Granddaughters' Visit - Week 1

The granddaughters have been with us now for a week, and so far they haven't done much during the week, but we did have a full and busy weekend. Saturday, they visited their great-grandma (my mother) who they haven't seen since 2000, which was the last time they were up here. Saturday evening I got them set up with some beads and jewerly supplies and they made some bracelets and necklaces and earrings.

Sunday was the adventure day. We started out by having breakfast at home, then set out to introduce them to Chicago and the lakefront. We drove up I290 which brings you into the city by driving under the post office (we told them we drove THRU the post office LOL).
The skyline is very impressive that way. We first drove to Lake Shore Drive so they could see the lake and the marinas with all the sail boats.

Then we took them to Wrigley Field, took pictures in front of the big "C" at the entrance, and also with the statue of Ernie Banks. We then took the to lunch at a diner that we know of on North Clark, Deluxe Diner, and visited with the people we know there and introduce the girls. They enjoyed watching all the people go buy on the sidewalk and were absolutely amazed by the "elbow" busses that stopped in front about every 10 minutes. I think they counted about 9 or 10 while we were there.

From there we scooted over to Sheridan Rd and showed them Northwestern University campus.

We continued driving down Sheridan Rd, thru the north shore communities, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Lake Forest, til we reached Zion. We took them to the Illinois Beach State Park and spent some time there walking along the beach, taking pictures and just enjoying the nice weather. There was a slight breeze off the lake but nothing too cold. We took several pictures, mostly the girls with their shoes off and rolled up pant legs, standing at the water's edge with Grandpa. They thought he would throw them in but I think he would have been the one who was at risk for that happening to him. The girls tried, but he held his ground, plus he outweighs them by quite a bit. The water was cold but they still enjoyed being in it. First time for them to see Lake Michigan and Chicago.

We found our way to Wisconsin, to the Jelly Belly Factory, but it was closed before we got there, so all we could do was take their picture next to one of the Jelly Belly VW's that are outside the entrance. We also took their picture under the "Welcome To Wisconsin" sign on the side of the road.

We found an icecream stand, and got some cones, then started home down Green Bay Rd.
It was a busy day, and everyone was exhausted, and full!

Next weekend we have another outing planned, but not sure where we will go yet.
Check back, pictures will be included in this post later today.