The Cathcarts

We had a fabulous time in Chicago!  We left on Thursday morning with our friends, Jason & Brandy McArtor.  We got to Chicago early that evening and headed out to supper at Chicago’s famous Giordano’s for some Chicago-style pizza.  Our hotel was downtown, so it was nice to be able to walk everywhere and see a lot of Chicago.  That night we headed back to the hotel because the boys wanted to watch the Cubs and Bears on TV and all of us were a little tired from the drive.  On Friday, we met up with our friends Brad and Sarah Buffington from St. Louis.  Brad came with us to the Cubs/Astros game at Wrigley Field.  To get to the game we had to take the train, which was not fun.  We were packed in this train as tight as it could possibly be, without any air conditioning and it was about a 30 min. ride.  It was not a fun time. The game was also pretty boring.  There were hardly any hits and they ended up losing.  I think the most exciting thing was the fight that we saw in our section out in left field.  Of course it was two guys yelling at each other because one was throwing peanuts at the other, but it was still entertaining for us.  We’re happy that we got to see Wrigley Field and the Cubs play eventhough they didn’t win.  That evening we headed out to the Navy Pier.  Our intention was to go to the Hawkeye Huddle (pep rally) that was being held out there, but once we heard that no one too exciting was going to be talking, we left and went to eat.  We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp, which was excellent.  While we were eating, some Hawkeye fans sat down at the next table and it just happened to be a group from Hubbard.  Jay and Jennifer Sheldahl (Swenson) and Adam and Karen Guard.  I graduated high school with Jennifer and I have known Adam since I was a little kid, so it was nice seeing and talking to them.  It seemed that everywhere we went, there were people dressed in black and gold.  We got stopped several times on the streets by locals who wanted to know what was going on with all of the Iowa people in town.  The city was being taken over by Hawk fans.  On Saturday, we got up and went on a boat tour of Chicago.  It was very neat to learn about the history of the city and all of the skyscrapers.  After the tour we headed to Soldier Field for the big game.  Of course Brad was very excited about this because he loves the Hawks and the Bears and he has never been to Soldier Field, so he was like a little kid in a candy store.  We met up with Brad’s friends, Ryan and Emily Larson from Gowrie, who were tailgating.  We hung out with them before the game and got to have some brats and hot dogs.  The game wasn’t all that exciting, but it was still great because we were in a great stadium and we won, which is all I cared about.  Brandy and I knew that if they lost, it was going to be a VERY long car ride home from Chicago.  On Sunday morning we headed back to Iowa.  We couldn’t wait to get home to see Jaxson.  I have to admit that I did miss him, but it wasn’t as hard to be away as I thought it was going to be.  When we got home, he gave me a weird and confused look, which wasn’t quite the reaction I was expecting or hoping for.  He was quite upset when Grandma Pam and Grandpa and Grandma C left.  This morning he seemed much happier that we were home. 

service here, a PB&J sandwich will cost you $16.00!

Jason and Brandy in front of Harry Caray statue

It was Iowa day at Wrigley Field so they had BJ Armstrong sing the 7th inning stretch

View from the Navy Pier

The Hawk semi pulling up to the Navy Pier

Adam and I at Bubba Gump Shrimp

Jennifer Sheldahl

Sears Tower (3rd tallest building in the world). It

would be the tallest if they counted the antennas

on the top.

Steph VanDinther (Brandy’s college friend), Brandy, me, and Sarah Buffington

Brad on the boat tour in front of Navy Pier

Look at all of the black and gold!  There were over 45,000 Hawk fans and only 15,000

NIU fans.

Brad Buffington, Jason and Brad

Tailgating with Ryan and Emily Larson

In front of Buckingham fountain.  This is the fountain on the beginning of the show

"Married with Children."

To see and hear more about our trip, check out Jason and Brandy’s website at www.mcartor.net