Isabelle and Katie visit

We had a great visit with Isabelle and Katie at the end of March. So many great photos! They are both very photogenic, did a lot of fun stuff, and were really good at taking and sharing a lot of photos, so I think this is going to be a heck of a winning blog post!

Early on, John took them both to Pizza Friendly Pizza (I had tickets to see the Tina Turner musical that night). Then another evening we went to Big Star tacos, where they each enjoyed a “Walking taco” inside a bag of Frito corn chips. The walking taco was a favorite of Miles’s after orthodontist appointments when he was in high school. When at Big Star we realized that Colette and Niamh had visited at the same age – great to have some 20 year olds around again!

On a pretty chilly and dreary Saturday, we went to the Art Institute. But there’s nothing like an endless art museum to warm the soul. Another benefit – we watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off the night before, so it was nice to see the real thing after the movie. Another day, Isabelle and Katie re-visited and visited the dinosaur exhibit at the Field Museum.

We had a really fun afternoon and evening that day in Andersonville, near where Liam lives. Liam and Bronwyn met us for a stroll around the shops and cafes on Clark Street (first two photos below). Then we all went to dinner and over to Liam and Ellen’s apartment for a very nice get together with the Groves and Daniel. Very nice evening but unfortunately no photos of that! Also below is Isabelle with a real life yellow school bus, dinner at Handlebar, and the Riverwalk downtown.

Then we went to the amazing Alcala’s. Clothes for cowboys! So much fun. Super nice staff.

Toward the end of the trip we realized no deep dish pizza had been ordered so we made a beeline to Pequod’s Pizza. Check out the super stretchy cheese! It was very delicious. Then we took a photo of the cousins and only later did I realize John should have been in the photo too, as Katie’s cousin! After saying bye to Liam, we drove on Lake Shore Drive to see the city all lit up at night (never gets old!) and out to Northerly Island for a view of the whole skyline.

The week went so fast – suddenly it was time to drop them off at the California stop for their trip back to Dublin, Cork and Frankfurt. Thanks so much for coming to Chicago, Isabelle and Katie, we really enjoyed it and hope you come back soon!