It's been so long, I am a bit embarrassed!

The picture to the left is an oldie but a good in Chicago tailgating before the Vikings/Bears game. I bought the tickets from former Viking Chris Liewinski, and we sat by his in-laws. Our Cruise Director, Jamie (in the Chuck's sweatshirt) coordinated a fabulous tailgating party. :)

I seem to have been a busy bee as of late, not making time for my blog. Work has been busy, which is not a bad thing actually. We have been busy at home with the usual spring cleaning, running here and there. Karate is three times a week, and as crazy as it may sound it is fun and only 1/2 hour at a time. We hosted a wine tasting party in March which was loads of fun. I made a lot of little finger foods and served a wide variety of cheeses. I think it was a hit! Also we took an extra long weekend in Chicago last weekend for part of Carlos' spring break. We stayed with our friends John and Jamie and their son Luke! They live in the sweetest little village outside of downtown Chicago called Glen Ellyn. They are right on the train line and we hopped the train for a relatively short trip to downtown. Each family climbed into their own cab and Al was able do something he has always wanted to do. Yell to the cabbie, "Follow that cab!!!!" like in the movies. Carlos had his first real cab ride and thought it was the bomb. We visited the Field Museum and our highlights were seeing Sue, the T-Rex, the Egyptian exhibit where we saw a variety of mummys, and the pirate exhibit. They had actual artifacts and treasures from a sunken pirate ship. We enjoyed lunch overlooking Lake Michigan and the Navy Pier. John, Jamie and Luke hopped a 2:40pm train back to Glen Ellyn and we stayed for a bit longer walking along the lake taking in as much as possible. We attempted to go to the top of the Sears Tower but the wait was 1 1/2 hours-yikes! We just wandered around for about an hour and then took our train back to the Martin's. We opened a bottle of wine we had brought when we returned and relaxed for about 45 minutes before we headed back downtown for a wonderful dinner at one of John and Jamie's favorites, Merlo'. We stopped for a drink at a dark "First Avenue-ish" bar and then home. What I haven't mentioned yet was the delicious dinner we had on Thursday night upon our arrival! Jamie put together Spaghetti Carbonara and it totally rocked our sock off!!! I will post the recipe as soon as I get it, I promise. John brought me to his gym on Friday and completely kicked my a**. but in a good way, of course.

Oh and to top off our visit we brought Luke and Carlos to Medieval Times where we cheered on the Green Guy and ate dinner with our hands. We dined on Baby Dragon (chicken) and other yummy bits.

Well I need to get back to earning my living, so until next time, and I promise it won't be so long.