Boogie will start Kindergarten in a little more than a week and this will be the first time that we've had to plan our "vacation" around a school schedule.  Where should we go?  How should we get there?  It reminds me of all my favorite vacations and the great friends and family I spent them with.

One particular vacation stands out as a comedy of sorts.  Although at the time it was NOT that funny, in retrospect, it all turned out fine.  I went to visit my best friend, at the time, who had moved to Chicago to go to design school and to be close to her fiance.  On this particular visit, she thought it would be nice to set me up with a coworker of hers whos company she enjoyed.  Chuck seemed like a nice enough guy.  The fourof us went out to dinner and had a couple shots of tequilla (Chuck and I) and then went to a night club.  While I do not remember the name of the club, it was HUGE.  I turned my back for 2 seconds and all the sudden found myself alone, no friends in sight.  Making the best of it, and knowing we planned on being there for a while, I got a drink from the bar and wandered around looking for interesting people to engage in conversation with.  At one point I remember a bouncer trying to get frisky with me, but I just laughed, smiled, and walked away.  Soon I "bumped" into my friend and her fiance and we had another round of drinks and casually looked around for Chuck.  After a couple more drinks (and hours)  we had not seen Chuck anywhere.  Assuming he ran into other friends and would get a ride with them, we went to leave.  As we went to the parking lot to get into my car...it wasn't there.  We, of course, thought we were just looking in the wrong place, so we kept wandering the parking lot.  After about 30 minutes, we started getting worried, this was a bright yellow car, so it should've been easy to spot.  Well we started to go back to the club to call the police (I'm showing my age now) because we didn't have cell phones.  As we got to the front of the club, up pulled my car.  Had we valet parked and not remembered?  No, My friends coworker, Chuck, had apparently taken my keys out of my purse and decided he would take MY car and an unknown guest, out for a spin.  Needless to say, I took my keys, my car, my friend and her fiance, but NOT CHUCK, and we went home.

So, back to our winter vacation.  My friend still lives in Chicago, and I haven't been there in, gosh, 15 years.  Her middle son is 3 months older than mine and she has a daughter who is less than a year younger than my daughter. I think the kids would have a blast together, and I would love for my kids to see a "real" winter.  We don't get those here in Virginia. I however am NOT fond of driving in Chicago or in winter weather, so I was looking at different Chicago tours to see the city as well as things the kids might like to do while there.

Trusted Tours & Attractions offers site seeing as well as discounted tickets on special attractions.  I think the kids would really enjoy going to the Legoland Discovery Center.  You can check out their online travel guides as well as sign up for their newsletter and get the chance to win a $150 Magellan's Gift Certificate.  You must sign up for the newsletter by August 31, so check it out now.

If you are planning a trip to New York, you should check out their Top of the Rock tour.  The view is spectacular.