Our weekend began on Thursday with a trip to Chicago. The kids didn't have school on Monday (MLK Day and professional development day), nor did they have school on Wednesday (snow day). I was a little concerned about all the days they'd be missing, but school was again canceled on Thursday due to icy back roads, so they only ended up only missing one extra day of school! Phew!
As I sit here and blog we once again have a snow day - it's wicked out there, you guys!
So, while the kids watch cartoons why not catch up on some blogging... :)
Our trip began with a a visit to Shedd Aquarium. None of us had ever been before so it was fun to explore this gorgeous aquarium for the first time together! It was a bitterly cold walk from the parking structure to the aquarium. They don't call Chicago The Windy City for nothing. Brrr!
We made it inside and gosh, was it beautiful!
I wasn't sure how entertained the kids would be with looking at fish for the remainder of the day...but there was so, soooo much more to see, read about and learn! They loved it!
Both kids thought these monkeys were THE best...yup, monkeys...at the aquarium... :)
Henry loooooved reading about this electric eel! He's always enjoyed hearing and learning about electricity, so this eel was right up his alley...
We found beluga whales!
We checked out the dolphins a few hours before their show began...
We found the penguins...
...and explored more aquarium goodness...
Sharks!
We ate lunch and watched a show. Beluga whales, dolphins, a sea lion and a penguin - we were most definitely entertained!
After exploring a bit more we decided to check into our hotel before heading out again. The wall mural was pretty darn cool!
Me trying to get an outfit/pregnant belly selfie alone...nope.
We were all dragging a bit and were kind of hungry so we fueled up on hot cocoas and Jon got himself a latte...
Eliza passed out on the way to our destination. I was actually happy she did even though it was practically our bedtime. I just didn't want her falling asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel at 10 p.m. and never falling back asleep in the hotel. The next two hours were about to be loaded with lots of entertainment because we were headed to...................................
Medieval Times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys have NO idea how excited I was for this!
I was giddy the entire way there!
I've been wanting to attend Medieval Times since I first heard about it years and years ago!!!
I mean - look how EXCITED I was!!!! Forget everyone else - look at me! LOL! Kidding! ;)
That's our knight - The Yellow Knight!!!
Oh my gosh - and the BEST part - I was named Queen of the Tournament by our knight for our yellow section!!!! He was handing out flowers to girls in our section throughout the show. At one point he said he'd be back to give me something. He and some other knights won one of the "contests" and were given sashes to hand out...but I had no idea what was happening when he came over with his jousting stick and told me to take a sash. He gave me a wink and rode away. You guys - YOU GUYS!!!! My life was complete. Jon thought it was the cutest/funniest thing! I probably mentioned it to Jon at least 75 times for the rest our trip AND I may have put on the crown and rode with the sash in the front seat while driving back to Michigan a couple days later. It was magical...perhaps equal to our wedding day and birth of our children... ;) ;) ;)
The next day we slept in a bit. We ultimately got ourselves around, grabbed an Uber (the kids' first Uber ride) and headed to the Field Museum...
This place was stunning.
Fossils!
We walked through the "Mummies" exhibit.
It seemed to be a bit overwhelming for little Eliza. We talked her through it and she hid her face for the majority of the time - poor girl - but I gently explained that we had to be respectful because these people had died, but that they all had a story to tell. I then went a bit further and told her Mommy will die someday and I won't be scary, but I'll still have a story. I know, I know - a bit much for a five year old, BUT it seemed to have worked. I finished up with the exhibit with the kids and read as much as I could as I walked through. I then took the kids to the restrooms and I attempted to distract them with the nature walk exhibit as to erase the mummies from their minds... LOL
Jon met us soon thereafter and we headed toward the dinosaurs.
The biggest "bird" that once there was...
I was NOT comfortable with this. So scary!
We ventured through billions of years. Jon was the cutest explaining all-things-earth to the kids. He loves this stuff so, soooo much!!!
I mean - look at him!!! Jon was in his ZONE!!!!!!
The kids had had enough................. Bahahahaha!!!!
We made it to Sue, the T-Rex!!!
Next up, gems! Henry couldn't wait to check out some diamonds!
On our way out I had Henry snap a baby belly picture...because why not...
Next up we headed to Nordstrom for lunch!
I spotted this wall and put Eliza in front of it! We felt all "Midwest" walking in a mall with Louis Vuitton, Tom Ford makeup stylists and a DJ in the makeup/shoe department! I would have looooved to get my makeup done, Jon was all about me doing it - but I knew the kids would be bored so I just kept walking! So fun though!!!
We made it to lunch and it was delicious. Jon and I both ordered salads and we both agreed that our lunches were some of the best things we ate while in Chicago! Yum!
The kids' lunch...
Afternoon dessert for the win!
We made it to American Girl after a brutally cold walk to Water Tower Place. I had been there before a couple of times, but both times were before I had a girl. I was thrilled to FINALLY take Eliza here! Heck, I was excited to take Henry, too! He seemed to be enjoying himself...well, for a little while anyway...
Henry was...well...as excited as he could have been... Hahahaha!
No worries though - an abundance of LEGOs existed right next to American Girl...
Henry did not want to pick out an actual LEGO "kit," rather - he told us he wanted to "be creative" and pick out all sorts of individual LEGOs instead...
That he did...
Eliza and I waited for the guys to finish up...
Happy little faces!!!
We walked over to Ghirardelli but once inside decided too many more sweets would spoil our dinner.
It was freeeeezing, so we opted to Uber our way back to our hotel and relax for a bit before heading back out...
These kids were exhausted.
Jon and I had grand plans to head out for some Chicago-style deep dish pizza, but ultimately decided against it. I think we were both too tired to want to do much more and the wind and snow was getting crazier by the minute. We instead ate in our hotel and the food was great. I ended up getting a quinoa burger with fries - give me all the fries! Jon ended up getting scallops. The hotel had some event going on with their restaurant and the waitstaff kept apologizing to us for the noise. We weren't bothered by it AT ALL - actually we rather enjoyed the bustling atmosphere - but they seemed to feel bad about it and when our bill came our server said they were bringing us free dessert and took off one of Jon's drinks from the check. So nice of them!
We headed upstairs after dinner and I fell asleep five different times before actually falling asleep. I was one tired Mama! I told Jon I was trying to live it up by just staying awake since we were in Chicago. Let's not forget that Chicago is an hour behind our time, so I was going in out of consciousness starting around 8:30. LOL! My body wanted to rest, but my brain wanted to stay up and party.......................my body won...
We woke up to sunny skies on Saturday morning!
We sure had whooped it up in Chicago with the kiddos!
We made one last stop at Sprinkles Cupcakes and headed home.
We love visiting the city every now and then, but boy - nothing compares to your own pillow!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Stay warm out there.
Marie :)
I'm linking up with
Lindsay for Hello Monday!
