Chicago!

So, back during the craziness that was November, we made the trip to Chicago for a family wedding.

The flight to Chicago...the cousins got to sit together

It was so much fun to see the extended Hanson crew.  We stayed at the Dana Hotel and Spa.  It was such a different place than we had ever stayed and we enjoyed the full walls of windows.  The boys enjoyed looking down on the world below.

No, Sam's not trying to mug you here, this is the only shot I had showing the window of the hotel.

We got together on the night before the wedding with the whole wedding party at Gino's pizza...YUM!!

Brunch the morning of the wedding was at the Spiaggia Restaurant.  It was on Michigan Avenue overlooking Lake Michigan. I heard that a certain current president even takes his wife here to eat on special occasions.  From what we experience he has great taste.  The food was wonderful!

Mmm....pastries!

 Next stop: The John Hancock Building

Listening to Ross (David Schwimmer) narrate the city

 Wedding time!

Token family picture 

Yup, they're Hansons. Already bellied up to the bar!

I didn't get a whole family picture, but we had the whole group there. My grandpa's brother and his wife and his brother-in-law and his wife along with all their children still with us and grandchildren made it to the wedding.  It is so much fun to get together with everyone from across the country.  If only we were able to do it more often!!

My "Hanson" men: my brother Nick, his son Max, Sam, Bryan,  my uncle Mike, Mason, John, Joe, Dad, Bradley, and Grandpa Max.  What a great crew!

Two beautiful ladies: my aunt Shelley and mom

Cheese!!!

Cousins 

Dancing up a storm

make-shift slide at the reception

 The day after the wedding, we took some time and walked around Chicago.

Silly faces

Sam with Grandma and Grandpa

 Both the bride and groom are chefs in Chicago.  The bride works at the Purple Pig and the groom at Graham Elliot.  We got to see the Purple Pig on our walk around town:

The last day of our trip was also my brother's birthday, so we celebrated in style with red velvet cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and pizza from Giordanos.  It was a great ending to a great weekend

Make a wish! 

The picture doesn't do it justice...it was seriously 2 inches deep with cheese.  CRAZY!

Sam with Great-Grandma Lorraine

Quick Trip to NOLA

On our way!

In our effort to get to all 50 states, we decided to take a quick trip to New Orleans to knock another state off the list. 

Our first stop was for some food.  We had po-boys at Johnny's.  YUM!! Sorry, no pictures of the delicious-ness that was.  The sandwiches were billed as 8-inch sandwiches, but I'm pretty sure each one was at least 10-12 inches long with LOADS of meat.  

Then we went on to Jackson Square.

Sad faces...Mason was hoping for a different kind of park.

Whew!  Some plants to play on

Carriage ride around the French Quarter

The French Quarter

We stopped for a little snack at Cafe du Monde. Of course, per everyone's recommendations, we tried the benginets.  They lived up to the hype.

SO MUCH POWDERED SUGAR!!!

On our second day, we ventured out to the Louisiana Children's Museum.  It.was.awesome!!! We had so much fun there.

Exploring on the way there

Light table

Experimenting with pulleys

Slides in the toddler area

Who has more hot air?

Big bubble!!

Huge bubble!!!!!

Climbing wall

A Tale of Two Deanies...both great in their own right.

One that had delicious home-style cooking and Bryan's favorite meal of the trip: the Fried Catfish

The other that had the largest 1/2 portion of seafood I have EVER seen!!

Just a little too cold for the rooftop pool.

Mason loved watching the street performers. 

Here he is dancing to the music

And here he is posing with the tin man

Burbon Street

Normally, I have a no Nebraska clothes rule on vacation, but we had to support them on game day! 

After we flew back, we decided to take an extra night and stay in Denver.  The boys got to play in the pool and that made everyone happy! 

If you ask Mason, this was the most fun we had the whole time

Today I'm thankful for:

Extended maternity leave

Sam was born in February, and I have been fortunate enough to spend most of the last 6 months hanging out with him and Mason during my combined maternity leave and summer break from school.  I will return to work full time (or at least my version of full time) this week.  I wanted to take  some time and reflect on the past 6 months.  It has been a great experience!  Here are some of the highlights:

Me and my boys

Proud papa

Took a few road trips.

Played in the snow 

First big trip as a family of four to Phoenix, AZ

Took Mason to his first concert: Eric Church and Jason Aldean at Country Thunder in Florence, AZ

Saw the Grand Canyon for the first time

Had lazy days at home

Celebrated graduation...

...baptism...

...and birthdays.

Got myself a mom car.

Watched some t-ball

Got to spend some time in the mountains with these guys

Enjoyed outside

Survived surgery

Cooled off at the pool

It has been so much fun making memories with the awesome people in my life.  Now it is time to return to work.  While it will be hard to leave the boys, I am ready to get back to one of my other passions in life, my job working with such awesome people here in the panhandle and throughout the state.  I am happy that I have been able to spend the time at home. I am a lucky person!!