Our Trip to Chicago to See Ashlee!!!!

THURSDAY

We left on Thursday, October 11th and that morning I just could not get out of bed and get myself going. I hit the snooze button about 10 times!!! I was so excited to go see Ashlee but I was also so exhausted and I had a cold and was not feeling very well either. So we got a late start. Lexi and Sammy were so excited about going and they had their whole trip planned....do a little homework, have a snack, take a nap, do more homework, etc. They were so funny!

We stopped in Eau Claire, WI to get gas and this van drove by on the street and it said "Pool Man" and the girls got all excited and they said we want to see the pool man and then the van pulled into the same gas station and then it started coming towards us and they started to scream and Lexi said Sammy get out and go get the pool man and I started laughing. Butch was outside pumping the gas and he had no idea what was going on inside the van. I took my camera out and took a picture of this van. They had no idea what the "Pool Man" was all about until I told them that they had to have a pool at home and that this guy came to your house and cleaned your pool and did the maintenance on it. Then they said..."well we want the pool man to bring us a pool. I said go to sleep!!! LOL!!!

Anyway, we continued on and we did not stop again until we were just about into Chicago and we had to stop one more time for gas and to use the bathroom. I called Ashlee and told her we were almost there. She was going to meet us at our hotel. I told her I would call her again when we were getting off at our exit because then it would only be another mile to the hotel and then she would leave and take the bus to the hotel.

We got to the hotel and this time we stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton!!! I will never stay anywhere else when we go visit Ashlee! We got the Columbia College rate and this hotel was top of the line. They unloaded all of our stuff from the van and the doorman, Peter who became our friend told Butch and I that we were not to carry anything! He called both of the girls Princess and they loved that. They parked the van and they sent us to the desk to check in and they took care of all of our stuff for us. Here is a picture of Peter with the girls....they really liked him!

Our room was like an apartment! We had a separate bedroom with a bathroom, livingroom and a full kitchen with a dining area. I told Ashlee while we were there that it would have been the perfect place for her to live. Anyway, we checked in and a few minutes later Peter showed up at the door and unloaded everything and put everything away for us where it went. I told Peter that my beautiful daughter would be arriving any minute to visit and that he would know that it was her because she looked just like Eva Longoria. Ashlee called from outside the hotel to find out what room we were in and the girls and I ran down the hall and stood outside the elevator to wait for her. When the doors opened she jumped because she did not know we would be standing there. I gave her the biggest hug and the girls were waiting to hug her!

We left right away and we walked to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner because we were all starving. We had not stopped to eat because we wanted to get there so we just munched on snacks and fruit that we had brought in the van with us. By the time we got done it was late and Lexi and Sammy were tired so we walked back to the hotel and they got ready for bed and we sat up and talked and then about midnight I walked Ashlee downstairs and Peter got her a cab and he told the cab driver to take good care of her. He took down the car # and told me she would be okay and I told him that she would be calling me as soon as she got home.

FRIDAY
The next morning I got up and put on a crock pot of homemade spaghetti sauce and then we got ready and went down to breakfast. We came back up and got ready to go meet Ashlee at her place. Before we left I added the meatballs in the sauce and I let it cook on low all day while we were gone. Ashlee had asked me to make spaghetti dinner while we were there since we were going to have a kitchen in our hotel room. She missed my cooking. That made me feel good and plus we got to have a homemade meal together instead of going out to a restaurant. When Ashlee got done with class we walked to her place. Butch pulled our huge black suitcase to her place that was filled with stuff that she asked us to bring for her.........another case of bottled water, her winter jacket, some sweatshirts, her bathrobe and some odds and ends that she needed from Walmart!! Then I carried the body pillow that I had bought her and I had it covered in black trash bags....she did not know I was bringing it! She had wanted one and then I found them on clearance at Target and it was the same color of her bedding that she got for college so I bought it for her and decided to surprise her with it. We were only 1.75 miles from her place but it took us like 40 minutes to walk there because the girls were looking around and asking questions and taking pictures and then they would say....are we there yet??? I said keep walking and we will be there soon.

So we finally got there and she got all of us checked in as guests for the day and we went up to her room and unpacked the suitcase and put everything away and she kept the suitcase there so that she can pack her stuff to come home for Christmas.

The first thing we did was Ashlee showed us the Terrace in her building...we had never seen that when we were there two times before. You go thru the Great Room where there are a bunch of couches and chairs and a fireplace and you can go out onto this Terrace and sit on nice days or nights. It is really nice out there and there are trees and plants and tables and chairs out there.

Then we got on the train and we went over to the Dance Center. I wanted to see where Ashlee does all of her dancing. She has quite a trip to the Dance Center everyday that she has to go over there for classes. It is not right there like all of the other buildings, but she said she does not mind....she gets on the train and then when she gets off she has to walk a few blocks. Here are pics of Sammy, Ashlee and Lexi with their tickets. This was Sammy and Lexi's first time on the train....they were so excited! The next pic is of Ashlee, Lexi, Sammy and Butch waiting for the train. It is called the Redline.

So she took us on a tour of the inside and there were some classes going on so we could not go into all of the studios but I did get pics of the auditorium where she takes some classes. I just love this place...this is so different from what she is used to and she loves it!!!!

She said that when they practice they don't just put in a CD for their music. They have accompanyists that come in and play for them. She said they know what to play and when to play it. It sounds pretty neat actually! Here is a pic of their instruments that they play for practices:

When we were done with our tour of the Dance Center, we took the train back to the Cheesecake Factory to take pics in the daylight. It looked so cool there. It looks like a big cheesecake and inside you think you are inside a cheesecake. We decided to get cheesecake and take it home with us for dessert that night.

When we were done shopping, we went back to the hotel and I got the spaghetti ready for dinner and Ashlee and her friend Stephanie came to the hotel and had dinner with us. It was really nice to get to know Stephanie and visit with her. After Stephanie left, Ashlee and the girls went down to the pool and went swimming for a little bit. I cleaned up from dinner. When the girls came back they got ready and then we brought them back to Ashlee's place. Lexi and Sammy spent the night at Ashlee's. They were pretty excited that they were going to be spending the night at the UC! Butch and I took the train back to the hotel all by ourselves and we did not get lost! :)

SATURDAY

The girls met us at the hotel in the morning and we had breakfast. They said that they had fun staying at Ashlee's place but they said that Ashlee "cramped their style." I just started laughing! When I asked they why they would say that they said that they wanted to go up and down the halls during the night and switch all the names on the doors on her floor and she would not let them. LOL!!! That sounds like something they would want to do!! LOL!!! Ashlee said that she had a dance party with them and the girls said that she turned the music up really loud and they said they asked her if she was allowed to do that and she said everyone else does it and they said to her "but you are on a quiet floor" and she said well nobody else is quiet up here. LOL!!! All that matters is that they had fun!! Then we went to the bus stop and waited for the Trolley to go to Navy Pier.

We arrived at Navy Pier and we had a good time there:

Lexi and Sammy found a Build a Bear Workshop and they had a blast! Sammy named her monkey Zippy and Lexi named her monkey Tiki.

And finally, here are some fun pics we took before we left Navy Pier:

When we were done at Navy Pier, we went to Water Tower and had a late lunch with Ashlee and then she had to work and we shopped for a while. When we were done we went back to the hotel and took the girls swimming. Ashlee came back to the hotel when she was done with work and visited. I ended up getting sick from a salad I had eaten for lunch and had to go to bed and so I did not get to visit with Ashlee much on our last night there.

SUNDAY

Ashlee came and had breakfast with us in the morning before she had to go to work and then we had to say our good byes which was very hard for me. I cried before she even got to the hotel. After she left for work, we finished packing and we headed home. Butch had to do all of the driving back home since I was sick most of the way back home.

We did have a good trip and I am looking forward to Ashlee coming home for Christmas. She is coming home on December 14th and she will not have to go back until January 26, 2008! She will be home for her birthday!! YIPPEE!!