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Summer Catch-up: Part 1

Chicago in July
I had a rare business trip to my sister city Chicago. I call it that because all of my family lives in either the Bay Area, where I'm from, or Chicago, where all of my Mom's family that immigrated lives. (Now just a few of us have branched out to Utah and Nevada.) I rarely get to go to Chicago, especially for work, so I couldn't resist taking everyone along. While we were there, I got to see my mom's oldest sister, her brother and her mom - Taisei's Great-grandma, who is closing in on 90 now. The timing was perfect - even my mom could be in town to hang out with us. My uncle's a taxi driver, so we got a semi-professional tour guide and free rides everywhere in the city.
While in the city for work, we got to stay right on the Magnificent Mile - the historic Chicago Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue. We soaked in the nice accommodations, and perfect location in downtown. We were extra lucky - the weather was in the 80s most of the time.We did the architecture boat tour and a dinner cruise provided by the sponsors of my business trip. Here's Taisei chillin'.
A shot from our night cruise. Timing couldn't have been more perfect and my mom was there to help babysit for the evening.
We also got to see members of our distant family, who moved there a year ago. Taisei had a blast with his distant cousins. Here we are on the Navy Pier right after dinner in the famous Billy Goat Tavern. Taisei was so mad that I got him a grilled cheese instead of a burger like everyone else. So I went and got him his burger and he ate the whole thing! Miracles do happen from time to time.
Annie and Nathan were super tour guides. They took us to the Aquarium, the zoo, the pier, and on a boat ride. Thanks guys! Taisei's loving the popsicle that Auntie Annie bought for everyone.Lastly, we got to run into Mari, Derek and Collin for the second time this summer. But we forgot to take pictures! Taisei and Collin finally met and had a great time running around my Aunt's house together. It was a little scary since my Aunt's house is more like a museum than a playground.

Before and after our week in downtown, we stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, who took us to lots of interesting places in the 'burbs. Here is proof that we were at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

Sometime after our trip to Chicago, we got a rare opportunity to go to the movies. We especially wanted to see "The Dark Knight" because we heard it was filmed in Chicago. Sure enough, we were able to identify locations all over the movie. In fact, it was probably filmed mostly within 1/2 a mile of the hotel that we stayed in. Cool, huh? (One of Taisei's favorite phrases lately.) Remember this scene? This is where a Lamborghini gets totally smashed. Cool, huh?

And before it gets too late, I will stop here and hopefully not have to add too many more parts before we're all caught up. We hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

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