Steven and I are in Chicago. Have have traveled from Pittsburgh to Granville to this lovely third stop. After having a delicious breakfast with Matthew on Tuesday morning, we drove to see Denison University. We parked in the bustling downtown and had a taco at Taco Dan’s – a new establishment that wasn’t around when I was a student. Then, we drove to the Homestead parking lot and walked on in. No one was around. Some of the cabins were new – Cabin 2 and Cabin 3, I had never seen before. We sat in Cabin Bob for awhile. Steven told me that he totally understood why I wanted to take him there – it is awesome. I want to bring my children there for a reunion someday. We hiked out, drove through campus, and checked in to our airbnb – highly recommend this place – so convenient and relaxing! After a little rest, we drove back into town and walked over to the Dance building Every room was unlocked! Steven played piano and I danced. We didn’t see anyone. I love that studio the most. Then we visited other buildings – Barney, Slayter Hall, Knapp Hall. Didn’t see anyone, hardly anyone around since it was the reading day before finals. The stories didn’t come flooding back like I thought they would. It feels so long ago. We ate at “The Pub” which used to be “Brews.” Full and buzzed, we went back to the airbnb to watch “Good Night and Good Luck” and fell asleep. Then I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. I was obsessing over wanting to know what my KC life would be like.

On to Chicago… we stopped at Fox and Snow at the recommendation of Matthew on Wednesday morning. It was a super hip cafe and bakery – perfect! Then, we drove through under-welming Indiana listening to Breakfast of Champions. We arrived around 3pm and had time to chill and walk around before Jason and David came home. They live by lots of shops and restaurants. We had wine and empanadas and then more wine at this cool little wine shop. After chatting up the wine store people we met Jason at his gorgeous house. This house has a large open kitchen, a whisky room, a sauna, and a flawless finished basement. Love it. We saw Ari, Beth, and the children that night. Thursday, we drove into Willamette to see Bubbie and Zadie. Both visits were very good. We had a long commute back to Ukrainian Village that afternoon and then time to chill before dinner. We did the same thing Friday. Thursday night, we met Diego for Northern Thai Food at a restaurant called Sticky Rice. Delicious! I was feeling feverish but the vegetable soup, green tea, and spicy stir fry made me feel right as rain. Steven and Diego had sticky rice with there meals that came in wrapped in plastic in a little basket. Steven ordered Kao Soy (sp?) again – I had never heard of this yellow curry before – so yum. After dinner, Diego took us to this awesome whisky bar and we drank a lot of scotch and continued to catch up about life.

Friday night and Saturday morning, we hung out with Ari and family. Everett put on a full spacesuit to watch the Apollo 13 rocket launch. He is so chatty and cute and very much into space. Quinn smiles all the time and likes to climb. So glad we got to see them and 2 (and 8 months) and 8 months.

On Saturday, we finished Breakfast of Champions on the drive to Baraboo and arrived in town around 3pm. Just in time for Prom Photos in front of the Courthouse. Jake’s prom! True small town america moment. We walked around downtown Baraboo a little bit and headed back to the house to have wine and cheese with Marcy and Buddy. There house is so relaxing. We surrendered immediately to the landscape falling in love with the birds and the fresh air. Then we took Cooper on a walk and discovered tics. Lots of tics! They have a tic jar full of rubbing alcohol that you can drop the tics into when you find them crawling around on your body. We grilled and had a beautiful dinner and more scotch with our cousins. We all sat by the fire talking. Zach and Eva came home and we all went to sleep. Jake came home later with a bunch of friends and had a bon fire.

We had a welcomed lazy Sunday. Zach made super light and fluffy pancakes and then we headed out to see the Leopold Center and the Cranes Institute. We are enjoying the countryside. Steven won 2 out of 3 soccer games against Zach and it was thrilling. Tomorrow, we will head for Kansas City! Steven and I feel rested and ready.