"Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town..."

Yessiree bob, I just got back from a long weekend in Chicago to see my sister Sarah graduate college (*sniff, sniff - it's crazy how fast they grow up) ;) Here's the smiling graduate now...

Aww, look at her all studious and stuff, with honors and all :)

Here's the fam. From left to right: Mom, Sarah and me

On Sunday the sis, who was at school in Illinois on a soccer scholarship - I know, smart AND athletic, right?! :) ran a HALF MARATHON downtown. That's 13.1 miles folks - CRAZY! In my eyes anyway :) It was a craptastic day weatherwise, with the temp in the 30s and rain and wind like you wouldn't believe...well, unless you're reading this and you live in Chicago, then I suppose you would believe it.

Here's Sarah all ready to go, so perky and chipper and excited...this is before she got totally drenched :)

Since the start of the race was at the Navy Pier, there was a group of sailors playing upbeat parade-type songs on all kinds of instruments (see that tuba?!) to start things off:

Here's Sarah again, this time looking like she might be second-guessing her decision :)

Here she is at the starting line:

She was in the first quarter of the line (there were thousands of people in this race - I forget exactly how many now). Here's a shot of alllllllll the other peeps lined up behind her:

Here's Sarah at the halfway mark, around mile 7.5. Pretty sure she was totally soaked by then. I was and I was just watching! :)

And here she is just after she crossed the finish!

Since we were all soaked to the bone by the time she finished (which was in 2 hrs, 10min - AWESOME for her first race EVER in such horrible weather!) none of us were in the mood to sight-see. So here are some pictures from our very first trip out there 4 years ago when she was a freshman...and the day was much nicer :)

We had taken the train into the city:

Saw the Navy Pier:

Rode a FUN trolley car!

And took in the view from the top of the Sear's tower:

We had such a fun time and made some GREAT memories. She's staying out there to look for a job, this summer and into next year, so if you'd like to hire THE best physical education teacher/soccer coach in the world and you're in a Chicago-area school district, she's your gal. Feel free to contact me and I'll put you in touch with her ;)

Happy FRIDAY all!
~Amy