A Weekend in Chicago: Travel Video

7.25.2016


Last Saturday we drove 13 hours in the car with R to Illinois for a family weekend to celebrate my grandpa turning 80. We stayed overnight at my grandparents' house, and in the morning we drove into Chicago with my immediate family and extended family.

We went to a Cubs game, ate pizza, saw the bean, and walked over 22,200 steps just on Monday alone. Jordan, R, and I flew home Monday night. We partied hard, and we still haven't recovered, but we did it! R is a traveling rockstar, and I honestly cannot believe all the things we've done with her during her first year of life.

Once again, we had a rough traveling experience coming home. You may remember what happened to us coming home from Virginia in March. Our flight was cancelled, and we had to stay overnight and take an early flight the next morning. Annoying for adults, but when you add a baby to the mix it's SO FUN. It's just how I wanted to spend a day of paid time off. Read my sarcasm.

Well, friends, learn from our mistake and never book the last flight of the day. Our flight home from Chicago got, wait for it, cancelled. Mechanical malfunction or some other nonsense. Long story short, after weighing our options we decided to have American rebook us on an 8:30 pm flight to Dallas. We could stay at my parents' house and fly to OKC in the morning. Not my favorite but acceptable. But THEN, the 8:30 flight got delayed and delayed and delayed again and didn't leave Chicago until after 11:00. R decided sleeping wasn't as fun as crawling around the airport terminal making friends, so Jordan and I took turns chasing her around for hours.

We arrived in Dallas around 2 in the morning. We were the only flight and still had to wait over a half hour to get our bags,even though we didn't actually check anything, but when they gate checked the car seat and our suitcase they decided to put it through baggage claim. By the time we got to my parents' house it was after 3 in the morning. We got up at 6 so my sister could drive us back to the airport for our 8 am flight.

What I'm saying is, I was extremely well rested.

I practically kissed the Oklahoma ground and swore never to leave again. Or, at least never book the last flight of the day because only terrible things happen when you do that. BUT WE MADE IT. And I have another story for the blog. So there's that.

In related but not as terrible news, Jordan and I bought a video recorder as a joint birthday gift, and I took it for a spin in Chicago. I filmed a bunch and used iMovie to put it all together. I think making videos is my lost calling, because it is so fun to make these even though I stay up way too late working on them. The video should be embedded below, but if it's not you can click here to watch it on YouTube. Hope you enjoy! All in all it was a fun weekend with family, and we certainly packed in as much as we could in just two days.

p.s. If you are interested in how we budget for travel, click here.

Rachel Emily said...

Ahhh I love your video! I had a grand plan to make a video of Camden's birth day, but then got caught up in the moment and didn't. Anyways, I WANT to be a person that makes videos! What sort of camera did you use?

Laura J said...

Love this!! It's awesome how much your little one seems to just roll with the punches when it comes to traveling. I honestly think I would have had a meltdown, so props to you!!

The Lady Okie said...

Oh there was a meltdown or five ;) Believe me! But she is such a great traveler and we had a lot of fun!

Sydney said...

This is so cool!!! Loved the video, you did a great job. Sorry about your flight, flying delays are incredibly frustrating. Fingers crossed for smoother travel next time!

Erin LFF said...

Your video is SO cute- you do a great job putting them together! Your little videos here and there have definitely inspired me to use mine more. I've been trying to take little clips of T here and there and I can't wait to put them all together for a first year video or something! Also, seriously impressive how much traveling you've done with R. SERIOUSLY impressive.

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

Ahh, the video is so sweet. Looks like your family had an awesome time in your favorite city. :) I'm so sorry that you guys had to deal with another cancelled flight on this trip!! R is soooo good at rolling with the punches though - what a great little traveler

Audrey Louise said...

You did a great job with the video!! Your grandpa looks great for 80! So awesome that you guys went to celebrate and took in some Chicago sights!

Ali said...

Oh man, that is one long, un-fun day! Glad you made it home safely!

Totally unrelated, but my parents sent us a box of Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza. 6 pizzas, to be exact. We're not from Chicago, or Illinois, but they've discovered this AMAZING pizza and that they can ship it, so we got some. They're visiting this week, so I'm looking forward to trying it this week!

Caroline @ In Due Time said...

Minus the flights (UGH the no sleep thing would literally kill me) I love this update. How fun that you got to go to Chicago :) And, I love this video. Tell me more... imovie.. what else do I need to do?

Miriam said...

Such a great video!!
Your grandpa looks amazing, not a day over 70. I remembr a photo of your parents from an older post, and they looked really young too. Great genes in your family!

Elizabeth said...

AHHH!!! I would love to go to Chicago one day!

The Lady Okie said...

I need to do a post on making videos, because I've had a few people ask me about it. It's a Panasonic. I don't know exactly what kind off the top of my head. But I feel like videos capture some things that a picture just can't, and they are so fun to look back on. I LOVE my videos of R. I can't believe how tiny she used to be! Ah. Don't get me started.

The Lady Okie said...

Yes! You really need to go. It's my favorite :)

Emily said...

This is such a fun way to relive vacations! "This" being a video. And we were just in Chicago so I especially loved this video!

Michelle said...

You did a great job on the video! Go us for traveling with our babes. It's so fun but a lot of work!

Brittany said...

Such a great video! I always want to make videos, but don't have the right equipment or editing program. I can't get over how cute sleeping R is at the end.

Unknown said...

That video is great! It is a fun way to capture a trip. I need to do better with it. I'm glad you guys got to go to Chicago to celebrate your grandpa's 80th. That's neat you still have him around!

Rach said...

Oh my gracious, what a rough story! We've had things like that happen to us, but never with a baby in tow! I can't imagine! But hey, like you said, at least you have another "fun" story to share. ;)

And I LOVE your video!! You did such a great job with it! You have me missing Chicago!

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

oh my goodness, how absolutely horrible! thank goodness it's over. we missed our flight to ft lauderdale for our cruise and it was the 2nd last flight.. we managed to get on the last one, but i was hyperventilating a little bit. that + your story, i'll make sure to never book the last flight!

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