Our much anticipated trip to Chicago. I have been a cubs fan for about 20 years, so this city has been high on my list to visit for a long, long time. We decided that it wouldn't be too much hassle to make a stop there on the way home, so while Daddy-o drove our car stuffed with belongings, the kids and I took the train. Our trip was a bit stressful since the station agent wouldn't even let Daddy-o help me get all the suitcases and car seats onboard, and then, we beat Daddy-o to Chicago by a couple hours, which turned out to be a problem because he had reserved the hotel and they wouldn't let us up to the room, but in the end we all made it.
Our hotel, thanks to a pretty sweet Priceline deal, was really nice and in a great place. Easy to get to lots of the sights. It was perfect for a short trip. Too bad that this was when we realized things were not going to be easy. Both our kids had been a little sick and were insanely cranky. Bean, who hardly ever naps anymore, actually fell asleep in the stroller numerous times. We didn't find out until we got home that they were actually both pretty sick--like double ear infection type sick. Poor babies. But at the time, they sure challenged our trip.
Despite the two little monsters we traveled with, we did get to see quite a bit.
First up, the Shedd Aquarium.
The kids had fun--would have enjoyed it more if they were well, I'm sure.
And the Field Museum. This girl is a museum kid. But don't let the smiles fool you. There were plenty of tears mixed in.
We did a lot of walking that day. It was fun wandering around and seeing the harbor,
the parks,
the buildings.
A quiet moment.
So I got to see where my beloved Cubs played, but it was pretty anticlimactic considering. You can see the oh-so-cooperative Bean in the stroller, refusing to have her picture taken.
Bean fell asleep a little later and we thought it might be a good time to go up to the John Hancock Observatory.
We went up to the 94th floor observation tower and all was good, until Bean woke up. I don't know if it had anything to do with finding herself towering over the city, or more likely her general disposition on the trip, but she threw her second tantrum of the day. She really has a gift for picking the worst possible locations to lose it. The only way to get down was an elevator, which happened to have a pretty long wait to get on it. Daddy-o took her to the bathroom instead, trying to get her somewhere slightly private, but you could still hear her screaming all over the floor. That girl has some lungs! She did stop, eventually.
But it was a pretty awesome view.
Look, he's a window washer. :)
After that, we kind of gave up on sight seeing. We were tired and hungry. We walked to Lou Malnati's, which claims to be one of the best deep-dish pizzerias in Chicago.
I'd say getting to sit outside, where if one of our kids started screaming, we wouldn't be affecting everyone else inside, may have been the best part. The food was good, although we actually prefer Pizza Papalis in Michigan, but at that point, anything felt like a total relief.
The last morning, we decided to split up. The day before had been so exhausting and difficult for us to keep our patience and we thought it might be easier to tackle the kids one-on-one for a few hours. Daddy-o really wanted to visit the Art Museum, so he took Bug, who luckily took a good nap while they were there so he got to actually see some of it. And I took Bean with me. I thought staying outside might keep her happier, so we hopped on a water taxi and saw the city from the river.
Bean didn't lose it this time and even seemed kind of happy. It was a little slower paced day which was what she needed. What we all needed. It was nice.
Which is more than I can say for the ride to the airport. That poor taxi driver deserved a medal for getting us there without a wreck. I didn't even put them in car seats because they were both screaming and crying so much and I was trying to hold them and get them in the car and act like a good mother.
