My Nana:

First and foremost, let me just say that my Nana is doing rather well. There was a bit of a clusterfuck when it came to getting her checked out of the hospital, but she's back at her place in the Sterling House. She was checked in early Friday morning, had her surgery on Friday, and was able to leave on Satutday. She might be 96, but she's tough. The toe that was removed was the one next to the big toe, she it's not one she needs for walking. Besides, she's usually in a wheelchair or has a walker and her arthritis messes with her toes anyway, so it's not something that she's really going to notice.

Friday:

Now, on to my weekend. Friday Rob was able to get out of work slightly early and got home around 5pm. Gabriel had napped that afternoon, so I was able to get a lot of the packing done. When Rob got home we finished up packing and were able to get out of the house around 6pm.

The drive down there was on and off traffic. The worst part was from the Ohio exit in downtown Chicago all the way to the hotel. Friday night traffic in Chicago always sucks, but then again both Rob and I have dealt with LA traffic so it wasn't too bad.

We got to the hotel around 8:30pm and check in was a breeze. The check in woman gave Gabriel a teddy bear and we headed up to our room. My Dad put us up at the Ritz Carlton and all I have to say is... wow. The room was gorgeous and had a breathtaking view of the city. There was a capri sun, a cookie, and a coloring book with crayons waiting in the room for Gabriel. They also had a rollaway twin bed set up for him, but true to his nature, Gabriel would only sleep in bed with us.

We spent the night in the hotel room and ordered up room service for dinner. Because he slept in the car on the way to the hotel, Gabriel didn't fall asleep for the night until after 1am!

Saturday:

We didn't have plans to meet up with Dad and Cheryl until around noonish, so we were able to sleep in until around 10am. This was a very good thing because we didn't get to sleep until late Friday night. We got ready and Dad and Cheryl came by our room around 12:30pm.

They were both very happy to see Gabriel again and said he had grown up a lot since they last saw him (October of 2007 at my grandmother Eleanor's funeral). I had taught Gabriel to say "grandpa" and "Cheryl" and I think he hooked them both when he was able to say that. I showed them that Gabriel is starting to read and they couldn't believe he could read words I wrote at this age. I told my Dad that while I'm job hunting, I wanted to be doing good by Gabriel and so I work hard with him. He said it's obvious that it's paying off. I gave my Dad the Frank Sinatra mug shot (he was young and arrested for trying to seduce a married woman) poster and he seemed to like it. We then headed out of the hotel and across the street to the Hancock building (which is also where they live).

They took is to a cute area with a holiday train set up. Gabriel loved it and at one point tried to climb into it! Also, at one point, Rob had to fish his piggy out of it. Gabriel also noticed the giant Sesame Street (especially cookie monster) stuffies in a nearby store.

When we headed outside, Gabriel spent some time trying to chase the pigeons. It was really adorable. We headed a few blocks to a nearby restaurant for lunch, but only ended up getting some pot stickers as an appetizer. The service was painfully slow and Gabriel was well behaved for the first hour we were there, but then began to get ancy. So, we decided to head out.

Dad and Cheryl asked what Gabriel liked and when I mentioned that he had an obsession with chocolate kisses, they knew where to take him. There's a large Hershey's store in their area. We walked over there and Gabriel was in awe. Dad ended up getting him a bag of Hershey's kisses, a giant hollow kiss filled with more kisses, a stuffed factory worker teddy bear, and a stuffed chocolate kiss. Gabriel loved all of the gifts and ate a bunch of the chocolate the minute we left the store.

Dad had the idea of Rob, Gabriel, and I taking a horse drawn carriage ride while he and Cheryl stayed with the stroller, but we decided to pass. Not only did I want to spend as much time with them as possible on this visit, but I wasn't sure if Gabriel would get ancy and try to get out of the carriage. When he's older, it's something we'll try. Oh, he did like looking at the horses though and kept telling them that he had chocolate.

From there we walked back to the hotel and spent some time hanging out in the "Greenhouse". It's the cocktail lounge. Gabriel was good and there was a fountain and a koi pond in the area so whenever he got fussy, he was taken over there for a little bit. We spent awhile there and talked and then we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner while Dad and Cheryl headed back to their place to get ready as well.

We let Gabriel take a quick nap and then got ready for dinner. It was raining out, so we made sure to bring some umbrellas with us. Dad met us in the lobby of the Hancock and showed us around. They have a grocery store in their building for residents only! Too cool. He took us up to his apartment after showing us around the building and wow... it's amazing. It's a one bedroom, but it's gorgeous! However, it's not child proof so I understand why we're in a hotel. (The hotel is super child friendly.) We then went to dinner and Cheryl borrowed Gabriel's small penguin umbrella because it was pouring out.

The restaurant was nice and they loved the outfit that I picked out for Gabriel (dress pants, dress shoes, a white button up shirt, and an argyle sweater vest). Gabriel was amazingly well behaved during dinner, though he only ate about two spoons of soup. I had the peppercorn filet and it was fantastic. They also had amazing stuffed peppers as an appetizer.

After dinner we headed back to the coctail lounge in the hotel and relaxed. I had a cherry brandy. Yum. Gabriel was pretty well behaved and ran around a bit to play with the fountain and see the fish. As the night wore on, Rob took Gabriel back to the room for his bath when he got fussy and I spent some more time with Dad and Cheryl.

Dad and I talked about some things and had a very heartfelt and emotional talk. It's of a personal nature, so I won't go into detail about it here, but suffice to say that I want to try and have a closer relationship with me. We'll see what happens with that. I hope I see him again soon and not have to wait over a year to see him again.

Eventually, Dad and Cheryl headed home and I went back up to the hotel room. We ordered up snacks and Gabriel loved that room service brought him popcorn and a cookie. We spent the rest of the night in the room and went to sleep a bit after midnight when Gabriel fell asleep.

Sunday:

We got up around 8am, ordered in breakfast, showered, packed, etc. Around 11:30am we were ready to go. Checkout was fast and we loaded up the car and headed off. We had a difficult time at first because even though Rob's navigation system got the streets in the area right, it kept placing us wrong. Eventually we were able to find the freeway and head home.

We stopped at White Castle on the way home for lunch. The drive was quick and uneventful. We got home, dropped off our stuff, and headed right back out on the errands we needed to get done.

We headed to The Fresh Market, Babies R Us, USA Baby (which was closed), the drug store, and the grocery store. We grabed a happy meal for Gabriel and came back home.

Last night we cooked in for dinner and watched the finale of Survivor. Yay! Bob won! I also really liked Sugar but couldn't stand Susie.

Today, things are back to normal. This weekend should be much less hectic. We'll be at home and the only thing we have planned (other than the usual errands) is my Saturday morning hair appointment.

----------