We were there four days but left thinking we needed more time — we just didn’t get to do everything we wanted. What we did manage to do though was awesome — Alcatraz tour, awesome food, fantastic wine, beautiful city scenery, crazy hills (we got a good workout walking around!), a balloon tour over Napa and an awesome wine tour.

Lots of lovely photos of the trip are over on Flickr. We hope to go back soon.

We got a table and that was us for the day. Bill & Tracy came down again, Kate & Paul stopped by and Adam was in town (although he left early as he drank too much. Silly oaf.).

Another top St Patrick’s celebration. See the debauchery over on Flickr.

Celebrating One Year in Chicago

November 15th marked our first full year living in Chicago. It’s gone so fast! I had hoped to post something on the 15th for posterity but it just slipped away with everything else we had going on. Seems so long ago since we arrived at O’Hare to be picked up by Ben & Mandy and wander around Chicago awestruck by it all.

Then we had our first snowfall (I still remember being so excited at seeing that much snow. Remember — in the UK snowfall is pretty pathetic!) and Sap, Mandy & I made snow angels (after a few ‘warming’ drinks, of course) as Ben looked on calling us mad…

Thanksgiving 2009

We had ‘our’ first Thanksgiving this year — we spent Thanksgiving 2008 with the wonderful McKee family (and Ben!) — and thoroughly enjoyed it. We cooked good food and drank great drinks. We ordered an apple pie from The Chopping Block — it was amazingly good. Definitely something we will order again next year. Alas they only make them for Thanksgiving and no other holiday.

Celebrating Two Years of Marriage

Sap and I celebrated two years of marriage on the 22nd December. Again, it seems to have gone so fast! We had a fairly miserable first anniversary in 2008 — we went out walking for the day in freezing temperatures so that, by the time we got home, we were too tired & cold to go out for dinner. So we ordered a takeout which turned out to be fairly horrid. We vowed to have a better anniversary this year so we planned a holiday to Mexico. Needless to say it was better in every way!

Our hotel was amazing and we treated ourselves to a relaxing massage whilst we were there. We came back to a soggy Chicago well rested and looking forward to our second Christmas in Chicago.

Christmas 2009

We arrived back from Mexico on Christmas Eve to a very, very chatty cat. As we opened the door she miaowed as if to say “THERE you are! I’ve been looking for you everwhere!” Bless her. She was very happy to see us (as we were really happy to see her — strange how much you miss a ball of fur that constantly wakes you up at 6am!).

We had done all our Christmas shopping for food, presents, drink etc. before we left so there was nothing we had to do — it was bliss! Great planning & organisation by Sap. It’s her thing. So we woke (early) on Christmas morning to let Peppy open her presents first. She got a tunnel (which she LOVES) and a new bed (which she turns her nose up at) as well as some foody things from her relatives across the Atlantic. She was more interested in the wrapping paper than what was in it though.

We Skyped family and then settled down to enjoy a nice warm, cosy, quiet Christmas. It was wonderful. We had two days of lazing around the apartment, eating & drinking all the goodies we had bought.

New Year 2009

We’re off to the Blackrock pub tomorrow night to celebrate 2010 heading our way. It’s the same place we went to last year with Nick, Paul & Nige (can’t believe that was a year ago either!) so we’re really looking forward to it as it was a fantastic evening.

Then we have a few more days off before we head back to work on the 4th. But let’s not think about that yet!

Make with the click & photo viewage.

Unfortunately the game was rained off but we did get to see about 30 minutes of baseball.

See lots of photos of rain on Flickr.

The highlight of the weekend for me was visiting the Indianapolis Speedway. The place is just massive! We took a bus trip around the track (yes, you can get on a bus and get driven around the track) and stopped at various points, including the famous bricks on the start/finish straight.

The museum at the track houses a fantastic array of cars and motorcycles from all types of racing — there’s even a Benetton F1 car there from 1991.

The highlight of his visit, I’m sure, was meeting Pepper. From the moment Nick arrived with his suitcases, she was investigating…

Of course, she got lots of cuddles whether she wanted them or not! When Pepper wants to get down she gently taps you on the cheek. If that doesn’t work, she’ll miaow at you. If that doesn’t work she’ll wriggle free of you!

We went to the Bull & Bear, where the beer taps sit on the table. This means you can pour your own beer…with varying results!
I think the highlight of the trip for all of us was the Segway tour we did at the weekend. It was so much fun — the Segways are so easy to control and are a great way to see the city. We had a fantastic day for it and three hours just wasn’t enough time!

Nick & I also visited the Sears Tower (sorry, ‘Willis Tower’ may be correct but it doesn’t sound right!) They recently installed four glass cubes on the 103rd floor. The worst part was the wait beforehand but once we got up there it wasn’t so bad. Everybody seemed to be taking photos of themselves lying down on the floor of the cubes…so, when in Rome.

We did the usual tour of the sights — we went up the Sears on Nick’s last visit but I don’t think the visibility was as good. One day Sap & Nick went to the cat sanctuary where they fell in love with some kittens. Don’t worry — Pepper is still our only cat! But one of the kittens they saw could have been Pepper as a kitten.

We took Nick to Bin 36 on his last night for some wine & cheese. He and I had the 13 cheese flight — “13 cheese you cannot live without” apparently — and had a wine flight and some port. It was a lovely civilised evening and rounded off a top time.

Come back soon Nick! Bring your onion bhaji with you. More photos of the visit are up at Flickr.

I went on my first rollercoaster (cherry: popped) and absolutely loved it, even if I was terrified (and very quiet in the line!). I rode Maverick and Raptor on Sunday and loved it.

Didn’t get to take many photos of the weekend but here are the crew at da Point on Saturday.

Top weekend — want to go again!

Bill & Tracy put on a fantastic spread. The day was fantastic, we met some great new people and generally had a brilliant time. We even played charades in the evening — something I am not too good at however Sap got all the easy ones! That’s my excuse anyway!

The day was fantastic, we met some great new people and generally had a brilliant time. We even played charades in the evening — something I am not too good at however Sap got all the easy ones! That’s my excuse anyway!

All in all, a great day. Thanks Bill & Tracy! See you next year!

They brought a load of UK expat rations with them — we now have a dedicated chocolate cupboard — most exciting of which was the Robinsons squash and, of course, the proper chocolate.

And of course they love their new grandcat — Pepper likes to give Gamdad a nice chew now and then!

We went to see the new Star Trek movie at the iMax on it’s last day last Thursday — Nick, we did try and get the sign into mum’s handbag but, despite her carrying ‘the Tardis’ we couldn’t quite fit it in!

Anyway, we have a few more days of fun and hope the weather holds.