Last weekend was absolutely amazing. Rob, Gabriel, and I headed down to Chicago to visit my Dad and his wife Cheryl. The reason I didn't want to post about this on Friday is because I didn't feel fully comfortable letting the entire world know that I would be away from home.

So, here's the recap to the best weekend ever (or at least it's in the top ten).

Friday:

Early in the day, Friday was a bit rough going. Rob had a half day at work and when he came home he told me that he had chipped a tooth. Then, Gabriel fell off of one of the dining room chairs. Not a good start, but eventually things fell into place.

We packed and got ready to leave and were able to finally head out the door around 3:30pm. In the best of traffic, it's about a 2 hour drive from our place to Chicago. As soon as we hit the area around Chicago, the roads were a mess - as bad as any Los Angeles freeway. Chicago traffic on a Friday night can rival Los Angeles traffic any day. So, it took us three and a half hours to get there.

When we got there we gave the car to the valet, checked in (Gabriel got a kung fu panda action figure from the toy wagon, which of course he lost by the end of the weekend), and went up to our room. As soon as the bellhop brought our luggage up, I changed into comfy clothes since we were spending the night in the room.

We ordered up room service for dinner, watched TV, and later on when Gabriel had falled asleep ordered up some glasses of wine. Rob got a glass of Alexander Valley cabernet and I got a glass of Jordan chardonnay. Yum. I don't drink much and the wine went right to my head. The exhaustion of the day combined with the wine knocked us both out.

Gabriel slept in the twin bed that was set up for him and not in our bed. Woot!

Saturday:

Gabriel wanted to wake up at 6am. We tried to convince him it was still night because of the blackout curtains in the room, but he was smart enough to move the curtains, see the sunlight, and tell us it was day. So, we told him on the weekends we want to sleep until the clock says 9-something. He climbed back into bed and let us sleep until 9:30. So nice.

We ordered up breakfast to the room, showered, and got ready for the day. We had plans to meet my Dad and Cheryl down in the lobby by the fountain around 12:45pm. My Dad met us there, but Cheryl wasn't with him - she was still at the salon and would be meeting up with us later. So, we decided to head out and take Gabriel to the Disney Store.

Right now I'm going to interject something - the only bad to this weekend - I didn't have sunblock with me (and my chest and other areas are burned) and walking all day in the city in new boots left my feet covered in blisters. But, even this didn't dampen the awesomeness of the weekend.

So, we walked over to the Disney Store where my Dad ended up getting Gabriel a small stuffed Mickey Mouse (that's allergy and asthma safe), a small stuffed green jester bunny from Bunny Town, a small stuffed Wall-E, and a small stuffed Eve from Wall-E. We got one of the reusable bags to put them all in and Gabriel loves his new stuffies.

Cheryl had gotten out of her hair appointment, so we waited outside for her and then decided to head to lunch. Lots of options were discussed, but we decided on the Cafe at our hotel (we stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Watertower Place, the friggin' Ritz, *drool*) since they were kid friendly. We knew they had high chairs and a kids menu. So, we walked back there.

Gabriel ordered chicken nuggets, but didn't eat them. Instead, all he wanted were three large dinner rolls. Both Dad and Cheryl were surprised at how much this kid carb loads. But, since he needs to gain weight, he can eat whatever the hell he wants to.

Lunch went well and Gabriel was very well behaved. After lunch we headed back out and went to the Hershey's store. Once again, Dad bought our stuff. He's amazing. We got a bag of chocolate kisses for all of us, a Reeses soft bat and baseball for Gabriel, and I got a set of chocolate scented body wash, lotion, bath salt, and body scrub.

From there we took Gabriel to a playground that was across the street from the hotel. He had a great time and Dad and Cheryl marveled at how athletic Gabriel is. While we were there, Cheryl headed back home to watch the Kentucky Derby. Eventually Dad headed back as well and Rob and I went back to our hotel room to freshen up for dinner. Gabriel got a bath then since he was dirty and stinky from playing outside for awhile.

We also got to watch the Derby in our room which was pretty cool since the winner was such an upset. We chilled out and eventually got dressed and ready for dinner. We were all dressed very nicely since we were going to a super fancy and private restaurant for dinner. My Dad's a member of the Carlton Club and there's a restaurant there that's just for members.

When we got there, we sat in the lounge for awhile and the staff didn't seem to mind Gabriel running around since hardly anyone was there.

Cheryl brought a gift bag with her and told Gabriel to give it to me. When I saw what was inside, I was shocked beyond belief.

Last time we visited Cheryl and I talked fashion and designers and I mentioned that if I ever won the lottery my first two "me" purchases would be a Rolex watch and a Louis Vuitton purse.

Well, in the bag was a Louis Vuitton purse. Not just any purse, the exact one I would want if I were given a choice of ANY LV purse out there. It's the perfect size, the style I like the best (Speedy), and even the special edition one I once drooled over (the limited edition cherry monogram one). If I were told I could get any LV bag out there, that's the one I would have picked out. I was shocked.

She said she had gotten it awhile back and never uses it. So, since she knew I've always wanted an LV bag, she wanted to give it to me. Needless to say, many thanks were given and I was in complete shock.

Dinner went well and the restaurant never ended up very full. There were only a few other diners in there, so it was fine when Gabriel occasionally got loud. All in all, he was very well behaved. The food was divine. Caeser salad, french onion soup, filet au poive, and chocolate souffle. Nom.

After dinner we headed back up to the room. I spent a good long time staring in awe at the purse. We were going to order up a bottle of champagne, but were so full that it just didn't sound good. So, instead, I ordered some jasmine tea and Rob ordered some hot chocolate. Gabriel had passed out at the dinner table and only woke up for a minute to be changed into his pyjamas, so we didn't end up getting him anything.

He slept in his bed for most of the night, only crawling into our bed around 5am (when he also asked to pee in the potty and have his teeth brushed).

Sunday:

Sunday morning Gabriel slept in until 8:30. Once again, nice. When he got up he said "poop", so Rob was going to change his diaper... but there was no poop in it. He then led Rob into the bathroom... and pooped on the potty!!! Yay! His first poopy in the potty - and in a hotel toilet no less.

We got showered and ready and the night before had requested a late check out so we could have lunch with Dad and Cheryl. The hotel has an amazing buffet brunch on Sundays and we met up with my Dad for it at 11:15am. Cheryl wasn't interested in the brunch, so she wasn't there. However, when Gabriel stated to get fussy, she came over to nab him and took him to the park to play while Dad, Rob, and I were able to stuff our faces with all sorts of goodies.

When we were done with brunch, she came back with Gabriel and the two of them were covered in sand. Gabriel had wanted to play in the sandbox and had made a birthday cake out of sand. She said she even had sand in her pockets. Dad and Cheryl had things to do and Rob and I needed to hit the road, so we said our goodbyes, hugged, and headed back up to the room to get ready to leave.

We checked out and were on the road around 1:30pm. This time, the drive was fast and easy and we got back to our place at 3:30. When we pulled up to our garage, Gabriel had a fit. He kept asking to go back to Chicago and wanted to see Grandpa Barry and Cheryl. He did not like coming back home.

We dropped off the luggage, unpacked, and then headed out once more. We made a quick stop at Carbou for some coffee and then did our grocery store shopping at Pick N Save. We then came home and were in for the night.

Last night we cooked tacos for dinner at watched The Amazing Race and The Celebrity Apprentice.

Today (Monday):

Today it's back to the same ol', same ol'. Rob is at work, I'm with Gabriel, Gabriel is a spaz, and I'm trying to get four loads of laundry done. I wish it was still the weekend.

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Borefest - ISTJ

13% Extraversion, 47% Intuition, 67% Thinking, 80% Judging

One word. Boring. Sums you up to a tee. You're responsible, trustworthy, serious and down to earth. Boring. Boring. Boring. You play by the rules. You follow tradition. You encourage structure.
You insist that EVERYBODY do EVERYTHING by the book. Seriously, is there even an ounce of imagination in that little brain of yours? I mean, what's the point of imagination, right? It has no practical value...
As far as you're concerned, abstract theories can go screw themselves. You just want the facts, all the facts and nothing but the facts.
Oh. And you're a perfectionist. About everything. You know that the previous sentence was gramattically incorrect and that "gramattically" was spelt wrong. Your financial records are correct to 25 decimal places and your bedroom is in pristine condition. In fact, you even don't sleep on your bed anymore for fear that you might crease the sheets.
Thankfully, you don't have anyone else to share the bed with, because you're uncomfortable expressing affection and emotion to others. Too bad.

The Brutally Honest Personality Test