Mae's Date: A Tall Order

So Mae had been asking dad to take her to the Sears Tower for several months now. At times, it was the right weather but a busy weekend; and at times it was a chill weekend but with bad weather. But this past Sunday, the combination was perfect.

So Mae went upstairs and dressed herself in a very nice dress and brushed her hair all on her own to get ready for her date with dad.

And off they went...

They parked over in the West Loop at a secret spot dad knew about and then walked a couple blocks to the Sears Tower, stopping on the Jackson St. Bridge for a photo op.

After taking the elevator up 1,353 feet to the 103rd floor, they got off and toured the Skydeck. They looked out over the South Side down on the South Loop where we used to live and tried to find our house, picked out the Shedd Aquarium, the old Target we used to go to and 31st. St. Beach.

Then it was on to the East Side checking out Buckingham Fountain and dad's work. Next up, the John Hancock on the North Side and finally a look out at the West Side down onto the United Center and our house.

Before leaving they stepped out onto the glass ledge that they have up in the Sears Tower where you can look down and see all the way down to the ground. It's kind of freaky but also kinda of cool.

Here's Mae's feet...

And Mae and Dad posing...

And one of just Mae.

And one last one before taking the elevator back down.

All in all, a huge success, made even more of a success when Mom, Pax and I walked into West Town Bakery to snag some donuts and the two of them were sitting at the countertop ready to order donuts of their own.

Tourist Alert

Strange title, right? No idea what this post is gonna be about. Maybe we have long lost relatives visiting from the Dalmation Coast off of Croatia. Maybe Dad found himself on a bus full of people from Hong Kong setting a record for number of pictures taken in one 5-minute span. Nope, none of the above.

We actually became tourists in our own town, and it turned into quite the Sunday afternoon.

We went over to Buckingham but we parked a few blocks away so on the walk over we decided to stop at The Bean in Millennium Park.

Pax got a glance...

We took a family pic, and then one a little closer...

I high-fived myself a couple times...

Dad and I rocked a sidewalk shot and then I took the old selfie.

As we passed by the Art Museum we made a couple wishes in the wishing well. I could tell you what I wished for, but it's classified, so then I'd have to kill you, which would not be cool.

And then after a couple block we came upon Old Glory, Buckingham Fountain holds a special place in our hearts as we used to bike ride up to it almost every night during the nice weather when we lived in the South Loop, pre-Pax. We'd stop for ice cream, run around it, whatever, didn't matter, it was just a destination and it's one of the most special places we hold close in this great city.

After that it was party time back in the Millennium Park Face Fountains. Water was cold but nobody cared.

And that was that. A few hours post-Pax-nap, pre-dinner, where we took in the sights and sounds of the Lakefront. And whether you live in this blessed town or not, it's worth a visit.

Sled Bed Head Fred

No idea what that title means except that yesterday we went sledding, bigtime. Went back over to where we used to live in the South Loop to the secret sledding hill that not very many people know about. Pax even took a few runs down the hill (and absolutely loved it).

With the city in the backdrop it was, as Mom put it, "totally one of those I Heart Chicago days."

And as you'll see in this video, it was getting serious.