Whooooo! I'm out of the cast! I'm still supposed to take it slow and easy for a while, but the cast is history. Supposedly. My foot and leg are doing much better, no longer nearly so weak, but I tried to run at work last week (hurry from point a to point b) and my entire leg nearly gave out. I'm not that strong yet.

We're currently on a sort of anniversary trip to Chicago. Because we bought a brick for the World Series plaza (or whatever it's actually called) we got a great price on game tickets with free parking, free food, and best of all, a parade around the field. The parade was weather-permitting and of course it was raining, but we were lucky and got to do it anyway. It was probably one of the highlights of Gene's life, getting to be out on the field and having his picture snapped in front of the bullpen, in front of the dugout, in front of home plate, making "the catch," touching the grass, etc. It was really cool and really fun. The rain mostly let up and it was just misting throughout most of the game (otherwise it was actually raining.) Our seats were under cover so we didn't mind. The White Sox lost to the Angels, but made a really good comeback so it was an exciting game. We all had a great time.

Before the game, we went to Millenium Park and shopping on Michigan Avenue. Hahaha, well "shopping" for our family anyway. We went to the Lego store, the Hershey store and the Disney store. The least magnificent shoppers on the Magnificent Mile... We found some great Lego deals and got a bucket of assorted Hershey's miniatures for Logan (well, for all of us, but nobody loves it like Logan.) The kids played for a looong time in that fountain with the big faces that spit water. It was a lot of fun and I learned my leg will hold up for a long walk as long as I don't try to run.

Following the game, we had no definite plans. Gene was worried about traffic because the last game he and the kids went to, they were stuck in the parking lot for over an hour. That was a Saturday night in the summer. It was also a fireworks night. This was a rainy Thursday during the school year and we pretty much cruised right out of the parking lot and onto the highway. We had discussed surprising the kids with a night at KeyLime Cove waterpark resort, but had only considered it for the following night because duh, the baseball game finished late! However, the traffic was so minimal, we drove out to Gurnee in no time (and honestly didn't pass any exits with marked hotels.) I figured we might as well just go. I'd see if I could get a deal due to the late hour. The deal wasn't as good as I had hoped, but I'm sooo glad we stayed the extra night! We all got to sleep in and then go to the waterpark for a couple hours before lunch. We practically had the place to ourselves! There were no lines for slides, the lazy river was empty, we were the only people in the basketball pool. Gene and I even spent some time in the adults only hot tub and had our own personal lifeguard.

We left and went to Gurnee Mills Mall for lunch and to look around. The kids love playing on the boats and in the tents at Bass Pro Shops. Kaylin wanted some more school uniform skirts identical to the ones I bought her at this mall last year. I found 3 in her size! Otherwise, we're just not big shoppers so we came back to the hotel and played in the arcade, played in the room, went to dinner and then the kids went back to the waterpark for another two hours. Last night it was PACKED so Gene and I opted out. We took turns watching the kids while the other spent time in the room.

Today we're planning to drive up to Racine Zoo to visit my former zebra buddies. I've been meaning to visit them for a year and a half, but the plans always fall through. Today we're going to do it! I am a little worried about getting lost. I copied the MapQuest instructions on how to get there and then get home. The directions home filled an entire page before we even get on an interstate highway. Confusing! I'm sure the kids will swim a while before we go and the drive home is 4 hours in good traffic. I'm kicking myself for not taking Sunday off! Oh well.

Happy 17th anniversary, Gene!