Windy City Weekend!

 

Happy 6th anniversary Best!  We've had 6 years of fun but that's a long time to go without more than a few hours to ourselves.  So with the help of Gammie and Papa to babysit (thank you so much!), we flew off to Chicago for the weekend and had ourselves a fabulous grown up getaway!  It was pretty incredible to walk on an airplane with only a book and a cup of coffee...
 We had an early flight and arrived at the Marriot on the Magnificent Mile right at 10 a.m. for check in.  I was so excited we had the whole day ahead of us!

 First stop was Navy Pier for some Giordanno's deep dish.  I have heard many people say that this pizza is just "too much".  Ahem, well, not for me.  I mean, I almost ate 2 slices and they were delish!

 We headed out on the pier for this beautiful view and to wait for our first planned attraction, the "Architectural River Cruise."  It was an added bonus that it was a weekday so the pier was not busy and we watched planes zooming overhead practicing for the Air and Water show that weekend. 

 The weather was great and the cruise was both beautiful and educational.  Our guide gave us lots of history and I felt like it was a great way to start our trip!

 Best and I at the bow!

 From the time we started planning this trip I knew I wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel.  What a great way to view the city and it just seemed like something a tourist should do.  Thanks Best for being a good sport and accompanying me.  We got some great views and again had fun watching planes zoom by and do tricks!  We were in with 2 older couples and we felt like spring chickens!

 After our ride we did some window shopping along the Magnificent Mile and went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.   The location of our hotel was perfect.  Right in the middle of all the shops and restaurants and we were able to walk to dinner both nights.  Dinner Friday night was at RPM steakhouse (owned by Guilliana and Bill Rancic of E News and Apprentice fame).  The food was incredible and although my steak was delicious I think my favorite was the Coal Roasted King Crab appetizer.  We were so full that we just had coffees at the table and took cheesecake back to the room to enjoy with this great view. 

 I was glad we made it an early night because we slept well and woke up refreshed for a full day of sightseeing.  We started off at Navy Pier again with some Starbucks and danish and watched the rain.  We knew it would end soon so we were relaxed and sure enough it stopped and we enjoyed riding through the city streets atop this double decker bus!

 The "Big Bus" as they called it was truly one of my favorite experiences.  It was such a great way to see everything and made stops at so many attractions.  You can just hop on and off as you please all day and the tour guides on board narrate your travels with humor, trivia, and history.

 The first place we "hopped off" was the Art Institute of Chicago.  Amazing.  With our Chicago Go card (which I would highly recommend) we skipped the long visitor line and got in on "fast pass" status!

 It's so incredible to see paintings in person that you've seen so many times in movies or on t shirts, etc. 

 Like this one... Matt doing "Cameron" from the Ferris Bueller movie.

And this is one of my favorites.  It's just so iconic sometimes you can forget that there is truly an "original."

So after that dose of culture we hopped back on the Big Bus and went to what Chicago calls its "museum campus".  The campus includes: Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum of Natural History, as well as Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears).  First stop was the planetarium where we wandered around enjoying the views of Chicago as much as the exhibits and also saw a movie in the "Star Theater". 

The Shedd aquarium was next and the only attraction that we had a longer line.  But we didn't mind and we enjoyed some Chicago hot dogs and watched the air show while we waited.

 It was worth the wait though and we saw some beautiful fish, the biggest crabs I've ever seen, beluga whales, and enjoyed some ice cream!

 Last stop at the Museum Campus was at the Field Museum of History.  The largest most complete T Rex "Sue" lives here.  She was quite impressive and her skull is so massive that it has to be displayed separately upstairs with a replica on the body in the museum's foyer.

 That's a real Allosaurus thigh bone I'm kneeling behind.  There were of course lots of times during the trip I wished the kids were with us but this was probably the one I felt it the most.  Peanut would've really been excited to touch this!  We will be back, kids in tow.  Smile.

 After that whirlwind tour we hopped back on the Big Bus, rode to the water tower, walked 3 blocks to our hotel and took a quick rest and shower before our dinner reservations at The Signature Room.  We got there early and went up to the lounge to watch the sun set.  It was so beautiful.  I had picked RPM the night before but this dinner was a complete surprise to me.  Way to go Best.

 A real surprise!  Rose petals on the table...

Personalized menus...

And then I thank him by making him eat Foie Gras.  Ha!  Yes, that's goose liver in those little mounds there on the plate with chutney and carmelized figs.  But he agreed it was delicious and once again we had an incredible meal.

 He even called ahead to their catering department to have them prepare us an entire anniversary cake!  Which of course we were too full to eat so we packed it up to take with us...have I mentioned I like to eat my desserts in my pajamas?

 And last but not least he surprised me again with a horse drawn carriage ride through the city streets.  It was so fun and we got to see some different parts of town and I loved that all down the streets people would stop and wave as we passed. 

 We were up a little later that night but after the carriage ride we headed back to the Marriot for some chocolate cake and Netflix.  I like a good night's sleep especially on vacation!  We saved the Museum of Science and Industry for the last day because it's a little off the beaten path and I wanted to make sure we had enough time to see it all.  I had heard and read that it was amazing and also enormous and both of those descriptions are quite accurate.  We started off in the OmniMax theater seeing the National Parks movie.  It was so beautiful and only fueled my fire to see Yellowstone and Yosemite as soon as I can!  Then we pretty much saw the entire rest of the museum.   There is way to much to mention or show here but I would say it's on the "not to miss list" if you visit Chicago.  Here I am as a volunteer in the Science show about to head into a vortex!

Lots of interactive exhibits like this one that measures your wingspan and compares it to the average.  Best ranked "above average" and I think that might have been the highlight of his trip...right behind the goose liver, ha!

Here we are in the maze of mirrors...I kept thinking I was glad it wasn't my job to Windex that place!

And one of my other favorite things was this miniature replica of the city.

 It was so incredible and it was fun to try and find the places we'd been...

 And from little to big they had gigantic planes and trains...

 And an entire submarine!

So since I'm ending with big I will sum up the trip with that: Big Fun.  It was relaxing, exciting, romantic, educational, and inspiring.  And I got to share it all with my best friend by my side.  Love you so much dear, thank you.  Have a great week friends and family!

 

 

Great Sports!

 Summer time is such a busy active time!  I'm glad my kiddos are getting to try a good variety of sports.  While Peanut is trying his hand at a few team sports, he always has time to enjoy more informal activities with Sis at home.  Here they are playing roller hockey in the garage.   

 And now on to hockey...although his "Little Wild" hockey lessons don't start for a bit, he really enjoyed getting on the ice via Zamboni with Mr. Petey..a Hockey and Sons tradition.

Sis snuggled with Dad while Peanut made his rounds...

I know I'm kind of jumping around here, but we have honestly been so busy that it's been hard to keep up!  So this is going to be a hodge podge of summer pics but they are all active, I guarantee that!  This is a new playground feature at Cedar Lake Park.  And we were there with our good buddies Kate and Noah.

Here is Peanut the same day (It was the Antique Tractor Show) trying out rock climbing!

So back to the sports...This was Peanut's second year of Tball and Best coached again.  They had so much fun and they both looked so handsome out on the field.  I may be biased but I think this could be a Sports Illustrated cover...smile.

Or maybe this one...His Daddy and Papa have taught him well and it shows.  Thanks Best and Bill.

I was so impressed that Best was willing to coach for the second year in a row.  It's after a long day at work and there are quite a few practices...but they made some good memories and had lots of fun being on the same team.

Swimming! Another favorite summer activity that keeps us cool and lets us show off the cutest swimsuit ever...

This is Cedar Lake again...it's the perfect size beach for these kiddos and they have so much fun splashing together.  The other great part is that it's 5 mins from home!

 So here's to enjoying summer and staying busy...but trying to slow down long enough to record some of these moments.  I want to remember them all.  I know I won't, but I will remember that we had some really fun times.  Have a great week friends and family!