Weekend with the Fam

My brother, Justin, and his girlfriend, Lil, flew in from California on Saturday and we hit the town in this stretch Hummer:


Just kidding--we happened upon this guy clearing out the beer cans from this ridiculous vehicle between jobs as we walked through Wrigleyville.

We wandered through lots of neighborhoods and ended up downtown.





It was a lovely day. On Sunday afternoon, we all drove to Holland, and Rose, Robert, and little Justin came from Lansing. It was so great to be all together at my parents' house. That evening, we headed to the beach, where Justin showed off his favorite mode of sand transportation--scooting. His trail:

Even though the water was freezing, he laughed hysterically each time it lapped at his little feet.






Moments later, Jim accidently whacked mom in the head with this frisbee at close range, but it wasn't long before she was smiling again. She's just always smiling.

Justin and Robert enjoying the view:


Justin looked back every couple of minutes to make sure we were still there, then went back to his one true love--the water.


Lil and Justin:

A beautiful family.

I miss the sunsets from the other side of the Lake. There is nothing like watching the sun slowly sink behind the water.


We made the customary stop at Captain Sundae, the best ice cream place in the world, on the way back into town. On Monday, we slept very late, then hiked to the beach at Kirk Park, and lounged away the afternoon in the sand. It was fabulous.

The weather was still incredible when we came back to the city, so we took advantage of the amazing lakefront trail and rode south from Foster down to the Loop, Eric on his bike, and I on my rollerblades.


Near Navy Pier:


Another lovely sunset:


By the time we made it back up to Hollywood, we had rolled about 15 miles! And I enjoyed it so much that I decided to do it again the next day while Eric was working. It's finally starting to feel like summertime, though I'm sure Chicago has a few weather surprises up its sleeves if we only wait a few days.

P.S. I have been informed that the photos from the roller derby (a few posts down the page) didn't show up, so I have uploaded them again.