Here it is…………..

Punky (left) and his cousin posing for the camera while we were visiting in Illinois. Punky had an announcement to make…Check out his shirt!

Yep…

He is going to be a “Big Brother” come October 2008! 🙂

We had this shirt made for him to sport when we went to IL for my Spring Break. I thought my mom and dad would catch on right away… but it took awhile. Mom thought I just got a good deal on a shirt and couldn’t pass it up…..and Dad thought it had something to do with the “Big Brothers, Big sisters” Program. But……they got it….and were really excited! (As are we!)  😀

We had a FABULOUS time in Illinois!

We spent Saturday driving down there and arrived around 3PM. My siblings, their spouses, and my nephew arrived shortly thereafter, and we celebrated Easter as a family. The boys got their baskets and found their eggs. Then the “Big kids” got to find eggs and baskets! It was fun! I was so excited! The Easter Bunny gave me the small Easter figurines that my Mom had painted when we were kids…. I love them! 😉 Thanks, E. Bunny! (Thanks for my other goodies too, of course!)

Mom made “Birds,” mashed potatoes and green beans for supper. Don’t ask me why they are called birds……but they are my FAVORITE! I always used to ask for these for my birthday dinner each year! They are small steaks pounded really thin…then rolled up around an onion wedge, a piece of bacon, and a dill pickle. It’s then tied up with string and simmered on the stove top for hours. The gravy is to die for…….as is the “Bird.” I could eat them every day! 🙂 (Mom, why are they called Birds? and How did you learn to make them?)

On Sunday, we headed over to my sister’s house for a yummy traditional St. Patrick’s Day Dinner. It was absolutely delicious! 🙂 I loved the corned beef, the cabbage, the Irish Soda bread, the potatoes……yum.

On Monday, we woke up at the butt crack of dawn (well, technically before then!) and drove into the city with my dad. He dropped me, Hubby, Punky, and my mom off at the condo before he headed to work. We spent the day downtown. It was fun! Mom took us out for breakfast at The Yolk. It was delicious! Punky slurped cantaloupe juice all over him as he was eating, so we headed back to the condo to do a load of laundry before we went out again! We then went for a walk to check out “The Bean.” We also got coffee at the local Caribou! Yumm….. Dad surprised us and met us at The Bean! He walked over from work to say Hi! 🙂 Then we walked back to the condo. Mom figured we walked about 3 miles. Punky enjoyed the walk from the stroller! 😀

Punky ate lunch and then went down for his nap while Mom cleaned up a bit then played her DS; I read my book, and Hubby read his book. When Punky got up, he played with some of his toys and we watched the happenings below from the window 39 floors up! Punky just loves to watch the El, the busses, the boats, and the cars with Grandma from their windows!

Dad came home from work, and then we headed back to the ‘burbs. But first, we had to stop at our favorite place….. Superdawg! Yum! There is NOTHING in this world like a Chicago Style Hot Dog…ummm SUPERDAWG! If you are EVER in Chicago, check out the corner of Milwaukee and Devon! You won’t regret it! We each got a Superdawg, of course, and Punky ate the entire thing….poppy seed bun and all! Of course, he also indulged in the SuperFries that the Superdawg lounges in while in his little Superdawg box. Delicious…..with a CAPITAL D.

On Tuesday, Mom had an opthamologist appointment as she got pink eye in both of her eyes. We felt so badly for her. 😦 We visited Grandma at her house then chilled out at Mom and Dad’s house for the afternoon. My sister and my nephew came over for dinner and to say goodbye to us. [My sister also had pink eye…and a nasty cold. Her husband was home sick as the doctor thought he had strep throat.] We had a delicious dinner, and then we colored eggs with the boys! They were both in awe of Grandma’s special eggs where their names appeared on the shell while in the dye! Punky was so excited!

We hit the sack fairly early as Mom was tired….her poor eyes! I read in bed until 10: 30 or so. At 12:30….we were awoken by Punky screaming, “Dada….wipe this up!” He had thrown up in his crib! 😦 Poor kid! By the time everything was said and done, it was after 2:30 and Punky had thrown up a total of three times! He was just exhausted when he finally fell back asleep. The poor kid…..he got so upset each time he threw up (just like his Mommy! I still cry when I throw up!) It was my job to calm him down after each incident and poor Hubby cleaned everything up and did several loads of wash between episodes. (THANK YOU HUBBY!)

Punky felt better this morning, but he ate very little today…I think he was still trying to recover.

We made it back home safely. Thank you again, Mom and Dad for a great visit! 🙂 It was nice to see everyone! Thank you for EVERYTHING!

I’ll leave you with another cute cousin picture! These two just cracked us up! They had so much fun together!