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Vacation was awesome. I love going on vacation, but I am also spoiled and like to vacation in a house. I don't particularly care for hotel rooms--unless they are suites and feel homy. I want a seperate sleeping and living area. I know that is not always possible, but that is what I want if I can help it. It is also nice, I have to admit, to stay in a house that is as nice as my brother and his partners. Okay on a side note, I really need a name for them. Their house is insanely gorgeous and they are so hospitable. They give us their master bedroom--which is totally unnecessary. Their house is capable of sleeping 12 and next time we go we will sleep in the bunkbed room so that Minnow can sleep in a bed--he wouldn't/couldn't sleep in the portable bed so ended up sleeping with me or hubby while the other one of us slept in a different bedroom. Minnow is quite the bed hog--I don't know how he sleeps at night. He is constantly moving. I either had a foot, his butt or an arm in/on my face the entire night. He was sound asleep. Me? Not so much. I can't believe I didn't take pics of their beautiful abode to share with the world, but it is gorgeous. My brother J is a designer and works for this company. All the pictures you see on their sight have been picked by my brother who then designs the matting, and the frames. He is really quite talented.

Anyway, vacation. The hardest part of the vacation was of course the drive. Those of you with active toddlers know the difficulty of keeping them harnassed for hours on end. We were lucky and timed our departure both to and from with the time he usually gets tired and naps. For those awake times, I thank goodness for our portable DVD player. Thank you Spongebob for making our road trip bearble.

J and C (his partner) have an awesome red golf cart to make trekking to the beach very easy. It was fun to drive and Minnow had a lot of fun helping steer. We were lucky enough to spend a part of each day at the beach. On really clear days you can see the Chicago skyline from their beach, unfortunately during the day it was never clear enough, but on the evening we went to watch the sunset we were lucky enough to watch the sunset behind the skyline.















What is a vacation without a little shopping. There is an awesome outlet mall in Michigan City, about 15 minutes from Beverly Shores where J & C's house is. We went and had a lot of fun shopping and spending money.

On our final day of vacation we went into the city. I have to say that I do love Chicago, but I am glad that I don't live there. I just cannot handle the traffic. I love living in my big little city. Anyway. It is only a short drive to Chicago--about an hour--from J & C's house. We went to Shedd Aquarium and to the Ba'hi'a temple. It is so beautiful. We didn't go in because Minnow tends to be loud. But I didn't get the opportunity to take some great picture of the intricate design and carvings the make up the stone building. Minnow really enjoyed running around the grounds. We would have done more in Chicago, but Minnow fell asleep on the drive into the City, so we drove around the north suburbs while he slept. I love the north suburbs.









As I write, I realize what an uneventful vacation we had. I guess that is what made it so awesome. It was relaxing and low-key. It was perfect.