Chicago bound

February 11, 2012

Beckam Theodore Ufkes was born on October 4, 2011. I know I'm slightly biased as his aunt, but he is the cutest baby ever! My brother, Ted, and his wife, Alicia, planned an awesome weekend for his baptism. We decided to make it easier on ourselves and took the train from St. Louis to Chicago. The kids (including Carlie!) loved being able to walk around and spread all their stuff out. We were loaded down with snacks, card games, books, and crayons. As the picture shows, even Bill was entertained by my "bag of goodies!"



Saturday morning we fully "cultured" ourselves by catching a cab to the Field Museum. Bill's mom was able to meet us downtown and spend the day with us.

The kids are meditating in this picture....the quietest they were all weekend!

Lora saved her allowance, did extra chores, and begged some "spending money" off my mom just for the American Girl doll store. She had been pouring over the catalog for weeks beforehand and had a pretty good idea of where her money would go, but she still spent over an hour looking carefully at each item before making a final decision. She bought a minature size "slumber party" set that included popcorn bowl, two sodas, and an Apples to Apples game (minature size!)

Luke saved as well and spent his hard earned money at the Lego store. Some very intelligent market analyst put the Lego store right next to the American Girl doll store, so both kids left Watertower with their wallets lighter, big bags on their arms, and smiles on their faces.

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant. Alicia organized a "surprise" birthday dinner for Ted (February 19 was his 30th!). Her entire side of the family and Ted's whole family made it for dinner. We were a loud crowd, but had a great time! After dinner the kids watched a movie at the hotel while the adults hung out for a while. I enjoyed some one on one time with Beckam (rare since he was the STAR all weekend!)

Sunday was the big day for Beckam! Alicia hosted us for a delicious breakfast and Beckam opened gifts. He was dressed in a new baptismal outfit from Alicia's parents, but Laura and Jordan got him the fancy bowtie to add to the outfit! Jordan is Beckam's Godfather and fits the position perfectly!

The church was beautiful and Beckam was such a good little boy. A lot of wonderful memories were made that weekend and we thank Ted and Alicia for being such wonderful hosts!!