A Chicago Wedding Weekend

So, my cousin Holly (really Chad's cousin, but I love her like my own, so I've totally adopted her) is getting married in October.  I'm really excited because it's promising to be quite the affair.  However, my mother-in-law brought up a good point - won't we want to have some kind of babysitter there to watch Wylie so we (and by we, I mean me, not Chad, since he's not truly the primary caregiver, you know, since he just left to spend 6 months overseas, courtesy of the army) can have a good time??  And the answer?  A resounding, "YES!"  So my MIL started throwing out possibilities.  Her niece's daughter could bring a friend to hang out with during the day and the friend could watch Wylie during the evening activities and during the wedding.  Okay, yes, that would work.  But honestly?  The only people who have taken care of my baby without me anywhere around in the vicinity, outside of Chad of course, are my mother and his mother.  And I'm sure that my MIL's niece's daughter (who is 17) wouldn't bring a complete moron.  But I'm not totally comfortable with the idea of someone who I do not know AT ALL taking care of my baby.  So I was really hoping my mom would come to Chicago (with my dad, por supuesto) and take care of the baby during the evenings and during the ceremony.  After all, I know that she's a reliable caregiver (hello, I'm walking proof) and she's already taken care of him before.  Plus, what grandparent doesn't want to spend some quality time with their adorable infant grandchild?  So, after a very heartfelt and pleading email, my parents agreed to come to Chicago and take care of the baby.  But Internet, you don't truly understand this triumph of a parent-looking-for-a-reliable-and-trustworthy babysitter if you don't understand that my father HATES Chicago traffic.  And, since my mother has to ride through Chicago traffic with my father (who is not a good heavy traffic driver in a mostly unfamiliar city), she hates navigating through Chicago as well.  But they still agreed to come!  Yay!!

I'm hoping that during the day we can head to some of the attractions with Wylie, who will be almost one year old (!).  Places like Navy Pier and the Children's Museum or Shedd Aquarium.  I think the aquarium would be awesome as a little guy - it's definitely one of my favorite places, so I'm really excited to take him there.  It should be awesome.  It promises to be a great, new experience, for him, and for me.  I wonder what it will feel like to watch him explore the aquarium, to see the look on his face.

And, speaking of new experiences, Holly is going to be having a Hindu blessing on the Sunday after the wedding, which will be awesome to see.  I've never seen any Hindu ceremonies, so I'm really interested to take part in this blessing.  It's called a Satyanarayan Puja.  So hopefully I will have some great new experiences to blog about after that weekend.