Doesn’t this picture look almost fake, like computer-generated special effects from a movie? Well it’s real- and our young friend Anneka Barrow is one of those lucky people flying through the air on this ride at Navy Pier. (And that’s the famous Navy Pier Ferris Wheel to the right.)
This was just one of the great moments we had during our big day in Chicago Monday with Jeff, Kate and Anneka Barrow as well as Kris Capel, Dan Coyle, and their daughters Anneka and Amelia. (Kris used to be the assistant minister at Holy Communion- and Amelia is our goddaughter.) The Coyle/Capels came to town for the two weekend weddings and Monday was Berg/Barrow day and it was decided that Chicago would be our destination. We had a cloudless sky and comfortable temperatures- absolute perfection- and it just happened to be Taste of Chicago, so there was something very special for us to do!
We got off to a somewhat stressful start when we came fairly close to missing our train in Waukegan (if we had missed it, there wasn’t another train for another two hours) and the Taste of Chicago was wall-to-wall wildness that was interesting but a little much. One of the best parts of the day was actually when we walked from Grant Park (where the Taste was happening) and through Millenium Park and then to Navy Pier- right along the lakeshore. Had it just been Kathy and me, we would have NEVER walked that kind of distance or even seriously considered it- but both the Barrows and Capel/ Coyles were completely gung-ho and we got swept up in the exercise hysteria…. and it turned out to be a beautiful and soothing walk and just what the doctor ordered- and afforded us with our best chance to catch up with Kris and Dan. As for Navy Pier itself, we enjoyed the Ferris Wheel (now that’s a ride that’s exactly our speed!) – the crystal gardens – baby ducks in the miniature golf pond – dinner at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Shack – and plenty of time for plain old togetherness. And at the end of the evening, Dan and Jeff and Anneka (Barrow) astounded us by walking back to the train station. . . and Kris and Kate would have joined them if there hadn’t been the small matter of the two kids. Four otherwise bright adults wanting to walk a thousand blocks when there are taxis just sitting there waiting to be ridden. Are these people INSANE?!?!?! Actually, if my feet hadn’t felt like two pumpkins, I might have tried it. . . Talk about the power of peer pressure!
It was so wonderful to be with Kris and Dan again – (and of course the Barrows as well, but we’re blessed to be able to do that a bit more often) . . . but I have to say that the warmest feeling lingering from the day comes actually from Anneka Barrow. She was SUCH a trooper, doing everything we needed her to do without a single word of complaint. A lot of teens her age would have expected the day to revolve around them, but for Anneka it was mostly a day for lavishing attention and love on the little ones, and doing it so tirelessly and joyously. So Anneka gets our vote for trip MVP and Nicest Teen Age Girl on the planet.
We feel fortunate to have squeezed so much fun into one packed day and evening – and to have done so with people we love so much.