Choo Choos and Cheeseburgers

I called my parents up and asked them if they wanted to go on a little fieldtrip with me and the kids today. They agreed, hopped on the train, and rode it to where the kids and I picked it up. From there, we cruised to DesPlaines (which, for you non-Chicagoans, is pronounced DeS Plaines, not De_ Plaines. Now you can say DesPlaines the right way in your head as you read this. Aren't you glad?)

Anyway, as I was saying, we cruised to a suburb of Chicago to go to this landmark restaurant, The Choo Choo. The Choo Choo has been around for more than 50 years and has an actual working train that delivers your food. I thought my kids would have fun riding on the choo choo and eating at The Choo Choo. So, we walked over to The Choo Choo from the train station and the whole time, my mom is saying, "It's going to be so crowded. I should've suggested we go later in the day. Getting there at noon is probably a bad idea." I rolled my eyes and said something like, "Wow, you're uptight, Mom." "Oh yeah, that might have been a good idea."

So we get there and there's a line long enough to circle the equator 4 1/2 times outside the door of this tiny restaurant. (Thank you, Mom, for not doing the I-Told-You-So song and dance.) The adults didn't mind waiting, but it was really hot out there on the sidewalk for the kids and after taking a peek through the window at the little train running around the counter, they were completely unimpressed. The kids were starved half-to-death because it had been almost an hour since they'd last eaten. They flopped on the ground and writhed in pain, stopping passersby and begging with outstretched hands, "Please sir, can I have a little morsel, something, anything?"

I looked across the street and a light shone down from heaven illuminating the Cheeseburger in Paradise sign. Cheeseburgers, paradise, Jimmy Buffet, less than a 2 year wait? Count me in! We all decided to head over there for lunch. I was happy they had coconut iced tea, the kids were happy there were fried pickles, the little ones were thrilled with their standard restaurant fare (mac-n-cheese), Jackson was happy because it's a very tropical restaurant, Austin was happy because he had a little paper umbrella which he inverted into a "broomstick" which "Harry Potter" (his fingers) rode through Savannah's hair. Savannah was less than thrilled with this. My parents were tolerant happy to spend the day with their grandkids.



I love this picture of Brooklyn with my dad :)


Ahh yeah, this one's pretty self-explanatory


Thanks YiaYia and Papa for a fun day!