We made it to Chicago and spent the rest of the 4th in the town of Buffalo Grove with my family on my mom's side. It was wonderful to have so many kids around to play with Noah! My cousin Yei and his wife Connie hosted a BBQ at their house. Noah got to interact with their kids Cynthia, Stephen, and Michael. My other cousin Lai, his wife Cherry, and their kids Matt and Katie were also there to play and were gracious enough to let us sleep at their house after the party died down. Finally, my aunt Amy, her husband Scott, my aunt Jin, and my cousin David were there to round out the picture.

It was so much fun getting to catch up with family and eat good food. We feasted on BBQ ribs, chicken, hotdogs, fried rice, potato salad, and taco salad. For dessert we had cherry and apple pie with three kinds of ice cream. Noah got to splash around in the kiddy pool, flirt with everyone, and practice crawling on the carpet (although he doesn't quite have it down yet). We were all so having so much fun that we didn't even venture out to see the fireworks! Instead, we swapped stories and talked about plans for touring Chicago the next day. Erin and I were very excited to spend more time with such wonderful families...