Don't blink!

Or you may miss this post that attempts to cram a bunch of the past week into this limited space!! Between Auntie Peggy and myself we have hundreds of pictures from this past week and I have had no time to edit or play with them in any manner....I also just grabbed a quick selection which may or may not include some of the 'best' shots taken this week. I apologize to Auntie Peggy in advance for just slamming some pictures up without first previewing and tweaking them!!

So here we go! Remember I left you in the last post at our family picnic...and I mentioned that my uncle had brought his family up from North Carolina to attend? Well it was also their summer vacation!?!? Being the 'make memories' kind of girls that we are, Peggy and I packed up my cousin, his wife, and their three children to see THE city!

Seeing as how it was a warm day during the midst of the annual Taste of Chicago festival, we headed to the train! Trying to find affordable parking downtown on a day as busy as this one would surely be was nigh on impossible!

Then we caught a water taxi to circle us around the Loop...

...with three little girls hanging on the front railing watching all the sights as we pointed out the many historic buildings and unique features seen along our route. They now know that the city of Chicago has more 'draw bridges' than any other American city and they witnessed several raising to let tall masted ships pass down the river.

First we took in the sights on Navy Pier!

We even popped for the group picture they take before you board the ginormous ferris wheel....

...where they got to see our beautiful city from the air!

They also road some of the other rides and we even splurged and did the fun house maze!

On our way out of Navy Pier we took in the Crystal Gardens....where someone played fast and loose with the rules regarding playing in the jumping fountains (-;

Train to a boat to a cab to a ferris wheel to our own two feet....

...as our journey next took us to Millennium Park where we....

...showed them the sculpture the artist calls Cloud Gate but us Chicagoan's just call The Bean [due to its amazing resemblance to a giant jelly bean!!!].

By this point we were ready for a cool down, so we took them down to the 'fountain' to splash in some cold water....

...which is not only allowed but ENCOURAGED by the city planners!!   

Now soaking wet and bone tired we caught cabs back to take the train home because the next day we had plans!!!....

...with a bigger group of the cousins to go to Brookfield Zoo!

It was such a warm day that most of the animals were found near their watering holes!

The kind of soooo very warm day that put cups of Dippin' Dots into the hands of everyone...even the Aunties who took in the sights from their electric carts!!

In an effort to cool off we also headed into the Living Seas exhibit where it turned out to be feeding time for the penguins..yeah! Except we were NOT the only ones with that plan but thanks to my making the big splurge on my camera purchase...

I could still see the show!!!!

As we were leaving the zoo for the day Julia just insisted I get one last picture....

...don't know why I thought it might have been one with all the cousins when this was a choice???!?!?!