Monthly Archives: July 2018

Chicago

Because Tom frequently travels to Chicago, we decided that our family vacation would be to Chicago this year.  That way we could mooch in on his free hotel, per diem, and one paid for plane ticket.  :)  The kids had never been on a plane before nor had they ever been to a big city, so they were super excited to go on this trip.  I was a bit nervous because I was going to have to entertain them for four days while Tom worked (and that seemed like a lot of work for me).

Thankfully, my long-time friend Nikki, lived in Chicago and had four boys the same ages as my kids.  She also had the whole four days planned out for us, which was fabulous!  She made my vacation actually feel like a vacation and not just a “relocation”.  The first day we went out to Morton Arboretum.  This place was great!  It had numerous playgrounds, trees to climb, water to play in, a giant hedge maze, and then we went to find giant trolls that someone so creatively made out of wood.  It was so much fun!  I was completely exhausted by the end of the day. 

Me and Nikki in front of a troll….

The next day, the kids and I took the water taxi down to China Town.  I wasn’t sure how the kids would like it, but they loved it.  We ate dumplings and then had some rolled up ice cream.  They enjoyed it so much that we took Tom back down there on Friday.

On Wednesday, we went to the zoo with Nikki and three of her boys.  After the zoo, we headed back to Nikki’s and hung out there for another THREE hours!  I thought that the kids would get tired of each other, but they never did.  It was such a blessing!

Thursday was beach day.  I had never put my feet in Lake Michigan, so this was a first for me.  The kids swam in water and played in the sand.  It was like a beach at the ocean, but better…no sharks, jelly fish, or giant waves.  :)

Friday was Tom’s birthday!  We took the water taxi back down to China Town for more ice cream. 

One great thing about being away from home was that the kids hardly ever fought or argued.  They loved being together and were super silly most of the time….especially in Uber rides.

For dinner we went to the Rainforest Cafe.  We had a great dinner and got some silly hats to bring home. 

Saturday was our last day.  We went to the top of the Hancock building to have a drink and enjoy the view.  I am not a fan of heights and this actually made me a bit woozy.  It is amazing how high up one building can be.  If you ever go to the Hancock building, go into the ladies bathroom, it has the BEST view!  

I am so thankful that we were able to have such a fun week together. We spent lots of quality time together doing new and exciting things.  Tom wasn’t with us during the day, but we did see him at night for some Corn Hole, Shark Week TV, snacks in the hotel lounge, dinners out, and fun on the weekends.   I am also thankful for such a fun and carefree friend like Nikki.  She made the vacation so much more fun for us all!  Thanks Nikki!

All in all, a fabulous Dressler adventure!

Taylor Swift

I had been considering taking Faith to the Taylor Swift concert in Atlanta next month. I looked into buying tickets and they were super expensive. This is problematic because I am at the age now when I refuse to buy nose bleed tickets. If I am going to go to a concert, I want to actually see the singer and not watch it on a big screen, hence the expensive ticket price. I decided that T.swift may not happen at all for us this summer. Then I realized, on July 9, that she was playing in DC on July 10 and that tickets were much cheaper because people were trying to get rid of their tickets.

I decided that we HAD to go! Within an hour and a half, I had arranged child care for the boys, packed up our stuff, called my brother to let him know that we were on our way to his house, and hit the road with Faith for our seven hour road trip. I was so excited!! I was excited to give this gift to Faith and to experience it with her.

We made it to Doug’s house in record time (it is amazing how quickly we could travel with only two of us in the car and only one 15 minute stop). We saw Doug and Erin for two hours that night, which was very nice. The next morning Faith and I woke up and saw a little bit of Washington DC before the concert. Our tickets were fantastic!

Here we are before the concert….

We took a picture of all of the people behind us!

The show had fireworks! What an amazing first concert for Faith. Of course, she had nothing to compare it to and had no idea what a great first concert it was. We had such fun together and I am so thankful that we could share this memory. I almost cried twice during the show because seeing her sing the songs and smile constantly truly brought me joy. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful and fun daughter.