Friends and Family

Thursday, March 28

My college roommate was also in Central Illinois visiting her parents, so she dropped by the house with her kids on her way back up to Chicago. Has it really been more than 20 years since our days together at the U of I?!

The kiddos!

Friday, March 29

My mom made the trip back up to Chicago with us, so that she could drive back down later with my dad and niece from my brother's place. We took a little detour to Lockport to stop by the historic Gaylord Building for an Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor passport cancellation.

Look who's taller than PoPo

We hung out with my dad, brother, and niece for the rest of the afternoon before heading to Portillo's for dinner! Mmmmmmm, Italian beef sandwiches and chocolate cake for dessert!

The grands!



Saturday, March 30

And after being in Illinois for a week, we *finally* got our Lou Malnati's pizza! My brother-in-law invited his mom's side of the family out for lunch to celebrate Easter. So nice to see everyone, especially the newest member of the family!

After lunch, I succumbed to a pizza coma and took a long nap, while the boys and their cousin D went to see "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" with R and Uncle K. They were unanimous in their reviews -- just a so-so movie.

Sunday, March 31

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! At our old church, the men traditionally prepare a huge spread for breakfast before service on Easter Sunday: pancakes, sausage, bacon, corned beef hash, miso soup, fried rice (hey, what else would you expect from a Japanese-American church?!), and made-to-order omelets! Nice to have two professionally trained chefs in the congregation!

After church we went out to lunch with our family and some friends to our favorite gyros place in Skokie. Then it was back to Uncle K's place to pack our luggage for our uber-early flight the next morning. But before we could go check-in at the Hilton O'Hare, we still had to go visit a "friend" of K's first!  More on that in the next post...