Happy Birthday, Aunt Brittany!

A Cow Says "Boo"

Chicago: My Kind of Town!

On Labor Day weekend we took an impromptu trip to Chicago to celebrate my birthday early. We checked into our room at Hotel Blake on Friday afternoon, and dashed out to catch an architectural boat tour of the Windy City (which, coincidentally, was very windy!).

Our favorite buildings had to be L: The Wrigley Building - According to our tour guide, Mr. Wrigley requested a white building with green trim (hard to see in the picture) to remind consumers of the fresh minty-white feeling his chewing gum gave their mouths!

and R: 333 W. Wacker Dr. (the beautiful emerald one on the far right).

Of course, Willis Tower (previously known as Sears Tower) was a favorite.

It's that tall building in the back with two spires.

While the adults admired the buildings, Elise kept herself occupied by pointing at the water and waving at pedestrians. She did get a little obnoxious as the tour went on...

She's her father's daughter.

After the boat we walked over to Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. We bought churros and strolled along the pier, enjoying the huge Ferris wheel. It is a 150' replica of the original Ferris wheel, built for the Chicago World's Fair.

Outside the Pier there is a statue of comedian/actor Bob Newhart (a Chicago native) as his TV character, Dr. Bob Hartley. D.J. couldn't resist a photo op.

There was also a big Kraft macaroni noodle near the Pier. We visited its twin the next day (after a scrumptious breakfast at the Bongo Room) outside of Wrigley Field on our way to a Cubs baseball game.

Wrigley Field was so much fun! We took the subway to get there, and the moment we stepped through the gates, the ushers sent us to fan services to get Elise a certificate commemorating her first Cubs game.

She even got a sticker that said, "It's my first time at Wrigley Field, Home of the Chicago Cubs".

Our seats were positioned across from first base and only about 8 rows back. The Cubs played the NY Mets, and Chicago won, 5 to 3. We even saw two home runs!

Elise was a true Chicago fan with her authentic Cubs baseball cap.

Before leaving for home, we stopped to see the Buckingham Fountain and happened upon a free jazz festival in the park - such a treat! We also dropped by Millennium Park to visit Anish Kapoor's famous Cloud Gate sculpture (lovingly referred to as "The Bean"). I was a little disgusted by the grimy fingerprints all over it (see them in the first picture?), but resisted the urge to dig out a wet-wipe and start sanitizing. Underneath the sculpture the reflections twist into a spiral that bends your reflection every which way (see third pic).

It was such a great birthday getaway! We loved Chicago, and want to go back and see more. I think Sinatra sang it best, "Chicago is...my kind of razzmatazz!"

Hiatus

At the beginning of June we packed up our cars and moved to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia) while D.J. completed his summer marketing internship with Johnson & Johnson. He interned for Benadryl (you know, THE Benadryl) and - in layman's terms - formulated a plan to launch one of their new multi-million dollar products next year. What an experience!

The internet connectivity at our temporary home was horribly unreliable, so blogging slid to the back burner. But we're back, and have a lot of catching up to do...

We saw Rocky and sprinted up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art - more than once! We also visited the inside of the museum and especially enjoyed the armory and early American art.

A trip to Philadelphia isn't compete without a stop at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. To stand in the same place as the men and women who brought about the birth of our great nation is breathtaking and inspiring!

We feel humbled and blessed to be citizens of America the Beautiful.

Philadelphia is home to the nation' s first zoo, and we took full advantage! The best exhibits were the giraffes and the primate house, where we saw the new baby orangutan, Batu. Of course, the cutest baby at the zoo was ours...

One of our favorite places was the Peter Wentz Farmstead, a working farm close to our house where General George Washington stayed on several occasions during the Revolutionary War. We toured the old farmhouse and saw the room where Washington slept, and visited the farm animals. Look at how green everything was.

Next door to the farmstead is Merrymead Farms, a dairy with a farmer's market and several animals - a huge and smelly hog named Harley, chickens, a burro, goats, rabbits, sheep, and peacocks. Elise loved the Holstein calves, and they gave me flashbacks of home. Merrymead also had the best ice cream we've ever tasted!

Speaking of taste, we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania to get the full chocolate experience. How could we not check out a place where Hershey "kiss" lamps line streets named "Cocoa" and "Chocolate" Avenue? It wasn't as grand as we had hoped, but Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is tough to beat. We loved Hershey Gardens, though. Their children's garden boasted lots of photo-worthy farm animals, which we gleefully plunked Elise on any chance we got. She wasn't so excited about some of them (see her face on the chicken?).

We celebrated Elise's first birthday in Philadelphia, too. Look at THAT face!

We even got a visit from Grandma Candy while we were in PA. We packed in as much sight-seeing and adventure into our schedule as you can in a week. She did it all, and even had time for some crafting fun too! Grandma watched Elise a few times so D.J. and I could go out together. It was such a treat. Everyone cried when she had to leave, and Elise was bored out of her mind for the next several days. If only we lived closer!

Another highlight of our summer was visiting the Washington D.C. temple. As we approached D.C. on the freeway, the temple's beautiful spires burst into view. It was so magnificent! It is one of the larger temples I've ever been in, and was lovely inside and out. Before our session, D.J. actually ran into a friend he served his mission with in Brazil! They hadn't seen each other for over 10 years. Small world, right?

D.J. completed his internship in mid-August, and we said goodbye to the City of Brotherly Love. It was a great summer, but we were happy to leave for Indiana. Can you tell Elise was excited to go back?

These are just a few of the things we did while we were there, so if you're ever planning a trip, let me know and I will tell much more about our experience in Philly!