Our Spring Break

The week Nate and I had so patiently been waiting for finally arrived! It is a teacher's favorite time of the year...SPRING BREAK!! Now some people decide to stay home and do some spring cleaning, some decide to go to warm tropical places (like my mom, dad, and sister), and then some decide to get away for a couple of days, hoping to escape a bit of cold and the work that should be done during break.

What did we decide to do for spring break? Well, I really wanted to fly some place warm and lay on a beach all week and read book after book, but I couldn't make up my mind on where to go. After much debate we decided to travel to the windy city of Chicago for a couple of days.

So how did we get there? With gas prices so high and parking in Chicago very expensive, we decided to take the commuter train out of Michigan City. It is a cheap way to get there and you avoid the massive headache of driving around Chicago, draining your wallet of money to park every night. Our hotel was about a mile from the train station and the weather was gorgeous on Sunday, so we were able to sit in a park, read, get a little sun on our cheeks, and then begin the hike to our hotel.

Monday's Activities: A visit to Shedd's Aquarium with hundreds of kids on field trips with their schools. I think every school in Chicago was at every museum we went to! We felt like we were back in the classroom! This is the dolphin show that we attended. It was a beautiful sunny day and you can see the view of Lake Michigan.

Monday was such a beautiful day in Chicago. We even took our coats off outside while we were walking to Shedd's Aquarium. I can't wait for spring's nice weather to stick around!

After our visit to Shedd's Aquarium we walked along the shore of Lake Michigan to our next destination...Adler Planetarium. Nate being the science guy was pretty excited! Here he is acting like one of his seventh grade students. We were waiting for a 3-D space movie. My husband is such a kid!
Monday evening we headed to the Hancock Observatory. It was a beautiful evening to see the many lights of Chicago.

Here I am on the outside deck of the Hancock. It was really windy and really cold. I wasn't too excited to go out there, but Nate thought it would be fun.

Do you know what Nate wants to do after he retires from teaching? I think he mentioned that he would like to wash the windows of the Hancock. Good job Nate, but I think you missed a spot!

Tuesday's Activities: A trip to the Field Museum with more kids on field trips! Oh my goodness! Oh well, we still had a lot of fun exploring. Nate enjoyed the exhibits especially the one on "What is an Animal?" It went a long with what he is teaching in science.

What does every child do when they get back to school after spring break? Bring pictures for Show and Tell about what they did that week. So being a teacher, and kind of like a big kid, I had my picture taken with a dinosaur because my kids love dinosaurs! I even got some pictures of this really huge anaconda. My kids know how much I had snakes, so I just had to be brave and take the pictures.
After we were through with the Field Museum I took a picture of Nate by Soldier Field. I guess that is where the Chicago Bears play.

Here is a picture of Nate waiting for the bus. I think he was a little tired after all of the museum stuff we did over our couple of days in Chicago. I know I was! Our last night in Chicago was fun! As a thank you to Nate for taking me to Chicago I took him for dinner at a place where men like to go...ESPN Zone. He loves sports and big screen TVs so what better to do than combine the two and eat a nice meal. What a fun time!

This year's spring break was a lot of fun. I love spending time with Nate and getting to travel to different places together. The only bad thing is, it's hard to get pictures of the two of us together. Oh well!

A Girl's Night Out

Monday night was a fun night out for Jaime, my mom, and me. We began our evening preparing for our night out on the town by making sure we looked nice. You know girls! I think Jaime took the longest to get ready. Teenagers! Then we ventured out for a lovely dinner at...Subway! After our extravagant meal we headed over to the Carrie Underwood concert at the VanAndel Arena. The three of us were so excited!

Jaime and I just before the concert was about to start! Jaime loves taking pictures! We must have taken this picture 10 times before we got a decent one.

I love my mom so much! Jaime and I were so happy that she wanted to come with us!

Our seats weren't this close. I found these pictures on-line.

The opening act for the evening was Josh Turner. He is a very talented singer. His deep, country voice just made you say, "Wow!" and Jaime didn't think he was that bad to look at. He has a couple of songs that really talk about his faith. After one of his songs there was a cross that shone on the black curtain. Very cool! But the coolest was when he announced a soldier that was back from Iraq. Josh Turner thanked him for his service and the crowd went wild, but even more so when the soldier proposed to his girlfriend. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. What an amazing moment for that couple. Of course I had to share that with Nate!

The moment we had been waiting for for about a month had finally arrived. Carrie Underwood came up from under the stage and we went wild! Her first song was amazing and then the songs just kept getting better and better. I have to say I have been to quite a few concerts, but this concert was the best so far. I can't believe the magnitude of her concert considering she is still fairly new in the country music business.

Jaime and I were amazed when she took out her guitar. We had no idea that she played! This was one of my favorite songs of the night, "Don't Forget to Remember Me." Of course I got a little teary eyed. It is about growing up and leaving your loved ones behind while you journey out into the world on your own. It's a powerful song and a reminder that we all just want to be loved and remembered by our family.

My favorite song of the night..."Jesus Take the Wheel." The background was a lovely blue sky with a few white clouds floating all around. It looked heavenly. This song constantly reminds me that we can't do everything on our own. There are times where we just have to say, "God take this from me. I need your help and I can't do it on my own. I need to let go of this burden because I know you will help me through." Some days when I'm frustrated driving home from school I turn this song up and sing it real loud. It makes me feel so much better!

Just when you thought she was done and the concert was over, Carrie came out and performed a couple more songs getting the crowd back on their feet in excitement. She is such an entertainer!

What a fun girl's night out we had! I love spending time with my mom and sister. I think my mom really enjoyed the concert! She's a country girl at heart! Thank you mom and Jaime for making the concert such a fun and memorable night! We'll do it again next year! Maybe next year we'll get to meet her backstage. Probably not, but we can hope!