Happy St. Patty's Day

Bruno, Gui, Kristin and I left Minnesota on Friday afternoon. We were headed to Chicago for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. We stopped off at an exit to eat and we found this giant bull cow, I tried to feed it with Bruno's assistance. Then the boys spotted a Dollar Tree and we stocked up on Pringles and various green accessories. We drove for 7 hours on day 1 of the road trip and stopped in Chicago around 12am. The city skyline was beautiful at night, although I already missed the countryside. We stayed at the Holiday Inn for only $100. I will forever praise the AAA card that gave us that extreme discount. Not only was our room with 2 double beds cheaper than the King-bed room, it came with this amazing view!

From top to bottom: this was our view from left to right.

When we were settled into our room and everyone was showered, we decided to go for a walk to the park. The boys wanted to show us another very large statue. This time they wanted to take us to a huge kidney bean. After exploring the city for the better part of an hour we stopped off at 7eleven and then headed to the park. It was closed. We begged the security guard and even offered him chex mix but he just wasn't havin' it. Bummed and tired we trekked the 20 blocks home, but it was a nice winter walk and I took a few pictures.

The next morning we woke up at 10am, threw on some green and headed out the door. We walked to the river and it was unlike anything I have ever seen. I didn't believe Gui and Bruno when they said the river would be dyed green. I definitely owe those two an apology. We were all playing air trumpets, saxophones, and drums in anticipation for the parade, when Bruno met some of his Brazilian natives in the crowd. We all walked to Subway to eat some $5 foot longs and consequently missed the parade. We did catch a few glimpses on the 10 inch TV though.
I cannot forget to mention the monumental thing that happened that Saturday. Kristin and Bruno convinced me to put potato chips on my Veggie Delite. Ever since I added those crunchy chips to that sandwich I have been hooked. Today I even added chips to a tuna sandwich, and it was really good. I encourage everyone to eat chips on their sandwich today, I had no idea what I was missing. After our trip to Subway and the great kidney bean, we walked all the way to the shore line. There was a bocce ball tournament being held on the frozen beach. Kristin and Gui reenacted their favorite dance and Bruno even got his feet wet, even if it was accidental.

"Look for my balloon"
This plan actually worked, the brazilian hotties were located and we made our way to Subway and the giant bean.


The poster reads: Help! Scientology is after my moneys!! Besides the really adorable cat which originally caught my attention, the banana man was hilarious and Scientologists are so out of their minds.

Cute little Irish babe.

Dance partners, lookin' gooooood.

Goodbye Chicago!

The sunset from inside the van's window on Saturday as we headed to Shamokin, Pennsylvania. It may have been the only extended road trip I have ever taken, but it was certainly the best. I think it will be hard to top this trip and I won't forget it. There was a ridiculous amount of laughter, joking and dancing for one car.
Ps. I need to make a pee.