My Niece's 1st Birthday

About a month ago, K & I flew to Chicago to celebrate my niece's first birthday.

There was shopping.
There was biking.
There was sightseeing.
There was talking/laughing.
There was playing with the niece.

K and I spent the first day out at the mall in Westmont while my sister and my parents went to buy a new car. I think we got the better end of the deal, even if we did walk a lot at the outdoor mall. We ate at Maggiano's, shopped at a lot of clothing stores, and just overall had a good time together. After lunch, we went home and helped get ready for the party. We actually trimmed bushes outside, helped blow up balloons, and made sure all the food items (popcorn, rice krispie treats, etc) were ready. My sister had planned a "bubbles and balloons" theme and really went all out. She'd hired people to put a tent in the backyard and had a lot of food and fun planned. Speaking of fun, K and I also took our first bike rides on my sister's bikes. Those were (quite literally) the best bikes I've ever ridden in my entire life. Easy to ride, no gear changing even on smaller hills, and a smooth experience. I even made K put on a helmet!

On my niece's birthday, it was a madhouse getting ready because the party was at 10 am. So we got catered food, finished decorations, and made sure she had the right outfit on. My sister hired a balloon specialist/tattoo artist; someone who could not only create balloon animals, but also put tattoos on kids that wanted to look like a rebel without a cause. My sister started noticing texts around 9 that people were cancelling...so we had way too much food, but what can you do? People began arriving, and around 30 minutes later, the bottom fell out - a thunderstorm came through. We all huddled in the tent watching the heavy shower around us. Through it all, my sister kept smiling and visiting. She was amazing! The rain stopped, we all ate, and then we decided to let my niece partake of her birthday cake. At that point, her bottom fell out: she began screaming while crying and wouldn't stop. Watching your niece do that while being force-fed birthday cake just makes you want to hold her and run away. She got cake everywhere, even while crying, which was pretty funny. My sister whisked her inside to clean her up while the kids ran around blowing bubbles and popping their balloon animals in the grass. Afterward, a lot of people left while some stragglers stayed, went inside, and played with babies. After everyone left, I would like to say that I went upstairs and took a nap, but I think I just relaxed and we went biking later on. We did go out to eat for dinner at Houlihan's and watched my niece devour tomato soup (I ate a great wrap sandwich). K spent some time at Forever 21 which she didn't get to do the previous day. How much shopping could she do? I was amazed. She is not a shopper.

We all went to Chicago the next day (minus my niece). We stopped at the Bean and the fountains (with faces of people  on them) first, watched a kid doing a street dance, and headed to the "Taste of Randolph" food festival in downtown Chicago. We actually rode a bus there, which was interesting because it was the first time I'd taken public transportation there. We got there without incident, but it helped that we had a seasoned Chicago traveler (my sister) to tell us when to get off the bus. It was pretty hot, so we walked slowly through the crowds and bought food from vendors at reduced prices. I got an amazing tomato salad, fish tacos, and some chips and guacamole. While it was great to get all of this food, it was really crowded and there weren't a lot of places to sit. So we left after that and took a bus down to the Pier, where we walked, ate ice cream, and watched the sailboats head into the Bay. We left for home, where we (once again) went biking!

On the last day, we relaxed for the most part. K and I went to a downtown area where we browsed some really cute stores and got some gourmet popcorn. We spent the day playing with the niece and hanging out with my sister. When you have a sister who is as hard-working, dynamic, and caring as mine, that's what you want to do.