Good morning! Hope you all had a safe and exciting 4th of July weekend.

Ankur’s mama and papa and Nikku came to visit us this weekend. It was so nice having them all here these past couple of days.

Nikku got in Friday early morning. We picked up burritos from this place and ate back at the apartment and hung out there until Ankur got home.

Then Nikku and I went to pick up Dad from the airport and took a quick detour to hang out by the fountain at Grant Park. Chicago is clearly the place to be for the 4th of July. The airport (and everywhere else) was PACKED.

Our weekend was a combination of playing tourist and getting things done in the apartment.

Not sure if it was the BEST weekend to play tourist because, like I said, every place was packed. We live right near the Navy Pier, which is basically the hotspot for tourists. But, with enough time here, we’ll figure out the places to avoid on holiday weekends.

Despite all that, we had the most fun.

We dressed Ishu up in his most patriotic gear. And then, while on a walk by the lakefront, we stopped at the splash fountain right outside the Children’s Museum. He was a little cautious going in, but eventually toppled over, getting completely soaked. At which point, he completely embraced the experience.

We went on an Architecture Tour. Ankur and I did this back in 2017 when we we spent a week here. And we loved it and KNEW Dad would love it (he’s a civil engineer and LOVES all things bridges and buildings), so we booked tickets for us to go on the tour again.

Like true tourists, we ordered some Giordanos and ate it while cruising down the Chicago River. (If it were up to us, we’d eat it BEFORE we got on the cruise. But, again, PACKED everywhere. Wait times for restaurants were between 2-3 hours).

We spent a lot of time at the playground. Ishu has so much fun toddling around, seeing the other babies, and climbing up the slides.

We also took Ishu to the pool in our building. He really enjoyed his first pool party, so we knew he’d love going again!

And, last night, we broke out the Mexican Train Dominoes after SO LONG and played a few rounds of that. It was so much fun and reminded me of all of us sitting in the living room in San Ramon, with dominoes scattered all over the coffee table all day long.

In between all that, we assembled furniture, went to go pick up items we had scored through Facebook Marketplace, and cleaned and organized the apartment.

Dad was smart and packed some rope in his suitcases. Which made it so much easier to walk down the street with bookshelves and dressers on a dolly.

Nikku assembled my desk (which I’m using right now!) and several other things for the apartment.

And Mom took us on a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get other necessities.

While we were walking around the store, I kept smiling to myself, thinking about all the mamas who help their kids shop for their dorm rooms when they’re off to college.

It very much felt like that as Mom weaved her way in and out of aisles, looking at every object, asking us if we needed it.

Even though we’re in our 30s now, we never stop being their kids. We never stop needing our parents and they never stop supporting us.

We are truly, so lucky that they were able to be here this weekend to help this place feel more like a home.

Questions of the Day:

What is your favorite board game to play with the family?

What did you do for the 4th this year?