Good morning on this final day of 2024.

I’m getting some quiet time this morning, courtesy of an alarm clock in the form of a poopy diaper. Riyu and Ankur fell back asleep and I tip-toed out of the room for some alone time while they sleep for another hour or so.

Figured I’d do a quick weekend recap before the house wakes up!

On Thursday, we bundled up and walked over to the Navy Pier to check out the lights.

Of course, once we were inside the pavilion and warming up, ice cream sounded good to everyone. So we stopped at Kilwins for a little treat before heading back home.

On Friday, we spent a big chunk of the day at home, but decided to head out to the Water Tower place in the evening just to move around a bit.

We got Red Mango (obviously), took some pictures, and Ishu got a new Lego set from the Lego store.

The next day, with the temperatures being a bit higher, we planned to hit Millennium Park and Maggie Daley.

We did an obligatory “bean” picture (that we now know as “Cloud Gate” thanks to the curious, brilliant Akshar Misra).

The grandparents had just as much fun as the grandkids at Maggie Daley, running across the jiggling bridge and sliding down the slides together.

Afterward, we went to Minghin for lunch. The hot& sour soup hit the spot on such a cold day. And the baby-of-the-day award went to Riyu who slept the entire time so we could all eat peacefully. Then, once he woke up, he ate fried rice and almond cookies like a boss.

Since we were already so close to Lakeshore East (and since the weather was still pretty decent), we decided to head down to the playground while the grandmas popped in to the Indian mart right there.

On Sunday morning, I dropped my parents off at the airport. Ishu got to work on building his new Lego set with the help of Babaji and Papa.

It rained all day long so we cozeyed up at home for the day.

We did our cousins Secret Santa and, once that was over, Ishu was excited to play with his new bugs and read his new book that he got from Veer Bhaiya.

I finished this book and this book. And then started (but am now almost finished with) this book.

In the evening, I met up with Franzi and Caro for some hot tub and pool time. I stayed up way past bedtime, but it was well worth it!

And, yesterday, Ishu came with me to run some errands and meet Lani for coffee.

She’s in town for a wedding and it was so nice to spend some time with her in a new-to-us coffee shop in a new-to-us neighborhood. We went to Jackalope in Bridgeport. It was a very funky, unique goth cafe and Ishu had fun seeing all the decor in each of the rooms.

Afterward, we all went out to the park. Ishu wanted to show Babaji and Dadi where he will be taking his gymnastics classes during the winter.

The kids played at the park for a bit and then we moseyed on over to the 900 shops for lunch.

Riyu slept through lunch again which allowed everyone to have a (somewhat) peaceful lunch.

We stopped at Galt Toys before heading out and then experienced some Michigan Ave. craziness – a first for us since moving here in 2021.

There are a lot of crazier things that happen around here (thank you, Citizen app). But, it was the first time we’ve been so close to it all. I’ll never forget the way it looked when all those cops hopped out of their cars and ran through the traffic outside the 900 shops. It’s on replay in my brain right now.

Ironically, whatever transpired didn’t actually make it onto the Citizen app so I have no clue what went down.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the evening at home and then I took a Core Restore class with Franzi. Which is probably why I slept so dang hard last night. I wish they offered that class every night and not just on Mondays. It was wonderful and made me feel all melty.

Today, we’ll probably attend a Noon Years Day event for the kiddos, complete with kids champagne, a balloon drop, and a magician.

Which is probably when I, too, will “ring in the New Year” because no way, no how am I staying up ’til midnight, TYVM.

Some things never change.

Okay, I’m off to make some coffee.

Have a safe and happy NYE!