Our Adventure To Chicago

Thirty-two hours, one moving van, one flight, about twenty iced coffees, one lost ninja turtle bag, twelve lost food vouchers, an Indian wedding, and three crazy kids later... we're now in Chicago! I'm pretty sure we've packed our last two weeks as full as humanly possible. Let me lay it for you. Joel and my cousin decided to drive our boxes to Chicago. It took them 34 hours! They made the best of it! For the sake of my children and my sanity, my aunt and I decided to fly with the kids, turning it into a four hour journey. Little did we know it would turn into an entire day at the airport...As our taxi pulled into the airport at six a.m., I checked my flight, for the second time that morning. Instead of flashing ON TIME for the seven a.m. flight, it was now saying our five p.m. flight was on time. Apparently, our first flight was cancelled and they pushed us onto a direct flight. All I was picturing my head was the horrible fight it took to wake my kids up and get them ready so early. Now, I had an entire day at the airport to throw at them. I told my aunt and her response was perfect, "No. We won't be doing that." My aunt is one of those no nonsense kind of ladies and I love her for that! We went in and found an open kiosk. After some negotiating, we were able to get rebooked on a 3 p.m. flight with a different airline. The gal helping us was amazing and even gave us twelve food vouchers. Instead of going back to the hotel, we decided we could hack it there for the morning. There was a kid's play area and a Starbucks at every turn. Our brains were shot because we were both functioning on a few hours of sleep. In the next few hours and three Starbucks drinks later, we had lost all of our food vouchers, lost a backpack, found a back pack, and were asking ourselves why in the world we decided to stay in the airport. Getting on the plane was a huge relief. Our flight was four hours so we figured the kids would sleep. They slept for three hours which was AMAZING. Although my aunt had to deal with my oldest, Liam getting four bloody noses! He had been dealing with really bad allergies all week and the high altitude was the shove over the edge his body didn't need. We arrived to Chicago only to find out my bag had been put on a different flight. While waiting for my bag Levi got his foot stuck in the stroller... Are you even surprised at this point? We weren't.What made the whole day better? Arriving to our new home and being greeted with delicious butter chicken my father in law made us! Indian food can seriously make anything better. The rest of my aunts visit was much better. We started unpacking boxes and then started to eat our way around our new town. We tried all the best deep dish places, which my husband was all too happy to take part in. Then we celebrated her last day in the city. We took Lucas and explored! A day or so after she left, we drove to my sister in law's wedding. Indian weddings are full of ceremonies, delicious food, more ceremonies, more food, dancing, family, and more food. It was a beautiful week and our family had a great time. One of my favorite parts of weddings on my husband's side is that family from India comes!! I was able to FINALLY meet one of Joel's cousins and I was able to witness first-hand how talented she is. She put together ALL of the dance numbers throughout the wedding week. They were great and everyone had so much fun! The kids were also able to cuddle with Nanamama (great-grandma) and Thathia (great-grandpa) all week. The day of the wedding was beautiful. My sister in law was so calm and collected all day. She was taking care of everyone else and making sure her bridesmaids and photographers were enjoying themselves. We had to remind her, "This is your day to be selfish!!" I now know why her friends all call her mom. She had the biggest heart and selfishness just isn't in her nature. I don't think there could have been a better way to start off our adventure in a new city. Make sure to follow my blog so you can hear more about the wedding our follow us on our new adventure in Chicago! If you liked this post and want to hear more about our family, sign up for weekly updates!