Chicago!

My parents left yesterday after spending over a week with us.

One of the things that happened while they were here, was that Aleks and my dad installed a new toilet.

While they were at Lowe's I asked them to look for a toilet lid that I had seen on Pinterest.

It has a kid-sized seat that folds down on top of the regular toilet seat.

We got two and I think it's the best $80 bucks we've spent in a long time. No more disgusting potty seat inserts!

Once again, Pinterest for the win!

Aleks and I decided to take advantage of my parents and booked a trip to Chicago.

The flight from Wichita to Chicago was on the tiniest plane.

It was about 2 inches too short for Aleks.

As the plane left the runway, it took a good amount self-talk to push aside the guilt of both of us leaving the girls for the first time.

It was rainy and cold when we landed. After checking in to our hotel, we grabbed a bite to eat, then promptly returned to our hotel room, cranked up the heat, and took a nap.

Best. Day. Ever.

We never get to nap when we want, it was such a luxury!

We stayed at the Allegro, which had funky touches throughout the room.

I loved the double door into the bathroom, and the light fixture in the middle of the room is to die for.

That night we headed out to dinner at Frontera, one of the restaurants of Aleks' favorite chef, Rick Bayless.

We had tried to get reservations at Topolobampo (the upscale restaurant), but at 2 months ahead they were already booked.

Frontera doesn't take reservations, but they open at 5. When we got there at 5:15, we were told that the wait would be 1 1/2-2 hours.

A long wait didn't dampen our excitement.

Frankly, after getting a nap in the middle of the day, there wasn't much that we couldn't handle.

So we got seated in an hour and as we were sitting down, I said to Aleks "Oh! There's Rick Bayless' wife talking to the people at the table next to us."

(By the way, she looks exactly like she does on "One Plate at a Time.")

After placing our orders I noticed Rick Bayless in the kitchen. I excitedly told Aleks and pulled out my phone, trying to zoom in to get a picture. As I fumbled with the zoom feature, Rick starts walking toward us and stops at the table next to us.

Aleks and I nearly had a heart attack.

I've always thought I'd be cool if I met a celebrity. I don't get easily starstruck, but both Aleks and I had racing hearts.

I was able to covertly capture this picture with my phone.

I don't know who those people next to use were, but through Aleks' eavesdropping, we were able to figure out they are somehow involved in theater.

Dinner was delicious.

I ate way too much and looked like I was 5 months pregnant the next morning.

However, we walked a lot.

Which was great, because we ate a lot.

We did a lot of touristy things.

Like the bean

and Navy Pier

(Aeks hates heights)

and the Chicago Art Institute.

(I discovered I have a 30 minute museum tolerance)

Some good friends of ours live in Evanstan and had us over for dinner Sunday night.

This is Rex and Enzo.

We were living in Pullman (the first time) when Rex was born.

Now he's 7 and gave us a violin recital, complete with a hand written program and intermission.

Enzo is 5 and showed me his legos and knock-knock joke skills.

Oh, and we had a nice time with Nick and Alice too.

Chicago is a beautiful city. It rained the first two days we were there, but Monday was bright and crisp and lovely.

It was hard to leave the girls and we missed them a lot.

But it was great to have uninterrupted time together.

It feels like life gets so busy these days that it's easy to forget who you're married to.

These breaks are so good for Aleks and I, it gives us time to reconnect and dream and plan.

When we got back, the girls were certainly glad to see us, but they had a wonderful time with Grandma and Papa.

Grandma and Papa said they had a nice time too.