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

Off to Kindergarten!

Well, I guess the time has come for our little man to embark on a new world.  This week he headed off to Geil Elementary. 

As is true with most things Mason tries, he was very excited for it all and didn't skip a beat in going.  

We had to try to keep up with him on the walk to school.

He even got to walk to school with one of his friends who went to daycare with him for years so it made for a great first day.  Grandma Sue came and stayed with us for a few days and helped us get into the swing of getting where we need to be.  It was a great week. 


Mason agreed to be interviewed in hopes of making this post slightly more interesting.

Mason's and his teacher Mrs. Bohnsack

What are your thoughts on Kindergarten?
"It's a great Kindergarten"


What's the best part Kindergarten?
"That we get to play"


What is the best thing to play with?
"The best thing we play with is Legos-I'd have to say"


How's the food?
"It's GREAT! And there's milk"


Are you excited to go back tomorrow?
"Yes"


Anything else you want to share with the people wo read this?
"No"


Those are about the same answers I got all week when I asked about school. He is happy to go every day.  


He is back to his preferred 6 am wake up time and loving it-I'm just happy he doesn't have to be rushed in the mornings.  He has enough time in the morning to hang out and do his own thing-like this:

The boys

So, now we are the proud parents of a Kindergarten boy.  I'm sure this will be a fun adventure!