Makai was so anxious and excited to see everyone. When he heard the plane landed and they were on the way, he sat out on the front porch and steps and asked what color the car rental car was. When they arrived he was SO HAPPY!. He had not seen his Hawaii Grandparents since Dec and Aunty Caroline and Cousin Gracie since Oct!
Gracie and Makai immediately picked up where they left off. Playing and joking around in the house!
Kathy, Caroline and I took Gracie and Makai to the Shedd Aquarium. We all had so much fun. We are so lucky to have such a world-class aquarium right here in Chicago.
Meanwhile at home, Dallas and his dad mounted 2 TVs and installed these shelves. Turned out amazing!
The next day, we went back to Museum Campus to go to the Field Museum. Aunty Laura is a volunteer there on Fridays and totally hooked us up. Makai LOVED it.
He LOVED the animal section and would yell “OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THIS” at every turn. He SUPER LOVED the dinosaurs. We went on a dino tour that was geared towards kids. The docent let Makai hold a replica tooth and he took his job very seriously. Gracie tried to get it and Makai was all “GRACIE HE TOLD ME IM IN CHARGE!”
We bought this $6 plaster egg to bring home. Gracie and Makai had to excavate the dinosaur. The kids took turns and worked at it for almost an hour. Totally great return on investment! Makai was soooooo excited to get the dinosaur out. He loved our trip to the Field Museum so much that the next morning when he woke, he ran into our bedroom and the first thing he asked was if we could go back to the museum that day!
It was HOT outside. Makai and Gracie had tons of fun playing in the sprinkler.
Kathy wanted to bring something local back for friends so we went to Intelligentsia in Logan Square and got some bags of coffee. We also got some coffee drinks and breakfast pastries.
We needed to get some dessert for later in the day, so we went to Roeser’s Bakery. Totally old school bakery in Humboldt Park. I’d heard a lot about Roeser’s. I’d had their donuts once when someone brought them in to work. And I had their cupcakes at a party once. Glad to finally go! We got cake bites that were amazing and also some assorted cookies.
We hosted our first barbecue and loads of family came over from the suburbs and a few friends too! Jen + Chad; Kristin; Aunty Laura + Bill; Aunty Gail; Aunty Glenna + Uncle BB; Heather + Jeff; Doug, Naoko, Tommy, Kenji, Eddy, Hanako.
The next day we headed out to Aunty Laura + Bill’s house and saw even more family! Aunty Gail; Aunty Glenna + Uncle BB; Heather + Jeff; Brad, Amanda, Tyler + Carter; Aly, Evan [it was his birthday!], Lexi + Charlotte; Danny, Caroline, Rory + John.
The next morning everyone had to leave our house very early in the morning to get to the airport. We had such a fun time and it went by way too fast!