The American Girl Store and Wrigley Field

July 24-25; Chicago. On Saturday morning, our dear friend and former Tampa neighbor Gail McDermott met us at the house and we all took the train into the city. The girls were spending the afternoon at The American Girl Store and the boys were going to try to see the Cubs game at Wrigley Field. It was a memorable day. Abby (and Kit), Karen, and Gail had a terrific time at The American Girl Store shopping, getting Kit's ear's pierced, and having a fancy lunch. Wesley, Zachary, and I paid way too much money to a scalper on the street to get into the sold out Cubs v. Cardinals game at the historic Wrigley field. It is an awesome place, along the lines of Fenway Park in Boston. It was built in 1914 and it is a beautiful ball park. We had a great time. Of course we thought of Grandpa Merwald since the Cubbies are his team! We all met back at the train station for our ride home, and ended the evening playing games at Aunt Ruth's house. The next morning, we were supposed to leave early, but realized we had left a set of keys in Gail's car. So we then had to drive 45 minutes to Gail and Ray's house in Elgin to get our keys, which turned out to be a great thing to be able to see Ray and spend a few more hours with our dear friends from our Cheval neighborhood. We went out to brunch at their favorite local place and then back to the house briefly. Gail and Ray spoil our kids and always give them gifts. Ray, a collector, gave all three of our kids pocket knives - Abby's and Zack's to be used only under adult supervision of course. It was so good to see them and all the people we love in the Chicago and Michigan area over these past days. And what a rich time with Uncle Denny and Aunt Martha. They are like third grandparents to my kids now and I really felt like family with them. Our kids verbalized their visit with them as a highlight.