Chicago!



Chicago was fantastic.  I had a brief moment of panic when I pulled out my camera to take pictures on day 1, only to find out that my camera card was full.  I quickly discovered that there were numerous pictures of carpet, ceilings, and eyeballs.  The following picture revealed the culprit.

 

Case solved.

We headed to Chicago on Monday and made our first stop at the Museum of Science and Industry.  All 3 kids loved it. 

 

Some days we're still trying to figure it out.



l-r, Soldier Field, John Hancock, Lego Store, and the view of Willis Tower from our hotel room

I was a little worried/disappointed/irritated when I asked Blake early on in the trip, what his favorite part was so far.  His response was, "The Lego store!  It's just like the one at home at the mall!"

Shedd Aquarium



 

 







I was really excited to see the Willis (formerly Sears) tower.  As many times as I've been to Chicago, I'd never been up to the top.  It did not disappoint.  We all ventured out onto the glass ledge and the view was fantastic!

 





 



Willis Tower

Once we were done in downtown Chicago and ready to relocate to a different hotel, we had a few hours to kill.  We decided to check out the GiGi's playhouse in Chicago.  We had no idea what to expect, or if they were even open.  We lucked out because not only was it open, I got to talk to a board member, a tutor, and a couple of parents.  This was definitely the highlight of my trip.  I've been so excited to bring GiGi's to Indy, but now that I've actually been to see a GiGi's, I'm ready to ROLL!  (Notice the GiGi's donation link I added to the top right of my blog?)  I was also glad that my family could experience what it is that I've been talking about so much these past few months.

We relocated to our other hotel on Wednesday and it was a surprise to the kids that we were going to a hotel with a huge water park.  They loved all of it:  the wave pool, the many different slides, hot tub, kiddie pool, basketball court pool.  And an extra bonus was that it was so deserted, especially on our first day.  The hotel also had multiple shops, restaurants, snack bars, ice cream and candy shop, spa, arcade, duck pin bowling, and a kids craft and activity room.  The hotel was a big hit with all the kids.

 

When we got home, I asked the boys what their top 3 things were in Chicago.  Nick ranked his top 3 as the Willis Tower, the Shedd, and the water park.  Blake said that he couldn't decide because it was all so fun.  His answer was perfect, and much better than saying the Lego store that's just like the one in our mall.

 

Glad to be home.