Today and tomorrow are a bit weird, in that I’m staying out in Valparaiso, IN but commuting in to Chicago. I rode in with Bob early in the AM (he came in to work on our place while I was at work), but took the South Shore line back out to Valpo at the end of the day.
Post-dinner, we played a few rounds of Secret Hitler, which Katie had brought over. Last year, we played Ticket to Ride, and this year we brought over Azul.
On our way back, we got a note that several other family members were going to check out the Balloons over Marine Festival. So we re-routed, found a decent parking spot, and gathered at the edge of the park.
We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.
This is a really great spot, and some place I would love to come back to with a book. I’d like to sit here again for an hour or two, sipping on coffee and just relaxing for a bit.
After a late breakfast, all of us wandered over to the Kohler showroom to check out the various new things on display.
Kohler is a favorite vacation spot for Julie/Bob, and the last time Liz and I accompanied them was nearly seven years ago (back in 2011).
Liz and I left the city on Wednesday, and headed out to Valparaiso to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Julie and Bob. Today, we mostly just bummed around the house before the festivities (and Katie/Tim’s family came over).
Yesterday, Liz and I had plans to help Bob with a cement pour over at Katie’s place. The weather wasn’t on our side yesterday, with a ton of rain throughout the morning and early afternoon.
Bob and Tim worked outside in the rain all day, and got a lot of the initial prep work done (framing, laying down a paver base, renting a compactor, rebar). And so the actual work of pouring the cement got shifted to today.
Today, Liz and I joined Julie, Bob, Katie, and Tim in Merrillville to celebrate thanksgiving. We got there around 1:30PM, and had a pretty lazy afternoon just hanging out in the kitchen, drinking wine, and snacking prior to the big meal.
On Saturday, Liz and I went out to Valparaiso to celebrate Julie’s birthday (it really was a weekend of birthday parties). We had dinner plans at a downtown restaurant, but arrived a little early to just visit briefly.