"-Gago"

We went to Chicago this weekend for a friend's wedding. We met Thom at Pitt when he was a pensive philosophy student and have been fortunate to maintain our friendship across a decade and half a dozen cities. His bride, Colleen, is one of the most interesting and kind individuals I know. Both of them are united in their commitment to environmental protection and it was nice to eat dinner with their friends and family, many of whom share that passion. Unfortunately I have limited photographs of the lovely couple, as M and I were mostly busy trying to keep Laurel from running down the aisle during the ceremony or pulling the table cloths down once the reception started. We succeeded. There were no disasters. Laurel enjoyed the wedding and carried not one, but two purses. We tag-teamed the reception so I got a chance to have lengthy adult conversations and several glasses of wine.

We decided to go a few days early, so M could participate in the bachelor party festivities, and I could visit with one of our oldest friends, and the person we credit with our initial introduction. Mary Beth has an almost-three year old, and Laurel was so excited when we got to their apartment and they had toys and a small person to play with and snacks and macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Chicago was great for many reasons, but especially for the abundance of boats, taxis, trains and buses. And elevators. Our hotel room was on the 20th floor, overlooking the river and Laurel woke up from every nap saying "boat!" and jumping in her crib to see out the window. The other big hit was the fountain at Millenium Park. Since we are all in the habit of getting up at the crack of dawn, we didn't even have to wait to get a table when we went out to breakfast at Yolk. We spent a lot of time walking around the city and went to Intelligensia more than a few times.

Hanging out with Laurel in a new city was awesome. Even though we didn't make it to the zoo or art museum, she was still really aware that she was in a different place, and when we would ask where we were at she would shout "Gago!" Chicago always happens to have great weather when I'm there, and I fall in love with it every time.

Enjoy the photos below which are mainly of Laurel and Mary Beth's daughter frolicking in various parks. I'm looking for one of the three of us all dressed up and fear we may have neglected to take one.