Liam, Ellen and friends go to Prom

Last night was the Whitney Young Prom (like the Debs in Ireland), and Liam and Ellen went with 6 other friends. These kids are so nice, organized, creative in their planning, and they also clean up real well! Liam and I left home at about 4:20 and went to the Groves’ house. We took photos in their back garden. Then Jeanne and I drove with Liam and Ellen to Margaret’s house, where all of the other kids except Jeron had gathered, and we took some more photos there. Liam’s next to his friend Robert, who will be joining us in Ireland in July (probably won’t be wearing a tux when you see him next!) Then the pre-prom planning really got into gear, and we all drove to Lincoln Park, to meet Jeron and take more photos near the really beautiful landscaped boardwalk area just south of the Farm in the Zoo and Cafe Brauer. Architect Jeanne Gang designed the whole area around the lagoon, and also a pavilion there. It’s really popular for photos! We waited for a bride and groom in wedding clothes, some people with a baby, and a couple having engagement photos taken before taking over the pavilion ourselves. Here we are in the pavilion.

A lovely Mom and daughter shot of Jeanne (not a licensed architect, though she has acted as one on all of our home projects!) and Ellen.

Note John’s Euro-style shoes — this comes up later.

Then, right on time at 6:30, the pedi-cab drivers showed up on the bridge. The kids had tried finding a fleet of pedi-cabs to drive them from this location to the Drake Hotel, about 2 miles away, but the companies they found online were quoting quite high prices for such a service. So they went downtown last week and approached pedi-cab drivers in person, and this group said they’d be happy to do it. They were really nice and enthusiastic about the job too. The driver below on the bike with Liam and Ellen complimented John’s Euro-style shoes and told us he was Serbian. There were meant to be 4 bikes for the 8 people, but one of their bikes broke earlier that day and so the kids went 3 to a bike for 2 of the bikes, and then 2 in the other one. They did a very cute parade on the bridge first, cycling around in circles several times before heading off into the park, but I missed getting it on video! Anyway, it was a lot of fun seeing them off, and Liam reported today that the ride was great and they all enjoyed prom.