Wedding + Grandma + Family = Trip to Chicago

That's the formula for a visit! And so between August 23rd and 26th, I was in the Mid-west.

1. Wedding

One of the main reasons was to see my cousin Jeremy wed. The wedding took place in Milwaukee at the Pabst Brewing Company factory. I have to say, the venue was pretty cool. Pabst has been around since about 1884, and I think the factory building since 1880 (I figured it's 1880, since that's the year on the building. I'm so clever).

But this visit wasn't about the building or the factory, it was about my awesome cousin Jeremy marrying Nikki. The ceremony was short and sweet and was in a courtyard. The reception was on of the larger rooms in the building. In a nutshell, they were very happy and everyone had a lovely time. {More Photos in the album here}

2. Grandma Ruth

My Grandma Ruth is 92 years old and still chugging along. I am so glad to see her every year as she is very special to me. We visited her for lunch on two days during my visit. She was so happy to see us, and even mentioned how we'd traveled all the way from California (I'll give her the California thing, 3 of the 4 of were from Cali; Seattle would be hard to remember).

We took her to Hackney's for burgers (Hackney's is a favorite of the family. It's one of the places we visit on every trip). She still has a hardy appetite, which always amazes me. (In the picture, she is waving to the camera!)

Grandma and Family at Hackney's for Lunch

3. Family

Did you know that the majority of my relatives are from Chicago? Both my parents were born and raised there. We were the runaways of the family that moved to California, but the rest remained in the general Chicago area. I have many good memories of summers in Chicago. So it's always great to visit and catch up with the family.

Being that my parents were raised in Chicago, there are a lot of memories there. On Sunday night on our visit, we visited on such memories. We went to Ravinia, the site of my parent's first date. Ravinia is a concert venue where people can picnic and watch the band/artist from their picnic site on the grass. They saw Dionne Warwick (you'll recognize her songs), and when it started to rain she sang Rain Drops Keeping Falling on my Head.

But we didn't see Dionne. Instead, we saw another favorite band of my parents, Chicago. Yes, we saw Chicago in Chicago (you'll recognize their songs, too). We had a nice picnic and enjoyed the music.