This is where the vacation all began. I had to snap a shot of this rare (and by rare I mean never) chance we had to drive our van with not one single child in it, unless you count the one in my belly, but that one does not have to make potty stops and beg for snacks and ask "are we there yet?" every 5 minutes.
This was a great chance for us to have 6 hours of
uninterrupted talking. The time flew by and we loved listening to the music WE wanted to listen to and stop when WE wanted to stop and ate what WE wanted to eat. Wow...it was so nice.
That night we checked into our beautiful and very
contemporary hotel that was not suited well for children at all and it made me love it even more. Then we hopped on the train and headed to the city.
Charlie had made us a reservation at a FANTASTIC
restaurant. They had printed special menus just for us that said congratulations on the top because Charlie had told them we were celebrating finding out about our 5
th baby. I am pretty sure they were expecting an older couple walking in because when they saw us they looked
surprised that we were having our 5
th baby. I suppose that is a compliment but the looks we got made me laugh a little.
The food we ate was amazing. I felt like it was the first time I actually tasted my food in a really long time. Each bite just melted in my mouth. They made their own lemonade and really tart lemonade when I am pregnant is one of my favorite things and let me tell you this stuff hit the spot. My mouth is
watering just typing about it.
After that we just walked around the city and went to one of our favorite spots, Buckingham Fountain. It was a beautiful night and it was great to be care free and enjoy my great company!
The next morning we woke up and had a great breakfast in the hotel and then got all our gear together for the adventure that was ahead of us. We headed to Soldier Field with tickets in hand excited to see what our first GA experience was to bring.
We drove around for an hour trying to find a good place to park and ended up parking right next to the field but we had to dish out $45 for parking. Did you hear me??? $45 just to park a car! We took a deep breath, paid the lady and then forgot all about it as we grabbed food, chairs, sunblock, camera.....and rushed to find the end of the line and see how many people were ahead of us.
We got there a little before 1. The gates did not open until 5.
Opening band started at 7:30. U2 did not come on until around 9. You would think 1:00 you could get an
ok spot right? Well, when we showed up there were already about 2,000 people ahead of us!
We ended up in line right next to this couple and a few other really fun people as well. The funny thing about these guys was that the husband went to U of U and the wife went to
BYU. How is it that in a crowd of 65,000 people we end up sitting next to the two people we probably had the most in common with? They were a blast and we had so much fun getting to know all of the other fellow U2 fans. I can honestly say I have never had more fun with a group of complete
strangers in all my life.
So after sitting outside for 4 hours the anticipation built as we made our way to the inside of the stadium. Is this stage not one of the most amazing things ever? It was an absolute sight to see. We made the mad dash to the stage to claim our spot.
We ended up just outside of the inner circle right next to the catwalk. It was a perfect spot to see all that the night had to offer. We were super close to the band but we could also see all the screens and lights which you can't do from inside the "inner circle". I can
honestly say we had the best spot of the night. I have posted some video below and I think once you see a few clips you will agree.
We then waited another 2 hours for the opening band to start. This began the second phase of no eating, no drinking, no nothing because if you left your spot there would be no return. I was nervous seeing as I am pregnant and make frequent trips to the potty and the kitchen but I knew I could buckle down and hang in there for one night and I did!
Here are a few shots of the night. Keep in mind this was not zoomed in...I was actually that close to
Bono!!!! I think my heart skipped a few beats :)
Ok, so here are some of my clips. The first one is of
Bono right next to us. Seriously I was in heaven. The end of the clip Charlie put the camera on me and I had a huge grin on my face but you can't see it on this version so well, but trust me I was grinning from ear to ear.
The next clip is one of my favorite moments. There is nothing better than a choir of 65,000 people singing along with you to your most favorite songs. What a blast!
The last clip is a classic...With or without you. What would a U2 show be without that song?
The show was amazing and I must say as funny as it may sound it was one of the best days of my life. Totally exhausting but worth every second.
We got back to the hotel around 1 A.M. and collapsed into bed just to be woken up a few short hours later with alarms going off everywhere and announcements being made to evacuate the hotel due to a fire. So half asleep we made our way outside with all the other guests in robes an p.j.'s...it was quite a sight! Luckily everything was contained and we were let back in the hotel about 30 minutes later. What a crazy night.
I then made the lonely drive back home by myself since Charlie flew out first thing this morning for work. It was not quite the way we would have liked to end our trip but we were so glad to have had the time together that we did. This is a weekend I will not soon forget.
Lastly, a HUGE thanks to our good friends who were willing to take our kids, even a teething grouchy baby and love them and care for them while we were away. You are the best and I so appreciate you letting us escape for a few greatly needed days!
