12/15/08

Christkindlmarket - Chicago

Sorin is becoming quite the traveler - and quite the adventurer at the same time. Earlier this fall he went to Minnesota with Katie and her parents. Last weekend we took Sorin to Chicago for our annual trip to Christkindlmarket. We've been going to this festival for 3 years now with our cousins Matt and Amanda Cranney and Justin and Kelly Olson.

It's a German festival at Daley plaza where they serve brats, potato pancakes, and Glühwein (a traditional hot spiced wine). Chicago: It's certainly called the Windy City for a reason. The elements are nothing to take lightly. I was decked out in my Mountain Hardwear coat and I had three wool sweaters on. This year the snow was in that semi-frozen state on the top of some of the vendors' tents. But when the wind gusted, it ripped the snow off and blew it right over the top of the market.

So some concerned parents might be thinking: "You had your 3-month old baby out in that?!?" Well here's the deal - we've tested out Sorin's Wisconsin weather gear. We put him in two onsies and then into a snowsuit of fleece an inch thick. If you saw this thing, you'd ask if you could get in. He comes out warm when we open him up. But when I first stepped out of that parking
garage and onto Randolph Drive, I was worried about that Chicago wind. We quickly made a wind shelter for his face out of the blanket and wrapped it into the shoulder straps on his Snugli. And the rest was history. Sorin slept a lot of the trip. I wish I could have taken a picture of his eyes peeking through the blanket and under the hood of his snowsuit.

Katie took this picture of us - I have Sorin in the back middle. Matt and Amanda on the left, Justin and Kelly on the right (not quite ready for the picture).

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