A Weekend for Getting Away

On the weekend of May 15, Joe and I travelled to Chicago, IL for his brother's (Andy) graduation from Trinity Theological Seminary. It was a fun getaway weekend for Joe and I. After a morning of smooth, kid-free, easy travel from Maryland to Chicago, we arrived at Andy & Lisa's apartment about 1 and 1/2 hours before the start of graduation. We enjoyed lunch and a bit of visiting before it was time to head off to commencement.

Despite their better judgment, Trinity awarded Andy with a nice red hood and a Masters in Divinity.

It was a good ceremony (not too long) and there were lots of congratulations and pictures afterward.

Andy & Lisa

Andy, Lisa, Tim, Mary

Andy, Lisa, and Nancy and Maynard Halland

The two brothers took an opportunity to ham it up a bit (all that picture taking gets boring).

The sisters: Laura (due in July), Trisha (due in September), Lisa (due in December (yay! we just found out!), Bethany (has an 8 month old, due for a break).

After graduation we changed clothes and headed to a nearby park for a chilly picnic. Lisa and her mom had prepared lots of yummy food that we happily feasted upon. After gorging themselves, the boys headed out to try out the frisbee golf course at the park. The girls enjoyed lots of chatting time.

After our picnic we headed back to Andy and Lisa's place to hang out and play cards. Joe and I beat the old folks (that would be Tim & Mary) quite soundly the first game. Not satisfied with their crushing defeat the first game, they challenged us to a second game and lost again. Amidst the game Tim tried to make as many messes as possible. He started by throwing water on me, splashing water on Mainard with his famous "dancing hair trick," and ended the messy episode by getting mud and dirt all over the kitchen floor. I promise, he was on his best behavior.

What's a wife to do?

Sunday dawned sunny and beautiful, so we shared another outdoor picnic at Andy & Lisa's apartment.

Mary's birthday was Monday, so we celebrated with cake and singing.

For dinner, we enjoyed some traditional Chicago-style pizza at Gino's Pizza.

Ryan & Laura

Tim, bored at the table, taking self-portraits with our camera.

After dinner, it was a few more rounds of cards back at the Pull ranch.

Then, it was off to bed, for a 3:30AM wake-up to catch a 6:00AM flight. It might have been early, but you sure do breeze through check-in and security when you're not weighed down!

Congrats Andy & Lisa and thanks for a WONDERFUL weekend!