Family Friday - 06/13/08

I didn't think Family Friday was going to happen today. J has to work a lot until our new church building opens. But, he was able to break up his day to make time for us. We went to see Kung Fu Panda. I also didn't realize today was going to end up as a theme day until we ate at a Thai restaurant and Motor Mouth kept saying he was eating kung fu food!!!Parking was $16.00 WITH validation. Most places will validate your parking ticket, so you park for FREE. We drove around and around, looking for an almost non-existent parking spot. Finally, we crammed our SUV into a 'compact car only' slot, next to a Range Rover doing the same. Kung Fu Panda was AWESOME!!!!! It was a very well done animated movie - comparable to a Pixar production. There was a good plot. It was funny. Well written. We highly recommend it.

Mini Me was PERFECT! We fully expected her to talk through the whole movie and cry and squirm. Neither of us thought it was going to be a pleasant experience. Mini Me was amazing and engaged.After the movie, we realized we still had 2 hours worth of parking. Motor Mouth suggested we take a bus. So we did. To Navy Pier. What a great idea!!!! The weather was perfect. It felt like we were walking a boardwalk in Florida, on vacation. Talking to the pigeons Big anchor at end of Navy Pier

Self-portrait hobbying on Lake Michigan

PART TWO

The kids and I napped after our movie and lunch. J went back to the office. When he came home this evening, we decided to do something 'different' that we never get to do. So, we drove to Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and visited a courtyard style shopping mall, with fountains and lots of outdoor space. Not many malls in downtown Chi-Town. It worked out that we continued the Kung Fu Panda theme when we ate dinner at Basil Thai. Motor Mouth kept saying he was eating Kung Fu food. I'm sure this would have been a great opportunity to explain the difference between Chinese and Thai people, but my mouth was full.

The food was wonderfully flavorful. It reminded us so much of the amazing dishes we enjoyed when my family owned a Thai restaurant in Canada. The kids loved it - they ate everything and asked for more and more again!!