Chicago Day 1

In February, Roy was getting ready to register for a trip to a conference in Chicago in October.  Leighton and I had accompanied him in 2006 the week before he turned 2 (and it's the same conference we all went to in New Orleans 2 years ago), and we had such a fantastic time that we've been excited for a chance to go again.  I looked at the flight prices out of curiosity and couldn't believe the steal of a deal that was happening for the dates of the conference - under $700 for all four of us to fly!  So, we quickly booked and looked forward to it for many months!

The kids were so excited for another opportunity to get on an airplane (and to get their 'envelopes'!) and to go on a little vacation.  They were a little confused when we explained we weren't taking car seats or renting a car and that they needed to keep their backpacks light so they could carry their own while we walked from the subway to the hotel - these kids of ours don't remember big city life at all (which is strange to say when we live in the 4th largest city in the US, but it is such a suburban driving lifestyle here)!

The second Leighton stepped out of the subway onto the bustling city streets, he was completely in love with it!  He couldn't stop looking at everything and writing constant notes in his travel journal.  This kid walked miles and miles and miles during our 5 days there (little miss Riley knows how to sweet talk her Daddy into carrying her a lot, but has a surprising abundance of leg strength and endurance when she's just with me!), and he even asked us at the end of the trip if we could walk everywhere when we got back home to Houston.

We had such an amazing time.  All 4 of us didn't want to get on the plane to come home and are itching for another chance to get back to Chicago or NYC soon!  Riley keeps telling me all the things she wishes we could do ' like in Chicago'.

I took hundreds of photos, and will share a good chunk of them with you :)

Excited kids on the plane:

When we got our bags, we emptied the little one of our hats, scarves, jackets, and mittens, and filled it with some carry on items for the train/subway/walk.  Aren't we the smartest packers ever?!?!  The kids were super excited about being in weather cold enough for their new hats!

Being on the train into the city was another exciting adventure.

And then the long string of "Take a picture of me/us with ________" so we can print it at Costco when we get home began (and they realized that it wasn't quite cold enough for hats and mittens on this particular afternoon)!

After we checked into the hotel, we went for lunch and the kids wanted to explore the (huge and interactive and all around awesome) LEGO store and to gaze at the beautiful pink chandelier in Henry Bendel on our first of many visits to Water Tower Place (good food options, fun stores, and so close to the hotel).

We then started to walk to Millenium Park and stopped at an art installation along the way that the kids could climb on.

And we stopped for Leighton to write in his travel journal.  A lot.

Finally we made it to the Cloud Gate aka the Bean.  Riley was a little miffed that it was not the beaM with an 'm' ... she thought we were going to a playground with a balance beam.  Oops!  Reminds me of the time we went to San Antonio and she was far from impressed to find out we were at the Alamo and not the Elmo!

Then walked across a bridge (Leighton says it is called the BP Bridge, and I will believe him since he paid close attention to every detail and wrote impeccable notes!) to a playground I had found out about online.  This made Riley super thrilled ... but I don't think there was a balance beam there, but she never noticed because it is seriously the most amazing playground we have ever seen.  There were fun and unique pieces of equipment and the craziest slides.  There were as many adults (in their 20s all the way up to their 70s) as there were kids on these slides!  If you are ever in Chicago, head to Maggie Daley Park!

We started at the sailboat the kids could climb in and on and through, and then they climbed to the top of the lighthouse to create a water tornado and come down the first of many slides.

Leighton then pointed out a much bigger slide.  Look at Riley's face when she sees it - SO glad I happened to capture that on camera!

We wandered over to the bridge area for them to try all the slides over there (Riley didn't try out the biggest one!).

And finally a walk through the Discovery Garden before leaving the park for the day.

On our walk to dinner, we saw a painted horse and the kids were crazy for it just like the painted guitars in Austin and the whales in Vancouver!  I investigated a little online and they were part of an art project to honor policemen and women and were all up and down Michigan Ave in the summer.  Too bad we missed them all!

We also had to stop for Leighton to write more notes in his journal (he writes notes and I take pictures - we all have our travel 'thing'!!).

Then we went to Gino's East for dinner.  Roy and I had eaten here on our first trip to Chicago and then we got pizza from here on our last trip with Leighton.  The kids were curious about Chicago style deep dish pizza, but we weren't sure if they'd like it or not.  They both ate a ton and gave it a thumbs up!  Honestly, it isn't my favorite meal and felt a little less than stellar the last time we ate it, but this time it was better than our previous visits.  And I remembered that it continues to expand in your stomach as time goes on, so I didn't eat too much!  A walk back to the hotel in the brisk air also helped to not feel too full afterwards!

While we were waiting for the pizza to cook (they take 45-60 mins), I went to ask if they had any crayons or paper for Riley, but they had gotten rid of their kids menus a few months ago.  They did give us a marker for the kids to write their name on the wall/floor/chairs though, so we did that before leaving!

And that concludes our first day in Chicago!