Two weeks ago we received a letter from BCIS informing us that our appointment to complete the process was today. So we drove into Chicago and headed to the BCIS offices on West Congress Parkway. We waited about 30 minutes (not too bad for BCIS), Andrew relinquished his green card, and we acquired that precious piece of paper which is the gold standard for proof of citizenship.
After we received the COC, it was off for a celebratory lunch. We let the children select the place... you guessed it, Mc Donalds!
After the kid's happy meals, at the suggestion of a co-worker, we decided to head over to see Millenium Park. It was the first time we had been there. Did I mention it was 90 + degrees? Even with the lake breeze, it was pretty warm. We saw lots of children--and some adults--playing in the fountain, and the mist felt pretty good.
Then it was off to the sculpture garden and especially "the bean" which is a curved steel sculpture. While we were there a school group came by. As part of a video scavenger hunt (which they admitted they were losing) they had to take a video of a circle of people singing the Star Spangled Banner around the Bean. So we joined in. Appropriate song for Andrew's citizenship day!
Then Andrew and Steve headed for the Craft Tent, which was today sponsored by the Museum of Mexican Art. They made a mask while Abby and I listened to an orchestra rehearsing Finlandia in the bandshell.
By this time, we were all a little warm, so after a return trip through the wet plaza, we headed down to the free trolley stop. Only no free trolley came. So we decided to walk back to our car, and gratefully turned on the air conditioner and headed home. We had two hot and tired children!
2 comments:
Congratulations to Andrew! What a fun day! Did you remember all the words to our national anthem? I'm sure you did because, you have good parents. Love to all of you!
WooHoo!! Having that COC in hand really feels good, doesn't it?? Congratulations Andrew! You are officially official!
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