Christmas in ... Chicago

On the final full day of our visit with my parents, we made the trek to nearby Chicago to take in Navy Pier's Winter WonderFest. It was a fun day overall, but very, very crowded. It wasn't so bad in the morning, but after lunch it was an hour-and-a-half wait for just about all of the attractions, and they actually stopped letting people into the ballroom that contains all the fun. Megan and I stepped into the foyer briefly to use the only water fountain we could find in the place, and I had to convince a security guard to let me back in because my family was all still inside. Megan did get to do quite a few things, though, and it was a nice day spent with family.

Here are Megan and I shortly after we arrived. I'm smiling at the camera. Megan is gazing in awe and longing at the spectacle that is Winter WonderFest.

Megan, myself, my sister Becca, and cousin Sahara on the carousel.

Megan enjoyed crawling through these giant candy canes, until two kids decided to lie down and block the exit.

She looks seriously ticked off with those kids in this picture.

Becca and Sahara: a blur on the paraglider ride.

Sahara and Megan playing after lunch.

They had Christmas trees representing many different countries. Josh thought it was amusing that there was a tree for Pakistan.

At the end of the day, Megan was exhausted and sat on my mom's lap for a while watching a show that featured Mexican dancers.

 

Here are Megan and my dad enjoying cartoons the morning we left to drive back to St. Louis.

We drove along the edge of a nasty line of storms on our way home, and we later learned a tornado had done serious damage in some southwestern parts of our county. We considered ourselves fortunate. We saw this rainbow in Illinois. If you hunkered down in the seat, you could see the entire arch spreading from horizon to horizon. The pictures don't do it justice, but I've rarely seen a rainbow as vivid as this one was. It was literally glowing.

 Megan is the treasure at the end of the rainbow. (Not sure what the face was about.)