Mommy in the Making : Weekend Recap

As I shared in this post last week, hubby and I headed to Chicago over the weekend and just got back late last night.

It was a sad trip but yet such a blessing. Jim and I were able to spend some time with my mom and grandma. Jim also got to meet some of my extended family which he had yet to meet and my grandma even got to see cousins that she hadn't seen in MANY years! We were in Illinois for my Great Aunt Donna's memorial service on Sunday. It was a very beautiful celebration of her life. I wish that I could have known her more as it has been probably almost at least 12 years since I last saw her.

We decided we better take advantage of the photo opportunity. Here is my grandma and her brother, Bob with 3 of their cousins whom they hadn't seen in quite some time!

Of course we also got a full Bollenbach Family photo. There was a bit of a glare from the sun on the left which we were unable to escape. Hubby and I are the last 2 in the front row on the right :) We were rocking the matching outfits.

We even matched with our coats on!

We got to Bolingbrook, IL Saturday night and spent some time with my mom and grandma catching up at our hotel. Then on Sunday we headed to a church in Naperville which was similar to the church we attend in Minnesota, Hosanna! Then we grabbed some quick lunch before heading to the memorial service. After the service we grabbed a late lunch/snack with family and caught up some more. Then we ran some errands and headed to dinner.

Monday was our last day in Illinois and we made our way to downtown Chicago. On the way, though, we made a stop in Joliet, Illinois at the prison. If any of you are fans of Prison Break, this is where the show was filmed! Along with The Blues Brothers movie. If you haven't followed Prison Break, check out the youtube clip below, but be careful, you may become hooked! Jim has seen all the seasons but I have only seen the first episode of season 1. And I know I'm going to be addicted. It was crazy to be at a real prison (that is no longer open) but was also where a show we watch was filmed! Unfortunately, they don't give tours, so we were only able to see the outside.

After the prison, we made our way to another movie set location...does this house look familiar?

If you guessed the house from Home Alone where the McAllister's lived, you are right! How crazy cool is this!?! If you notice, there is a sign in the lower left hand corner by a tree. This sign states that it's private property so no knocking on the door, etc. People live there there! It was recently on the market for over 1 million dollars and was previously listed for approximately 2.4 million dollars. I wonder if Kevin was home? :)

Finally, before heading to dinner and making our way to the airport to head home, we made the trek into downtown Chicago for one last even more memorable experience....

Here are some pictures from the drive. Not much busier than downtown Minneapolis, but I was still glad to be the passenger and not the driver! Check out those blue skies, too! It was 41 degrees and we had the windows rolled down! Okay, maybe not down down as in all the way down...But the sunroof was open and the windows were cracked. We were loving the fresh air!