Pre-Christmas in Chicago

Fall has turned to winter, and I've got three posts planned to cover our busy holiday season!  This first one covers our trip to Chicago in mid December to celebrate with my family.  We got to stay at Claire and Jason's new house; breaking it in and leaving a mark, literally (Ellis' dirty handprint on the bathroom wall...)!  It was a great time!

The piano was a hit, well, with the kids at least...

 We took a trip downtown to see the windows at Macys and the Christmas village.

happy boy!

Cookie decorating for the third year in a row!

There was a lot of this going on with the men

The Wilde Family all came over one evening, complete with a surprise visit from my Grandma!  So nice of Rose and Marie to spend 15 hours in the car so she could be there!

Grandma with all 5 great grandkids!

Ellis checking out 10wk old Max

Best buds!

Only a show could get them to sit for a few minutes

Gift opening

Giggling

Lego making

Gingerbread house decorating

Science kit experimenting

Goofing around

Dog feeding

Traveling

It was such a great trip despite the cold weather; family and fun!