"Bet your bottom dollar, you'll lose the blues in Chicago..."

Frank Sinatra knew what he was talking about there. We just got back from Chicago and absolutely LOVED the city! The architecture, the shopping, the food, the parks, the history, the river running through the city and even the public transportation system were all wonderful! Here is a recap of our whirlwind trip to the windy city:



Walking down the Magnificent Mile by Millenium Park





The big "bean" in Millenium Park.


Total tourists... check out the guy on the left side of the picture in the sweet khaki vest- didn't notice him until we looked at the picture.


Not sure what the appeal is, but figured we would do the tourist thing.


Our hotel- the "River Hotel"


Our room


View from the room




Transformers 3 was being filmed right outside our hotel!


Patrick Dempsey and Shia Labeouf


One of the "transformers"


My favorite pizza place we tried!


"Chicago style" with butter crust.... so unhealthy but SO delicious!


Seriously LOVE this city!


We took a river boat architecture tour- such a cool way to see the city!


On the boat


Beautiful buildings!


Sunset from Lake Michigan.




We've been up for 20+ hours at this point, but ice cream and fireworks were a great way to end our first day in Chicago!


Our breakfast spot right outside our hotel each morning.




The Cubs were away, so we took a tour. I think it was even cooler than going to a game, because we got to see all areas of the ballpark.


View from the pressbox.


In the pressbox.


In the suites.






So cool that the park is right in the middle of residential Wrigleyville.


We had dessert on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Building at sunset.

Mr. and Mrs. McGuire!

One of my best friends got married last weekend here in Atlanta. Miss Andrea Boynton became Mrs. Andrea McGuire and we are all so excited! We went to Charleston for her bachelorette weekend and had a great time at the beach. Here are some pictures from Charleston, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.











Roommates in 2003...


Roommates (still) 2010




Our good friend from college, Courtney (Stewart) Dox doing her thing.... so proud of her! She is such an amazing photographer. You can see more about her at courtneydoxphotography.com.


Roommates!


This was not a very serious group...

Bippity Boppity Boo!

Weekly Bingo, cartoon characters and Fairy Godmothers are all part of my weekly routine, but I forget that when I'm talking to other people. When I tell people that I can't do something on Thursday evenings until 7:30 "because of bingo" or that I am exhausted from spending all day with Curious George or Dora the Explorer, I get some strange looks. Lately, we also seem to have quite the assortment of fairy godmothers. At Children's we have always had a relationship with a local radio station, Q100. Bert's Big Adventure provides a cool way for our kids and families to experience Disney World every year. Bert and his team are starting a program where their volunteers will visit BBA kids when they are in-patient called "Fairy Godmothers/Godfathers". Here is picture from the kickoff event with Bert and his wife Stacey:



We also have THE "Fairy Godmother" who is the real deal. We just celebrated her 89th birthday here. She's here every Tuesday and our kids have come to expect her visit. She makes rounds during the day and visits kids before surgery. She also leads Storytime with our Family Library in the afternoon. Miss Jackie recently won an 11Alive Community Service Award and we were all able to celebrate with her at the awards banquet.

Of course, they filmed her at the hospital and put together a very nice video about her. I know you all will enjoy it!

Hey, June... when did you get here?

So that is exactly how we both feel right now...

Time has completely flown by and it's time for some updates. First of all...drum roll please... we have moved into our first house in the Vinings area of Atlanta,GA! After a bit of work on the kitchen and dining room, we have made it our own and are so excited! Here are a few pictures and there will definitely be more to come!



Here is the kitchen before






Ta Da!


Dining room before


Dining room after!


One week after we moved in, we left for a week-long trip to Destin with with the Opreas, Holmans, Bursons and Carsons. It was a fun week filled with food, games, season finales on TV and chasing after 6 kids under the age of 5! It was loud, busy, relaxing and memorable all at the same time. We can't wait until the next one in 2012! Here are some highlights from the trip.









Oprea kids plus spouses




This picture is priceless...