Happy 4th of July . . . and some pictures!

Wishing everyone a fun and relaxing (and safe!) 4th of July! Bill and I have had a busy day. We woke up early (6am -- it was 8am Chicago and our bodies' time!) and after lounging around for awhile, we went out to breakfast at Kalico Kitchen. Then we came back home and I made a grocery list and Bill started some laundry. Then we ran a bunch of errands.

First of all, we went to Ashley Furniture and purchased a drop-leaf table and four chairs that we'd had our eye on before we had to suddenly leave for Chicago. When we got home from our trip, in the mail was the check for the refund of our deposit on our old place. One of the things we desperately needed was this table, because the old one just doesn't fit in the space we have. We used some of the money to reimburse ourselves for some unexpected expenses we had while we were in Chicago, and we used some of it to purchase this table. (Big thanks to Bill's dad, who paid for our plane tix and rental car while we were in Chicago!!)

The table be here in a couple of weeks. That will be nice. We will put our current, overly large table in storage, and the small table will allow us a lot more room in our dining area. We currently have to "scoot" around the table to get to the washer and dryer. I'll post a before and after pic when it comes in and you can see the difference.

Here is a pic of the table and chairs (the pic shows two chairs, but it comes with four) from the Ashley Furniture website. Fortunately, it isn't very expensive:


Next we went to Wal-Mart and got several items. Then we decided to go home and drop off the things we'd purchased at Wal-Mart, since we'd filled our trunk! Then we went to Safeway and purchased a bunch of items that were on special, then back home to pick up Scott and take him to work. Then on the way home from taking Scott to work, we did the bulk of our grocery shopping at WinCo. Whew! We were hot and tired when we got home -- thank goodness for air conditioned cars (and homes)!

Since then, we put groceries away, did some laundry, and then just relaxed. I finally got the pics off our camera from our Chicago trip, and I'll post them here. Then tomorrow it's back to work for two days, then the weekend! Yay! We hope to get a lot of things done around our place this weekend, like getting the last of the stuff put away and then our pictures and things for the walls put up. Then it will really feel like home!

We felt really lucky weather-wise while we were in Chicago. The first couple of days we were there, it was very hot and humid -- felt like we were breathing through a wet blanket. However, after that it cooled down, had a couple of days with great thunder-and-lightening storms (nothing like a good midwestern thunderstorm -- as long as there are no tornados!) and after the storms, the humidity dispersed and for the rest of our visit, the weather was great. Low to mid-80s and relatively little humidity. Thank goodness for small favors. Especially for the day we were in Chicago. We were very glad that the weather was cooperative.

Anyway, here are the pics:

On the right is Bill's brother-in-law Paul (married to sister Nancy) and a neighbor (on the left) goofing around after too many beers! This is a good one!!


Bill and his sister Nancy looking through pictures at Jennie's house. Unfortunately, because of my migraine on the day of the funeral, I didn't get family photos of everyone. I was really disappointed about that.


Bill and Karen on the train into Chicago


Interesting note: On the way back to the hotel at O'Hare after our day in Chicago, the train stopped at the last stop right before the airport (the station is underneath the airport) and did a security check. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect each of the train cars before it was allowed to proceed to the airport. I hadn't thought of it before, but that makes good sense. What an important part of their security at the airport!

We spent a fun afternoon at the Navy Pier. Lots of walking and looking, but still lots of fun.

Karen at the Navy Pier:


Bill at the Navy Pier:


The inside of the main building on the Navy Pier:


The outside of the Navy Pier:


The Chicago Skyline from the Navy Pier:










The end of the Navy Pier


Bill and Karen (thanks to a nice bystander!). Note the lighthouse in the background!