Chicago and the Grabenhofers

Day 7:

Chicago and the Grabenhofer Family

Breakfast with Mickey (and his disfigured ear).

Caity and Abby enjoying the finished product.
Abby was a great help making breakfast.

Here we have Amanda Grabenhofer drinking in public,
and Rob looking like the condescending prick he is.

Amanda at Chicago's Union Station 

Let there be light!

Ever see the Untouchables?
This is the staircase where Ness apprehends the Bookkeeper!

Amanda and Erica being checked out by Capn' Smoove to the left.

Rob's amazing photography skills.

Rob proving that even in Chicago he's still metal.

More Chicago Union Station 

Prepare yourselves for one metric fuckload of architectural pictures.

A Chicago Skyscraper

Another Chicago Skyscraper

From Willis Tower (yes, the floor is clear; no, I'm not taking the pictures).

Erica proving her ability to laugh in the face of death.

Dizzy?

Buildings and Water!

Prime?

Holy Shit!
Optimus Prime!

The only way to get from downtown to Lake Michigan

Amanda and her camera (she graciously donated many of the pictures you are viewing).

View from the Water Taxi.

Ok, look closely.
Erica, Rob (in the glasses), and Amanda (in the glasses with a camera in front of her face).
And for the record, Erica's earrings are awesome.

Yet another Chicago building.

All the ways to get around Chicago are pictured here:
Train, automobile, boat, and on foot.

Another building!

A bunny!

Are you still reading these?

A concrete phallus! 

A beehive!

Look! A punk rock concert!

A lightsaber being struck by lightning!

Your mother in her underwear,

A monkey in high heels.

The Chicago Tribune Building

A fountain!

God's Matchstick!

A Gay hooker from the Castro.

I really don't know what this is.

I like bananas.

A view looking down the canal.

The trees on this building are very confused.

Navy Pier on Lake Michigan

Flowers and Douchebags at the Navy Pier

A Water Fountain (because Chicago gets hot)

Harry Caray's Tavern!
We enjoyed a genuine Chicago area beer.
The guy to Rob's left is shuffling.

Budweiser? Really?

Even on my vacation I have to correct the grammar of teenagers
because Ben (Amanda's eldest) doesn't know the difference between
"you're" and "your."

Does this REALLY need a caption?

On a pier on Lake Michigan resides Shakespeare's Theater!
And it's playing Beauty and the Beast?
Huh?

More Skyscrapers!

Water and a torn down pier!

A Piraty Ship

There is a difference between graffiti and art.
This is art.

Artist at work.

In Chicago, people like to state the obvious on their buildings.

This man is amazing.
He is proving that...
Chicago is bringing back bell bottoms,
the Ultimate Warrior arm ties live on,
and that Nordstrom's has SERIOUSLY broadened its customer base.

A gold topped building.

This water tower is in case of fire.
I hear those are a problem in Chicago.

A sheep in a dress.

Chicago's version of Central Park.

This thing is known by Chicagoans as "The Bean"

Stand inside "The Bean,"
Leave the Flash on,
Take a picture.
Result: Star Field.

Rob's chest is exploding!

An amphitheater!

Flowers and shit.

See?

Tom Sawyering it up in Chicago!

An artificial creek in Chicago to cool our weary feet.

A normal street in downtown Chicago.

The two pillars are fountains which everyone is enjoying.

So apparently Chicago employees midget fire fighters.

Shitty Beer raised to the second power is still shitty beer.

Molly, holding up a family photo.

Molly, still holding up a family photo. 

The Grabenhofers:
Back Row: Ben, Ed, Amanda
Front Row: Abby, Caity, Aiden
Dogs: Molly and Noel
FYI: Grabenhofer means "grave digger."
I SO know who I'm calling when the zombie apocalypse comes.

A teenager using his urban ninja skills to disguise himself as a couch.