A few weekends ago we headed out of Austin and into the windy city. One of my younger brothers graduated from law school at John Marshall and the entire family decided to be there to cheer him on. What a momentous day it was and such an amazing family getaway for all of us. We are so proud of Beckett and all the excitement the future holds for him. Read on for some of our fave pics/memories from the trip and also the deets on our scrumptious eats, rented digs and the touristy stuff we enjoyed!
Stay:
First of all, we stayed in Andersonville, IL and loved this quaint little suburb. We stayed at one of the Andersonville GuestHouse's and can't suggest it enough. Three full size bedrooms and two full sized baths, including the master suite bathroom which was just shy of drool worthy. It was awesome having my entire family under one roof. No need to deal with hotel hassles and we were able to cook many meals 'at home' and just relax as a family. Check out the pics of our place and the video below.
Nash and Walt chillin' on our porch! We had almost perfect weather the entire time we were there so we were soaking it up, for sure. Since Texas temps are already hitting triple digits, we loved having the highs in the 80's for a long weekend.
What an amazing feeling it was to wake up every morning and have family right there. So many hands ready (and eager) to hold and love on our Nash. It was really something I'll never forget. It's really hard being so far away from our families.
Here's the Nasher Man taking advantage of the fancy pants shower. This thing was delish, along with that naked baby, ha! It was a steam shower and actually the steam would come out so thick that I had to turn it off after only a few minutes. Walt, on the other hand, steamed it up the entire 20 minute shower and loved every second of it. I think we all wanted to remodel our master bathrooms after being in this one.
Oh the joy of being all together! Truly an amazingly scrumptious home cooked breakfast! Now this is why we'll likely never just opt for 'hotel rooms' again.
Play:
We went to the Signature Room at top of the John Hancock and had some drinks/apps and good lawdy, what a view. Minnie wanted to sit right on the edge and look down and oh my gosh did it ever make me nervous. I'm super afraid of heights so even the view was making my palms sweat. Mimi was super brave and sat right next to Minnie and watched everything going on way below. I love this picture of the two of them. The backdrop looks fake, doesn't it? Told you, perfect weather!
We also did the Wendella Boat architectural tour and loved it. We learned all about Chicago's history, buildings and fun facts. Here's an image I snapped with my iPhone and holy smokes is this ever a gorgeous skyline!
I will admit that my family just likes to walk. We walked all over Chicago seeing different streets, sights and smells. I couldn't help but capture this image of my niece Minnie and her ice cream cone because she's not such a little Minnie anymore. It shocked me how big she has gotten and it's really hard to believe she'll be four years old in mid August.
Eat:
One of our favorite meals out on the town was at the West Town Tavern with our cousins Bill and Sarah. I can honestly say that Walt's pot roast was the best we've ever had. Nash was pretty tired since dinner started around 6:30pm so we had to eat in shifts and walk outside with him. Regardless, it was an amazing meal for everyone at the table and we can't suggest this spot enough.
No trip to Chicago is complete without a Chiacago style dog from Portillo's. Walt actually said, 'At first glance I thought it was going to be gross but it's actually a great combo!' We'll make sure to always find our way back to this famous eatery every time we visit the city.
We did a huge family meal after Beckett's graduation and this is actually the first course, kebabs. It was so awesome that we had this huge porch and great grill at our unit. We were all stuffed to the gills with steak, grilled corn, potatoes and some of the tastiest dessert you've ever laid eyes on.
Oh Chiago, what a good time you showed us! We can't wait to go back one day and see a baseball game and shop on Michigan too! We cherished our time under your gorgeous sky!
