A weekend in the "Second City"

First, a photo from Chicago in November...Over the weekend, we went to Chicago for what will be the last visit before they become "Three Austins" instead of Two. My how things change in just 8 months... As you can see in the photo above, things were quite different in November. The Austins had an office instead of a nursery, Manda wore jeans without elastic, and Josephine was just an adorable (albeit drooling) little meatball.

Fast forward to July... Josie did great on the car trip to Chi-town (thanks to trusty friend Elizabeth Mitchell & our White Noise CD), but when we arrived (about 10pm) she was ready to party! Here she is "winding down" with Aunt Manda in the chair from heaven (more on that later) - Here she is saying "Hey Auntie-M, Hop-on-Pop is the craziest story I've ever heard!"
And here she is finally giving in to the gentle rocking motion of the chair from heaven (which we will be purchasing a replica of in the very near future) -
After a bit of a crazy night, the three of us slept in, then we had a delicious homecooked breakfast (Thanks Michael) and Josie spent the better part of the day cruising around Chez Austin in her walker, munching happily on whatever we put in the tray. Her grandma would be very proud to know that the only time she really stopped was when a football highlights reel set to "The Nutcracker" played on the flatscreen. She was absolutely mesmerized!

After getting ourselves in gear, we all headed out in the Murano for some fun baby shopping at some cute boutiques (in I think Bucktown or maybe Wicker Park) and then hung out in this great park where Josie enjoyed the swings and watching the other kids:

And loved walking around like a big girl:
The next day was more of the same - good times hanging out day-dreaming about Baby Austin & chatting about how quickly Josie has grown. Here is Josie in her favorite naptime pose with one of Baby A's new toys:

And here she is at Silver Cloud (where we also got to catch up with Phil & Palak) occupying herself with the TV over Manda's shoulder instead of posing for the camera.
After another busy day capped off with some delicious gelato (and you'll just have to trust me that Josie made the funniest face she has ever made in her life when she tasted it), it was time to head home. Here is Josie passed out in her carseat. It's a little blurry because I took it in the mirror. Consider this the evidence that a good time was had by all:
Thanks Manda & Michael for being such great hosts! We can't wait to spend lots more family time together & can't wait to watch you push Baby Austin on the swing one day soon....

(Note: Check out www.threeaustins.blogspot.com for the post Manda will have up soon with some more photos of the weekend.)