Well, Xander might be the luckiest baby in the world. So many people have come to town just to see him. This time, it was Alyssa (his honorary aunt).
Ordinarily, when Alyssa comes to visit, it is a crazy, non-stop weekend of running around Chicago spending money left and right. This time around, we decided to take it easy. She arrived Friday evening just in time to say hello to the little man before it was off to bed for him.
On Saturday morning, it was gorgeous outside, so we went to spend the afternoon at the Lincoln Park zoo, Chicago's free zoo (see previous blog entry
here). In order to keep expenses down, we packed lunches and ate on the lawn. Xander was entranced by the other boys on the lawn running around and playing. He watched them the entire time we ate.
Saturday night, we dropped the kiddo off at Grandma and Grandpa Vogel's and went out to a nice dinner (thanks to the gift card Mom gave us. Thanks Mom!) We went to a relatively new restaurant in South Barrington called Cooper's Hawk. We had been there once before, and had good food, but the dad complained about the service. Turns out, he was right. The waitress didn't even enter Alyssa's order to the kitchen, so once Stacy and I received our food, Alyssa sat there for 10 minutes waiting for her food. What was really nuts, was that no one even stopped by to see what the problem was. The manager walked by 6 times, and never thought to ask why she had no food. We kept hoping the whole time that someone would come by and acknowledge the mistake before the check was dropped, but it was not to be. We had to ask for a manager, explain the situation and how ridiculous it was, and he comped Alyssa's $28 dollar dinner and gave us 2 free wine tastings for 2 in an effort to remedy the situation. Thanks! After dinner, we went out to a chocolate cafe for some hot chocolate and treats. This place was out of this world.
We picked up Xander, and came home to watch
The Hangover (well, it took us 2 nights).
On Sunday morning we had breakfast at Denny's, and yet again the service was wonderful. Stacy and Alyssa both ordered the wheat pancakes, and when breakfast arrived, they were served wheat bread. They told the server of the error, and 5 minutes later she brought one order of wheat pancakes, and asked if they both wanted them. We said yes, and once again waited 5 minutes. Needless to say, it was the last time we went out to eat this visit.
As for the rest of the day Sunday, I had something special in mind for Alyssa. Before she arrived, I knew we weren't going to be going out and spending all sorts of money to go to Cubs games or what not in the city, so I sent her a text the week before. "How do you feel about painting?" Thankfully, she replied "Sounds like fun!" So Sunday, Alyssa and I repainted the kitchen.
Sunday night, we had dinner and a game of Triominos at Stacy's parents house.
Monday we spent the morning at home, had hot dogs and fresh cut fries for lunch, and went to Woodfield for a couple hours. Then, it was off to my parents house for a Labor Day dinner. Hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies. You name it, they served it. Delicious.
Alyssa left Tuesday morning before we woke up, and Xander was sad to see her go. We had a great time, and hope to see her again very soon.
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