Chicago

What's a Daddy to do in Chicago with three girls?  Not by choice, just purely out of love- The American Girl Store, of course!  Rob's work takes him to The Windy City often, but this time, he decided to focus on the girls and let them see part of his life when he's away from home.  We went a few years ago, but it was really cold, so most of the time spent outside the girls' faces were buried under our arms protecting them from the wind, or we took a cab.  Needless to say, they weren't able to really take it all in!  This year, the weather was perfect!  As we walked through the city, the girls were mesmorized with the amount of people walking, the traffic, and the buildings. 
11 years ago, when Erika was born, Sandy thought she might be her only granddaughter, since she only had boys, and that's all she knew.  Since Erika was her first girl, she couldn't wait to buy her an American Girl.  Granny was in her glory buying her a Bitty Baby and sweet outfits for every occassion.  Little did she know, between Rob and his brother, she would be blessed with 3 more girls.  She couldn't get enough of her grandkids, and wish she were still with us to be sharing in carrying on The American Girl tradition.  There were several times in Chicago when Rob and I looked at each other and smiled and said, "If only Sandy were here."  That may be part of why Rob was so patient at the store because he knew it was in honor of his mom.
Here are a few pics, I know, it's picture overload.  But remember, if I were scrapbooking, I would have made a book out of our Chicago trip!, so this ain't too bad!