Southwest Meets Midwest — Mondays with Maria

We were sitting at Giordano’s the second day of my friend’s visit to Chicago and her 8 year old twin looked at Alba and I and asked “how did you guys meet? I want to hear your story!” I was about to dig into my spaghetti with meat sauce (delicious by the way), when his question completely took me by surprise. I LOVED that he was curious and observant enough to even think of asking that question.

Alba and I met in High School quite a few moons ago. We became best friends almost immediately when we fist met and the rest is history. We’ve made a lot of memories in the past three decades that we’ve known each other, but I have to say, sharing our grown up lives together while raising children and adulting through life has definitely been the highlight of our friendship for me. I specifically remember a conversation between Alba and I when we were in High School. Alba said to me “amiga, can you imagine the day we are all grown up and we are discussing things such as what detergent is on sale, what our kids are doing and all those adult life conversations?” Well, here we are… doing all that and a little more and I love it! Ok, enough of that sentimental stuff, let’s move on to the fun stuff! 😁

The Hoelscher’s visited us from the sunny state of Arizona last week and spent four glorious days with us. We packed a lot in and I was amazed at the level of energy and enthusiasm that her kids have, all under the age of 10!!! The boys were so curious about everything, engaged, enthusiastic, well mannered and some of the best young conversationalist I’ve met, truly.

On DAY ONE we gave Miss Daisy and Honey some time to get to know each other outside of our house. My dog expert friend said it would be best for them to meet in neutral territory before they came in the house and she was absolutely right. The dogs sniffed each other, played a little and after some time in the front yard and a short walk around the block, Daisy was ready to show her new friend Honey, an eight month old yorkie, her home. 😉 Before we knew it, they were exchanging meals and treats, or should I say… cleverly stealing from each other’s bowls.

After Daisy and Honey got comfortable with other, we decided to try some paddle boating at a lake near our house and then we ventured out to River Grove to try America’s #1 Hot Dogs, "Gene and Jude’s”. Can’t say you visited Chicago if you don’t have one of their delicious vienna beef hot dogs with fresh homemade perfectly salted french fries on top. The tailgating style of this eatery makes it all that more interesting! #NOketchup

When we came home it was time for baths and hopefully a decent bedtime since we had many plans for the next day. The boys had just gotten out of the shower and then we heard loud fireworks right outside of our house. Our neighbors in the cul de sac right by our house have one of the biggest displays of fireworks every year. OF COURSE, I opened the garage door for everyone to see them and the boys faces were screaming “can we go there???” Well, I love excitement and adventure and I couldn’t resist going there. The moment I said yes, they took off faster than I’ve ever ran in my life haha, I was having a hard time keeping up and at some point I had to take my sandals off so I could catch up and not loose them from my sight. I wish someone could have recorded that… actually, maybe not! Their expressions throughout the entire display of fireworks was beyond priceless. We stayed until they were over and at one point one of the twins looked at me all timidly and said “oops, I didn’t even put shoes on!” This night will definitely be my highlight of their trip. I loved spending that time with them.

DAY TWO greeted us with perfect weather for the zoo. We woke up to homemade pancakes, bacon and fruit for breakfast and as soon as the dishes were washed and put away we left for the Brookfield Zoo. I LOVE that zoo, it has something for everyone. I think the boys favorite exhibit were the giraffes and the dolphin show. They diligently read and followed the map and made sure we covered every corner of the zoo. After many hours at the zoo and some souvenir shopping at the end of our visit later, we headed back home to try some Chicago deep dish pizza. Giordano’s was the pick of the day! So good!!! 🍕

We ended the day watching the Gold Cup final Mexico versus USA on tv. We tried making it to Soldier Field that day to watch it live, but there are only so many hours in the day and we didn’t have the time. I don’t know what was more exciting, watching Mexico hit the winning goal or watching Alba dance and jump up and down from excitement! 😂 Well done Mexico!!!

DAY THREE was a very exciting day because we rode Metra and Alba’s oldest son knows everything about trains. He even told me he did research about Metra trains before coming to Chicago and he knew it was a commuter train and why they are called inbound and outbound. He was fascinated by the engineering of it all. Before we got off the train, Alba’s oldest son, the one interested in trains, kept looking at the conductor in awe. Of course I asked him if he wanted his picture taken with him and he immediately and excitedly said, “Yes!”. I took his picture and as soon as we were done, one of the twins asked if HE could have his picture taken, well of course… then it was turn for picture number three. All three boys had their turn for a picture with the Metra conductor, which by the way, couldn’t have been nicer!!! The moment I asked him if it were ok to take their picture with him, he happily agreed, put his hat on and smiled for the camera. After all pictures were taken, he engaged in conversation with them asking them all kinds of questions and making the train ride even more fun. Thanks Mr. Conductor, you were awesome!

The ride to Union Station was filled with excitement and wonder. When we arrived at Union Station we exited off of Adams Street and took the Shoreline water taxi to Navy Pier where we did some exploring, walking around and then had lunch at Bubba Gump! I tried seafood gumbo for the first time and it was delicious! I’m already planning a trip to the city to have it again, yum!

At lunch we surprised my friend Alba with a belated birthday celebration Bubba Gump style. It’s never too late to celebrate a birthday!!! 🎈

At Navy Pier, the Hoelscher’s went on the Ferris Wheel while I relaxed on a bench under a tree and after the ride the boys ran off to get in line to ride the wave swinger. After Navy Pier we took another water taxi to Buckingham Fountain which was already getting ready for the Taste of Chicago and from there we walked a mile to Chicago’s Skydeck. I am not a big fan of heights so I decided to wait at a starbucks nearby with a venti hibiscus refresher, ahhhh!

We took Metra back home after their skydeck visit and at home we had a buffet style dinner that included finger licking chicken fingers from the Village Tavern! They were a big success and wish I would’ve ordered an individual box for everyone, delicious! We went to bed with Cinderella that night, right at the stroke of midnight. It was a fun evening of visiting, talking about random things and eating good food.

On DAY FOUR of their visit we chatted over breakfast with homemade potato pancakes (I could eat that every day!), poached eggs and fruit. It tasted like a European breakfast, delicious. After breakfast it was time for them to pack and head back to Ohio to visit Alba’s in laws. I have never been a fan of goodbyes, no matter what they are always hard. As soon as they pulled out of the driveway, tears started rolling down my cheeks, good thing I had Bella holding my hand and offering emotional support, phew! ❤