Beach Day and The Hard Rock Cafe

As much as I love the beach, it has been awhile since I have actually gotten to go to one.  :( After a discussion with Honey, we realized that our 2 younger kids had NEVER been!  So we set out on a mission to remedy that right away with a day trip to North Avenue Beach in Chicago.  

The second my toes hit the sand, I was in heaven! 

As was C, who had spent many vacations digging in the sand growing up.  It was a matter of minutes before he grabbed the buckets & found his spot near the shore.  It's nice to see that no matter how old you get, somethings never change.

The rest of the family headed out to test out the water.

Even though we checked the weather & the forecast looked to be a perfect beach day, it wasn't exactly like we had hoped. Sporadic rain sprinkles, cloud cover and a little chilly due to the breeze coming off of Lake Michigan ~ but we made the best of it and had a blast!

Then the digging began.  What big brother starts ...

The younger ones must follow.  :)  Monkey see, monkey do ... sort of.  Yet no matter how hard they tried & how fast they would dig, their hole was no match for the tide rolling in.

Even when B decided to attempt to block the incoming water with her body.  "I've got an idea!" she said.  :)  It was a good try though.

Then the sun peaked out for a little bit & I was able to show Miss B my "awesome" sandcastle building skills. I have to admit I was a little out of practice.  :)

The "Great American D Family Dig" continued throughout the afternoon and I have to admit got to be pretty impressive.  :)

All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon.  Despite the weather, everyone had a great time! Then with one last dip in the water...

We packed up our gear, brushed the sand off our toes and headed for the van.  We had hardly set foot on the blacktop when the questions of "When can we come back?" began.  I think a full fledged beach vacation needs to be in our future for sure.  :)  

I have already shared with you my obsession with all things Disney related, but have I mentioned that I also have a deep love for the Hard Rock Cafe?!?  So I was tickled pink when Honey said we could stop there for dinner before heading back home.  

My first experience at a Hard Rock Cafe was in Orlando.  Shocking, I know!  :) That was in my early teen years and I have had the pleasure of visiting several of them since.  Including but not limited to New York, Cancun, Washington DC, Atlanta and Paris.  I started collecting the Signature Guitar pins from each restaurant that I visited.  It's a collection that I treasure because each one is a little different and unique to its location. So needless to say, I was extremely happy to be able to end our day here.  :)

The decor is always fantastic, with several one-of-a-kind pieces of Rock & Roll history.

Check out this cool light fixture hanging on the ceiling in the waiting area!

The food was also as delicious as I remembered, however I forgot how large the portion sizes were.  :)

After dinner and a stroll around the restaurant to check out the memorabilia, we decided it was time to head back home.  One step out the door and the clouds opened up to a complete downpour.  So Honey was nice enough to go get the stretch limo, I mean mini van for us.  :) I couldn't resist taking this picture of L waiting patiently for our ride.  The irony of his shirt was to good to pass up.

As our summer is quickly coming to a close, this was a fantastic family day filled with many fun fan favorites.  Try and say that 3 times fast!  :)