We hit the road for the hotel, and got there with just enough time to get ready for the wedding. We dropped Ainslee off at the babysitter. That went surprisingly smoother than I had anticipated, considering this was the first time I have ever left either of my children with a "non relative".
We headed on to the zoo for the wedding. It was really really fun! The ceremony was under a pavilion, then the trams picked up all the guests and took us on a private tour of half the zoo. They dropped us where the gorillas and other monkeys are kept. There they served h'ouerdorves (sp?) and drinks. They even fed the gorillas their favorite snack while we were there so we could watch. Guess what they absolutely love.......key limes! We watched as they peeled and ate them. We learned, from my uncle who is the head vet at the zoo, about the little boy who fell into the gorilla exhibit and the female gorilla who picked him up and brought him to safety. 13 years later, she is still at the zoo.
After about an hour we got back on the trams and they took us on tour of the other half of the zoo. It was so much fun, and I really hated the fact that Kaylee and Marcus weren't there to see it all. The trams dropped us at the reception. It was packed with a slideshow of pictures of the bride and groom (I was even in a few pictures), hilarious speeches and skits, wonderful meal, and great time visiting with the family.
We left and went to get Ainslee, who I am sad to say was not on her best behavior, from the babysitter. We got back to the hotel and put an overly tired baby and myself to bed. Ainslee slept wonderfully, 9 hours straight. I didn't get much sleep though, not because Ainslee woke me up but because of my dads snoring. It was ridiculous! I had to get out of bed twice to shake him and I think I threw my pillow at him about 6 times throughout the night. Ugh! I don't know how my mom gets any sleep at night!?!
We got up in the morning and headed straight downtown. My aunt and uncle bought 25 of us tickets for a boat tour. It was an architectural cruise on the Chicago river. It was really fun and informative about all the buildings and things down along the river. After the tour we all walked around downtown before going over to my cousin Lisa's house for pizza's and beer/wine. I obviously stopped beforehand and got a GF pizza for myself. We celebrated my aunt's birthday and visited with everyone. On the way back to the hotel we stopped and got a bubble tea at a place around the corner from my cousins house. Then on to the hotel to put Ainslee to bed. Mom and I went to get some take out from the Cheesecake Factory after Ainslee went down.
Here I am now finishing this post in my bed as I listen to my dad snore. I just counted the pillows on my bed and I have 6 regular size pillows and my body pillow I bought with me (I have been having trouble sleeping lately unless I have it). I know I like a lot of pillows in the bed but who needs 6 plus a big one? I'm surprised I even fit in the bed, some of these must be from their bed! All these pillows will give me ammo to throw at my dad throughout the night when he wakes me with his snoring.
I'm looking forward to a day of driving tomorrow. Hahaha just kidding!
I'll keep you posted with Part 4 of this trip.
Peace out from Chicago, a city I definitely want to visit with the entire family one day!
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