A Special Birthday Weekend for Two Special Guys

Even though I sometimes suffer from a’woe is me’ attitude, I know I’m a lucky girl.  Take this weekend as an example.

Vishnu and I hosted my parents and Vishnu’s parents and brother so that we could celebrate both our dads’ milestone birthdays together as a family. My dad turns 65 tomorrow, and Vishnu’s dad turns 70 just a couple of days later!

With Vishnu, Aekta, and Niel’s help, I created a mini itinerary for us.  I figured a good balance of sightseeing, rest, and good food would make everyone happy, especially the birthday boys.

I’m not going to lie…coming straight off the plane from London and entering into a long, busy, full weekend was a bit nuts!  But seeing all of these faces made it that much easier!

Vishnu was in charge of dinner on Thursday night (re: the night everyone flew in), and because we wanted something easy, he decided to order Bombay Wraps.  A great idea on his part because they were a huge hit!  My personal favorite is the chickpea wrap – so flavorful!

Friday started nice and early, which is a good thing because that gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and get ready.  Our first stop – the Willis Tower.  This was everyone’s first time visiting in 20+ years, so it was a lot of fun walking around the sky deck, taking pictures, and nervously walking on to the ledge!

We stopped for lunch at Cafecito before heading to Millenium Park and The Bean.  Again, lots of picture taking…

After getting my mom and Vishnu’s mom an Uber (they were tired!), the rest of us decided to take the scenic route home.  This included a walk down Michigan Avenue and a stop at the Ghirardelli cafe because Niel was craving a milkshake (for anyone who cares, the Nob Hill shake is AMAZING).

We rounded the night off with dinner at Opart Thai House (yes, again!!).  So much yum!

Because I knew everyone would be a little tired from the day before, I didn’t plan much for Saturday morning.  Lunch was  at Frontera Fresco and so delicious.  For our first activity of the day, we rode along the Chicago river on an Architecture Boat Tour and soaked in all of the beautiful sights.

And then we stopped at Ghirardelli once again for more ice cream!

Saturday night involved pizza (Lou Malnati’s), cupcakes (Sweet Mandy B’s), and board games (Scattergories and Taboo).  However, my favorite part of the night was surprising our dads with birthday decorations, cards, and a whole lot of love!

Sunday was a free for all.  The boys wanted to go to the Field Museum, and the girls wanted to go to Devon St. (where all of the Indian shops/restaurants are), so we split up and conquered the day!

Devon was a fruitful trip for me because I now have all the spices, grains, and lentils I need to make Indian food (or so we think!).

Our original plan was to take the family to RPM for one last hurrah, but we decided to save that restaurant for a future trip.  Instead, my mom and Vishnu’s mom made a tasty home cooked meal, which honestly surpassed everything else we ate the entire weekend!

And then it was Monday…the day everyone left us!

Like I said before, weekends like this remind me of how blessed I am, specifically when it comes to family.  I’m so thankful for all of the wonderful humans in my life and can’t wait to see them all again soon!

I’ll end this post by wishing both our dads a very happy birthday!  So glad we celebrated your special milestone birthdays in Chicago!  Love you both!

And with that, I plan to reset my habits tomorrow.  This means everything changes for the better (hopefully!) – food, organization, fitness, sleep, etc.  The past few weeks (months?) have been a little decadent in one too many ways.  Not a bad thing at all, but I need a bit more ‘normal’ in my life.  Wish me luck!