Vacation

a seldom used word in the coates closet. matthew and i went on our honeymoon ten years ago. it was 7 days in hawaii. since then, we have only been out of town for either a 3 day weekend (usually at the family cabin in prescott) or for business trips/rewards- 4 days tops. in ten years, no real vacations. i have been warning matthew for the last few years that his work pace would catch up with him eventually, and it did back in july.
he said, "we have got to get away for at least 5-7 days". i was shocked. okay, i thought. what exactly does he mean? over the next couple weeks we nailed out some details. we discussed a family trip in many forms. the three of us, the five of us (adding my folks to the mix, so we could get a little time alone), the two of us alone, the three of us and then the five later. but matthew really wanted to decompress, and not "do" all the running around that inevitably ensues on a "family" vacation. so, we decided on just the two of us. then the question became, what do we do with toby?
see, the only childcare we have is basically my parents. my 74 year old dad and 70 year old mom. not exactly the pace of our lively 4 year old son. but, they are pretty kickin' for "old folks". pretty active. matthew's parents often help out, too. but aren't as available, as they enjoy traveling themselves and still have very demanding careers. so, i was not about to saddle my sweet, ever-giving parents with my crazy kid for any longer than 4 days. but we figured out how to juggle him around to get us 5.
next question- where to go? we decided to leave this a little to chance. we kept an eye on the "last minute deals" on several travel websites. seattle was a very strong contender for quite a while. then, in the last few days before our trip was scheduled, a new destination came into the game. chicago! neither of us had ever been anywhere near chicago. we knew very little about it, except of course, what movies had taught us. untouchables, ferris bueller, and my best friend's wedding. sounds like a fun place, right? so, we sat down tuesday night (a full 36 hours before leaving!) and booked a trip to chicago. we got a smokin' deal too. 4 nights in a 4diamond hotel, right in the middle of downtown, plus airfare, for 1200. we got really excited, and then it was time to pack up and go!
there are about a thousand mini-story blogs, and tons of pictures to share. i'll start a thread in the next couple days. keep checking in, and don't forget to comment. i live for comments!