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DAY SEVEN Thursday 12/05/2011

The plan was to head to Aunt Cece's house today after spending some time in Downtown, but that also meant having to carrying around a bag with stuff to last for 3 days. We decided it would be the perfect day to get the Chicago Institute of Art out of the day, which also gave us the opportunity to store away our bags in check in. Once again I found myself astounded with the collection they had there. 4 hours was not nearly enough time to get through everything and we had to rush through the 'Modern' period, a section full of artworks and artists we learned extensively about in high school. I was so upset that we only had 20 minutes for this section...I could care less about old religious engravings ;)

We ran to catch the hour long train to Bartlett and were picked up from the station. It seems that so far everything is working out so well for us, never late, never delayed or cancelled and nearly always picked up from airports or train stations. We're living the life right now.

Sams family are incredibly sweet. Aunt Cece is like a sweeter, gentler version of Gemia and her and her husband Tom are such perfect parents for their children Ella and Josh. The kids were shy at first, eventually coming to become a little intense and overwhelming, but what 5 and 7 year old isn't? They have such a unique bond with their parents and it really taught me a lot about the value of family and how incredibly lucky I am when I reflect on my own.

The neighbourhood was a stereotypical, welcoming neighbourhood that

I watched a lot more American cable that night and discovered something awesome. On Demand. Basically it records television shows that have been on (without you needing to do anything) so you can choose it later.

AMAZING. Hah, but such is America.