part of the trip as we sat on the plane on the runway for almost 3 hours before we even took off. But I was super proud of the girls and how they handled it! We were eventually very happy to be back home but incredibly thankful for the amazing trip we had! And wouldn’t you know Keagan is already talking about our Chicago trip next summer!
We sure love that great city but we definitely love those Ginn's even more! Vicki, Tyler, Maya, Kate and Tess thank you so much for the fun, the laughter, the chats and the memories! Thank you for another amazing trip to Chicago! I’m sure we will be back.
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