The Powells Return...

Where is this, you may ask? Cape Cod? North Carolina? No my friends, it is the Indiana Lake Dunes National Park (yours truly had no idea this existed) and was a brief detour for Mr. Powell and myself a few days ago. It was very nice - I bet it would be REALLY nice if it was warmer than 30 degrees, as well.

So, the Powells have returned from a wonderful visit with Nana Gayle and Papa Mark in Grand Rapids, with a mini-vacation to Chicago for the two "adults" for a few days. Heaven!

The trip started off....well, not so well. As my last post indicated Mike was getting over a bout of the flu and Henry seemed to be coming down with a nasty cold. We awoke pre-dawn last Friday morning (gotta love those early flights) to find poor Henry miserable, and with a fever of 103.4 - yes, his highest temperature ever. There was debate of postponing, but he seemed OK and we were loaded up on Infant Motrin so we decided to soldier on.

Yeah - it was a bad flight. Poor Henry was so sad, so so tired, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep - and then we had an over 2 hour delay in Detroit because they didn't know where our plane was (this is true!). Here is the saddest photo ever:

Note the glassy eyes, the exhausted face, the general misery. Mike and I looked worse, let me tell you! (our fellow passengers may also have looked worse by the end. Henry was, shall we say, not a stellar passenger this day).

We almost fell into Gayle and Mark's arms with relief when we finally arrived. :)

The first two days were spent by all of us in Grand Rapids. Henry began his road to recovery by taking daily 2+ hour naps (!!!) and enjoying the antics of Gretel the dog (who loved Henry's food flinging abilities)

On Sunday afternoon Mike and I left Henry in their capable hands and headed to Chicago for a few days of "non-baby" time - the Sleep-cation!!!! On our agenda:

- Sleeping
- Shopping (our hotel was right in the middle of the Magnificent Mile - Coach was down the block, Nordstrom was across the street. I was happy)
- A museum or two
- A few good dinners
- A few workouts in the fancy fitness center in the hotel
- General meandering
- Lots of conversations NOT related to babies, baby poop, baby sleep, the transition from bottle to sippy cup, the general overall cuteness of Henry, etc.

Here is what we accomplished off of that list:
- Sleeping
- A few good dinners

Yes, we were utter sloths. (although, I naturally came down with Henry's cold while there thus part of the reason for our lack of motivation to do anything else). It was FABULOUS! :)

We did do some shopping and took some long walks. Had a great dinner at Smith and Wollenskys and some classic Deep Dish during the day. We had daily updates on Henry so we knew his fever had broken and he was continuing his fabulous sleeping (he was showing off for his Nana).

The last night we had a phenomenal dinner at Rick Bayless' restaurant Topolabampo (http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/topolobampo.html)
One of the best meals we have had - we both had different tasting menus (but we chose to do them sans the wine selection - there were way too many margarita, mojito, etc selections). I discovered that Habanero sauce is REALLY REALLY INSANELY HOT. We also saw Rick Bayless in the flesh (exciting for those who watch the Food Network)

We also both discovered that as parents over the age of 30 we can no longer drink nearly as much alcohol as we used to. My Champagne Margaritas and Mike's Mexcal Margaritas on top of the wine we had at the hotel wine/chocolate/cheese bar (YUM) ahead of time did not mix well. And our last evening of sleep was marred by the oh-so-lovely hangover the next morning. We have learned our lesson - damn you Rick Bayless!!

We returned to Grand Rapids yesterday afternoon to find Henry well and in fabulous spirits - he obviously enjoyed his time with his grandparents quite a bit. Another early flight this morning yielded a very different trip - a happy baby who did not cry and actually took an over hour nap in my arms on the second leg.

So, a big THANK YOU to Gayle and Mark for taking such wonderful care of Henry for us. You have no idea how much we appreciated it!