This year the Azerbaijani Reunion was held in Chicago. We didn't fly to Chicago, nope I thought it would be much more fun to drive 13 hours :/ Honestly, Ron and I talked about flying but we both refused to pay 800.00 and that was only 1 way...not round trip...yep 1 way! So, in other words YES it would have cost us $1600.00 to fly round trip, as a family, to Chicago...for a weekend?! Just way TOO much money! So, we endured the car ride. It truly wasn't an awful experience, now I didn't say it was a great experience just not awful :)
We started out late Thursday night, July 16, 2009. By the time we had left it was already creeping into Friday morning, probably left about 2 am. We didn't arrive til almost 6 pm on Friday, July 17, 2009. Luke cried the last 40 minutes of the car ride and then some :/ Our nerves were frazzled at this point! However, the great thing about Chicago is that they are an hour behind us, so it was actually 5 pm not 6 pm...still didn't make a difference we were ALL exhausted. We had a meet and greet to do down at the hotel's pool with other families who have adopted from Azerbaijan, which Ron and Ryan happily were up for while I stayed behind to TRY and calm the screaming baby, aka Luke :/ I will state that chocolate does wonders for screaming toddlers or I should say chocolate chip cookies...we too were off to the pool party :) Except it was freezing at the pool, due to a cold front and the fact that Chicago is on a lake, and Mommy didn't pack any jackets/sweatshirts for anyone :/ Who would have thought to pack jackets/sweatshirts when it was the middle of summer?!
I must say the next day was much better! We spent the day, Saturday, July 18, 2009 with other families who have adopted from Azerbaijan and most importantly Ryan was able to see his "Baku Friends"! We walked the "Magnificent Mile" and went to Millennium Park...all extremely cool!!! We let the children run around in the fountain, we were told that this fountain is famous in Chicago. We took pictures of the children in front of the "Bean". We ended the day by going to lunch with some of the other families. Unfortunately, I am an idiot and forgot my camera, however I did have my cell phone but can't seem to download the pictures I took that day onto the computer :/
That night we all met at EFES Restaurant and the owners were an amazing couple, one was from Azerbaijan and I believe the other was from Turkey. Just an amazing couple, who were absolutely endeared by the children. We had amazing Azerbaijani food, as is the tradition at the Azerbaijani Reunions and there was the silent auction (my personal favorite!), where the proceeds benefit those children in the Azerbaijani Baby Houses. It felt extremely good to spend time with others who have had a similar experience to you, truly an amazing experience! It's quite funny how all the stories about Azerbaijan were the same, yet they all had a piece that would always make these stories unique because it is your child's story of how they came to your family :) To end the night we went to an amusement park where we watched fireworks, which btw Ryan now adores fireworks...ever since Walt Disney World :)
We woke up on our final day in Chicago and I will say I was sad knowing that today we would be leaving Chicago but happy to get back to our life. We did spend the day sightseeing in Chicago, an amazing little tid bit of trivia for all those who are interested...the Sears Tower is NO longer the Sears Tower but rather the Willis Tower as of that Thursday it had changed names. We took a ride on the lake and saw the architecture of Chicago. That day, as a treat to the boys, (and yes I mean Ron too) we stopped at the Lego store, which was impressive. I have the cutest picture of both Ryan and Luke hugging R2D2 totally made out of legos, that was extremely cool! We left Chicago later that evening, we wanted to go to the free zoo but there never seems to be enough time in the day! A friend offered us her hotel room where we could shower and change but we were exhausted and decided to get on the road. I will say that it was much better driving home than driving to Chicago. Chicago will always be remembered fondly :)
Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey (I don't know if anyone noticed but we changed the spelling, do you like this spelling or the Lukie spelling?)
