The girls and I had a busy weekend! Maddie & I picked up Kaitee from work on Friday afternoon and headed to The NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates (suburb of Chicago) to see Brandon Lake & Phil Wickham in concert. We grabbed dinner outside of the arena (with everyone else who was heading to the concert!) and then waiting in the long line of cars to get in to the parking lot. 
Phil & Brandon were amazing and the concert was like an extended worship service. We didn't want it to come to an end. When the concert DID end, it was late - we finally got on the interstate around 11. We made a quick gas/bathroom stop around 1:00am and got home around 2am.
The late night/early morning wouldn't have been bad most days, because I could sleep in or take a nap as needed. However, Saturday was another trip to Chicago. Alex bought Cubs tickets for my birthday, so we left the house around 8am (for the 1:20 game)! We drove straight to the remote parking lot and hopped on the shuttle bus to head to Wrigley Field. We were pretty excited to watch the game!
We found our seats - front row, upper level! Great seats!
One of my "bucket list" items...attend a Cubs game during the Air/Water Show in Chicago. When Alex and I picked out dates that worked for both of us, the weekend we chose just happened to be the same weekend as the Air/Water Show!! A true surprise and wow, what fun! The game started with a fly over during the National Anthem.
Throughout the day, we could see (hear!) the fighter jets flying over Wrigley. A few innings in to the game, they welcomed the pilots who performed the National Anthem flyover. They were seated just below us and to the right (notice the khaki uniforms).
Cubs Win!!! Here's a recap of the game - it was a good one.
Leaving Wrigley, we drove north to Lake Bluff to eat at The Silo for dinner and then headed home - making a quick stop at Culvers in Rochelle for some custard. It was a fun day - Alex and I really enjoyed our time together - great conversation, fighter jets (and pilots in uniform, ha!), a Cubs win, sidewalk fries at The Silo and custard for dessert. Thank you for this day, Alex - a wonderful present that I'll never forget!
So, because I wasn't tired of driving to the Chicago area yet (lol), all 4 of us girls hit the road on Monday for IKEA. We looked at the calendar and tried to find a date that worked for everyone before school started up for Maddie and Alex. We found a day, but it was the same weekend as our other 2 trips to Chicago!
We shopped at IKEA then headed over to Woodfield to visit the Lego store (took pictures to send to Will, lol. He was invited, BTW), purchase cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon, and hit a few stores that the girls wanted to see. Lou Malnati's for a late lunch (we'd eaten ice cream at IKEA for an early dessert!) then a 3 hour drive home. 
We made a pit stop in Dekalb where the girls played a bit.
What a wonderful weekend with my girls. I am so thankful for the relationships of these beautiful women. I am honored to call them Daughters and Friends.
