Fernando's Adventures: Mom and Dad's Chicago visit

On Thursday (1) afternoon we left for the O'Hare airport to pick up my Mom & Dad. They were delayed one hour since their morning flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. Once Tanya and I found a parking spot in the maze of O’Hare’s parking garage we met up with my parents. They were very happy to see Valentina and noted how much she had grown since the summer. When we got back to our car we loaded up everything and headed to Machu Picchu for lunch. Once again this place did not disappoint and even my parents were impressed with their food.

We then came back to our townhouse in Uptown for some down time. After a couple of hours I took everyone on a quick drive through the city to see the Christmas lights. My parents had previously visited me in Chicago during the Fall of 2006. As we drove through the city it seemed to spark a lot memories.

The next day we woke up and ate the breakfast Tanya had prepared for everyone. It was a Mexican breakfast with eggs, salsa, tortillas and other traditional foods. It was very tasty. We then got ready and went back into the city for Tanya's doctor appointment. We had a 12:15 appointment but were not seen until 1:30! This was very frustrating since we were all hungry and anxious to get out of the doctor's office. Once we did leave the appointment we headed to Macy’s for lunch. The plan was to eat in Macy’s Oak room. The Oak room is a very old place and always decorated very nicely for Christmas. It is a tradition for a lot of families to come here for lunch during this time of year. Upon arriving we were told that there was a 3 hour wait to eat lunch. Yikes! We instantly decided to bail on the Oak room and eat in Macy's gourmet food court. I used to eat here on occasion during my old Chicago days in 2006. The food court's layout is much like a Las Vegas Buffett with various food stations each representing a type of food. It is really quite good!

Once we finished eating we went to look at the Macy's Christmas window display. This year's display is pretty interesting but I've enjoyed previous years a lot better. My favorite was the year the windows told the story of Mary Poppins. As we were walking down State Street we came upon a puppet show which mesmerized Valentina. We then continued to walk down to Daley Plaza for the Bavarian Christmas Village. The plaza is setup with traditional stores, food vendors and music that you would find in little German towns. I always thought this was a cool idea but everything is so expensive.

We then headed back home to rest. Tanya and I decided to go out and see the movie Breaking Dawn. This movie is part of the Twilight series. It was exactly like the other movies in the series, entertaining but not all that great. We went to the Davis Theatre which reminded me of the old theatres I went to as a child of the 80's. Old screens, crappy seats, bad carpeting, it was awesome!

On Saturday we started the day by going to the Burlington Coat Factory. My parents bought Daniel a bassinet. Purchasing this made me realize that another kid will be here very shortly. A sense of excitement and anxiety came over me. After loading the bassinet into the car we drove to the Rock N Roll McDonald's. We grabbed a quick lunch and joined the Untouchables Tour. We boarded a refurbished school bus right outside the McDonalds and met our "gangster" tour guides. We got an education on the gangster history of Chicago and Mom walked away with a free mug. After the tour we came back home to relax. After a couple of hours Dad and I went to a bar to watch the Cotto fight. The only place we could find showing the fight for free was a small bar packed to the brim with people. We walked in around 9:00 PM only to find out there were 3 more fights before the main event. We had one beer and could only find a pool table to sit on. After 30 minutes we left and arrived home to see Mom and Tanya watching Twilight.

On Sunday we had a breakfast prepared by Mom and Dad. We then went to Mass, Costco and headed back into the city for lunch. My mom had a craving for ribs so we went to Twin Anchors. My parents seemed to enjoy the atmosphere and history of the place. Valentina enjoyed herself since she was able to run around the restaurant since there was only 1 other table eating. After lunch I took my parents to the airport where everyone slept due to a food coma. We arrived at the airport and wished my parents a great flight back to Salt Lake City.

It was a great weekend with the folks and am glad they got to spend time with Valentina. I know it is always special to be with your grandparents especially when they do not live nearby. I reflect on my own childhood and remember fondly the time spent with my grandparents in Salt Lake City and Peru. I always felt a close connection with them even though we were far apart geographically. I hope that Valentina and Daniel will have similar memories and experiences with their grandparents.