At the end of July, two of Cary Anne's old college roommates, Laura and Allison, came to visit us in Chicago. It was kind of a spontaneous trip. Laura and Allison were two of the people we were able to see when we went back to Kentucky for the 4th. (Before that, we hadn't seen them in a year and a half.) Then, about 2 weeks after we returned to Chicago, we got a text asking if they could come up for a few days. By that time, Cary Anne and I were on different work schedules (since I had started working evenings at Target and Domino's), so we had fun showing them around town separately. Cary Anne took them to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and I took them up on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel (which I hadn't been on since my 8th grade class took a trip to Chicago back in 2001). Luckily, we didn't have some time where all four of us could hang out together.
At the beginning of August, Cary Anne and I took a free motorcycle safety course offered by the state of Illinois. We figured the course would help us be more comfortable on the Vespa, and if we successfully completed the course, we would get our motorcycle license without having to take the test at the DMV. Neither of us had our full motorcycle license (only permits), despite the fact we had already owned the Vespa for over 2 years. The course was 24 hours of training over 2 weekends. It involved classroom time and riding time. I was hoping our experience on the Vespa would give us a little advantage, but motorcycles with clutches and gear shifts are quite different. There were a number of wobbles and spills throughout the class. At the end, there was a skills test, which was rather nerve racking. Luckily, CA and I both passed, and we now officially have our motorcycle licenses. We celebrated by going to get ice cream.
Cary Anne's birthday was in the middle of August. Part of her gift from me was a tennis racquet because she had been talking about how she wanted to learn to play. We started spending a lot of our free time at the court. Sadly, on our first outing, Cary Anne managed to injure herself. She was collecting a ball that she had hit out of the court and stumbled into a pothole. I laughed a little because I thought she had just tripped, but she had a pretty good scratch on her knee and her ankle had twisted, so then I kind of felt like a jerk. Thankfully, it was only a minor setback. Within a week or so, she was ready to get back out on the court. While the weather was warm, tennis kind of became our go-to date, which was a nice break from dates like eating and going to the movies where we just sit around.
At the end of August, our friend Lisa came back to visit from the west coast. Lisa was one of the first people we met at our church, Community Edgewater, when we moved here. Sadly, about a year ago, she moved to Seattle, but she still returns from time to time to visit. This time, she convinced a friend of hers to host a rooftop party downtown. So for a few hours one night we got to live up on a swanky high rise. It was a pretty good way to end the summer.
At the beginning of August, Cary Anne and I took a free motorcycle safety course offered by the state of Illinois. We figured the course would help us be more comfortable on the Vespa, and if we successfully completed the course, we would get our motorcycle license without having to take the test at the DMV. Neither of us had our full motorcycle license (only permits), despite the fact we had already owned the Vespa for over 2 years. The course was 24 hours of training over 2 weekends. It involved classroom time and riding time. I was hoping our experience on the Vespa would give us a little advantage, but motorcycles with clutches and gear shifts are quite different. There were a number of wobbles and spills throughout the class. At the end, there was a skills test, which was rather nerve racking. Luckily, CA and I both passed, and we now officially have our motorcycle licenses. We celebrated by going to get ice cream.
At the end of August, our friend Lisa came back to visit from the west coast. Lisa was one of the first people we met at our church, Community Edgewater, when we moved here. Sadly, about a year ago, she moved to Seattle, but she still returns from time to time to visit. This time, she convinced a friend of hers to host a rooftop party downtown. So for a few hours one night we got to live up on a swanky high rise. It was a pretty good way to end the summer.
