Chicago Trip - Day 5 (Part 1)

Aunt Kelly had to leave this morning, so it was down to just 6 of us. We started our day at Shedd Aquarium. Again, we walked there, and the weather was wonderful. Colin was very proud of walking most of the way there.


(As for the weather, sometimes it could have been cooler, but for the most part, there was little rain (except for the storm we arrived in) and the weather was either tolerable or perfect. More tolerable, though.)

The boys loved the aquarium. One of their favorite areas was the penguin display. Past the penguin exhibit there was a children's play area. There were penguin costumes to wear with rocks to climb and ice to slide down. They loved it. Both of them made us throw fish at them to eat and had fun running around making penguin sounds.



We had to get video of them!

Here are some more pictures.

One of my favorite displays was the moon jellyfish.

The submarine for kids to play in.

Colin loved watching the stingrays! He would crawl around following them as fast as he could.

Chicago Trip - Day 4

Day 4 started at the Field Museum. Our condo was located next to it, so we got to walk over the train tracks (the boys were so excited) to get there. We we a bit surprised that the boys passed by Sue without any interest. However, Colin was very excited about the elephant!



We headed to the underground area. The first thing that happened was that we were "shrunk" to 1/10th our size. After we left and went to a new exhibit, Kevin asked if we had to get shrunk again. Here are a couple pictures from underground.



Here are a couple more pictures from the museum. The first is of Colin playing with animals and habitats. He stayed there for a while. He would even put the puppy on top of the hut and then have the "fire guys" (horses) climb the ladder (hut) to get the dog. The second is of the boys collecting corn.



After naps Pappy, Grandma, and Aunt Kelly headed to Gino's East for pizza while we headed to Eleven City Diner one block away. The boys loved it. Again Colin got grilled cheese and apple sauce (I am pretty sure that is all he ate on the trip.) while Kevin ate corn dogs. They loved it. We headed home for a swim before bedtime. Kevin is becoming more and more adventurous in the water, jumping in over and over again. Colin spent most of the time next to the pool playing with dinosaurs who turned into "fire guys."

Chicago Trip - Day 3

After checking out of our hotel, we headed to Navy Pier. First we went to the Children's Museum. It is kind of like our Magic House. The boys loved it. It took a while for them to move from the first room, which had a fire truck and fireman clothes. Afterward, they found the kitchen area where they made ice cream cones and pizza. If you know my boys, then you know these two rooms took about an hour to get through.






After that Kevin braved the rope tunnels to get the the next floor, where they discovered the building materials. Colin spent a lot of time placing washers on any available hook or bolt, while Kevin and Daddy built a bench! Kevin was so proud that he had made it, he even wanted his picture sitting on it!






The museum also had a transportation room, a water room, a bug room, and a dinosaur fossil room. The boys enjoyed them all. They especially liked the habitat area. There were caves, and both boys enjoyed climbing in and growling like animals. Colin even went out to get a fish to feed to the pretend bear.

After lunch we all headed to the Tall Ship Windy for a boat ride. We were treated to pirate stories as the ship sailed from the pier to the planetarium and back. Colin spent a lot of the time snuggling with me, while Kevin enjoyed the pirate stories and watching the skyline. Kevin also told us that he had been on a train, a bus, and a boat. Now he needs to be on an airplane.





After the boat ride we transfered to the condo. Kevin asked if we were going to move every day. We let him know this was our last move. (The plan was to be in the hotel for two nights and then the condo for the rest of the trip. The hotel was walking distance to the pier, while the condo was walking distance to Museum Campus.)

Here are a couple pictures of the condo. We loved the view of Grant Park and the pier. There was a bus stop right outside the door, and an El stop, grocery store, diner, and doughnut shop within one block. And the Metra tracks ran by us as well, so Colin got to see a lot of trains. Perfect for us!

Chicago Trip - Day 2

We all had breakfast at the hotel and then Louise, Kelly, Kevin and I headed to the Cubs game. The Cardinals were in town so we headed up to Wrigley Field. The weather was perfect, even if we lost the game. While at the game Pappy took the boys to The Rainforest Cafe where they got new cups, and then they napped.






After the game we moved into our new room in the same hotel. Kevin was very excited that our room was so close to the ceiling. He wanted a picture of it.


And of course the first thing that was done was that a train was made. There were two engineers, however, since Colin was upset that Kevin was the driver. Kevin came up with the solution of having two engineers. That made everyone happy.


For dinner we returned to The Rainforest Cafe. Both Kevin and Colin enjoyed walking us around showing us the fish and elephant and gorilla and talking tree they had seen just hours earlier. (Actually it was more like Kevin showing us the stuff he liked, and Colin showing us stuff he was scared of.) He wasn't very interested in having his picture taken.

Chicago Trip - Day 1

So we had our first family vacation this past week. (We are not counting our trips to Kansas City as vacation, although they are fun.) We headed to Chicago to meet up with Aunt Kelly, Pappy and Grandma (Kevin and Louise).

We left St. Louis on an Amtrak train around 5:30 Friday evening. We had dinner on the train, and the boys were very excited. They spent time watching movies and playing. I think Colin's favorite part was looking out the windows to count motorcycles with me. Kevin and I were amazed at how well they did. Crying only happened once, which was when I stepped on his fingers accidentally. Kevin never reached his breaking point, and Colin lasted until we arrived at Chicago's station. We were very proud. I think the passengers around us were also relieved.



We met Aunt Kelly and Pappy at Chicago's Union Station, where they dropped off all four of us, along with 9 separate pieces of luggage, at the Embassy Suites located at 600 State Street. We arrived around 11:30 pm with two very tired boys. When we got to the front desk we were told that they were sold out and did not have a room for us. We had called earlier that day to let them know we would be arriving very late, close to midnight. Apparently that did not stop them from giving our room away. They did offer us a room at the O'Hare location. That was out of the question. They also found a room in a different hotel with one queen bed, which was also out of the question. So we spent about 20 minutes arguing with the front desk before they gave us cash for a taxi.

Thankfully, Pappy, Grandma, and Kelly were staying at another, nearby Embassy Suites. Since they had two rooms which included two double beds and a fold-out couch, we all crashed there. We had someone sleeping on the floor, but at least we were all downtown. What a great way to start the trip!