Well, we went on our first weekend road trip since being back in Ohio. Grandma Rayburn kept Henry with her, which we were so grateful for. He would not have enjoyed very much of the trip. Poor Henry was sick for Grandma though, and I should say, "poor Grandma" because she didn't get much sleep. Henry gets terrible
URIs. He is on the mend now, and I think Grandma caught up on some sleep. He was well cared for though, so I tried not to worry too much...good luck with that, right?
So, Tom and I took Meg and Charlie to the Windy City. We stayed in a nice suburb and ate some good deep dish pizza. We took Meg out of school before lunch on Friday and we were back home in time for bed on Saturday, so it was a quick trip, but we had tons of fun!
We hit up the Disney Store, American Girl Doll store and a little toy store all on the Magnificent Mile! The weather was great except for a stint of rain while we were going from one store to the next. We did the most damage at American Girl, of course. That place was out of control. Just packed with people! Buy stock now! Meg had her doll, Rebecca's hair done and ear's
pierced. She really enjoyed it there. It was very fun. Charlie was a very good sport, I must say. On our way home, we were driving through Indiana and I saw a car with Ohio plates and a bunch of red American Girl bags in the back of it. They must have had a similar weekend trip!
I love the picture of Meg and Charlie with the Hancock building behind them. While it was raining you couldn't even see the top of the building because it was in the clouds!
We had such a great time and, again, I was so glad that Grandma had Henry. Tom and I took a moment in the middle of the crazy American Girl Doll store to imagine if Henry had been there as well. It would not have gone well, to say the least.
Meg turned 7 on February 9th! We celebrated by having 12 little girls from school and church over to play karaoke and Just Dance on the Wii. My Aunt Becky, Aunt Kathy and Melissa and Bridget came out from Pennsylvania as well. It was a great party. Meg wanted a peace-sign cake, but I decided cupcakes would be easier. They are supposed to look like tie-dye. :) 
The kids had a wonderful Christmas this year! We started out at Grandma Kiehl's on Christmas Eve for the first of the gifts. Grandma gave Meg some of the things we got in Chicago at the American Girl Doll store. Henry was trying out her new table and chairs! Then for Christmas morning, Santa dropped off a sleigh full of gifts and then Grandma & Papa Rayburn brought over another sleigh full! OH MY! We are very spoiled! :) I love all the pictures of the kids while they are opening their presents...they are concentrating so hard, it looks like more of a chore. I think Henry wishes that Santa wouldn't wrap anything and that every present would already be out of the box, full of batteries and ready to go! If only Santa were more organized! The big gift this year were bunk beds for the boys room. They are awesome! I don't know how Santa got those in his sleigh...but Meg did point out that my name was on the shipping label from Wal-Mart...whoops! 
