Chicago - Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday was our last full day in Chicago, and we wanted to make the best of it.  Thankfully it was another beautiful day; we couldn't have asked for better weather the entire trip.  We headed out in the morning for Millennium Park.  We stopped at this little fountain along the way; the girls always love a good water fountain.

 On the bridge over the Chicago River.

The girls thought "the bean" at the park was pretty awesome.  We love the skyline reflections you can see in it.

 These were our favorite reflections to see!

 Just down from the bean are the faces fountains.  The girls couldn't resist taking off their shoes and socks to get a feel for themselves.

 That didn't last long!  Pretty soon, they were soaked to the core!

 It was a pretty big surprise to them when water came out from the front of the fountain through the face's mouth!

 Having a blast!

 Silly happy girls.

 How big of a splash can we make?

 Funny faces drying out.

 They were truly soaked, so we headed the few blocks back to the hotel to change clothes and enjoy my favorite meal anywhere...room service!

 We took a short, early nap on Tuesday because Grandpops and Grandma Jan had something special planned for the girls: a visit to the American Girls store!  They do not yet have any of these dolls, but when I told them what we were doing, Lily sat straight up in bed and said "I know about those dolls!  Lauren brought one in for show and tell."  She was very excited about this outing which in turn made Mia excited.  I was excited because I had three of these dolls growing up; I was looking forward to seeing all the new dolls.

Things were a little overwhelming at the store, and we totally forgot to take a couple of pictures.  The girls though were excited that Grandpops and Grandma Jan bought them each a doll (McKenna for Lily, Ruthie for Mia), an extra outfit and a hairbrush.  We surprised the girls by buying them an accessory that they each really wanted.  Lily was beside herself to get the cast and crutches set for McKenna while Mia was sold on a little guitar set.  We gave it to them after we returned to the hotel after dinner and time with family. The only picture we got was off Mia with her guitar.  When she opened it, she just kept saying "I can't believe it!"  I wish you could have seen the precious look on her face!

 Finally, it was time for bed.  You can see Rainbow the gorilla right by Mia, and Lincoln the sea lion is snuggled next to Lily.  They would have loved to sleep with their dolls too, but we decided it was best to leave them packed in their boxes to get them back to Atlanta.  It had been an exciting few days, so these two slept well.

 On Wednesday morning, David picked us up and drove us back to the airport for our flight home.  The girls loved these statues of the Blues Brothers.

 Just waiting on the flight home...

 Good bye Chicago!

We all had a wonderful trip.  Chicago with David, Jan, Nick and Brock was so much fun.  When we asked Lily if she wanted to come back and visit again, she replied "Yes on Friday."  While we can't make it back that quickly, we'll look forward to returning soon!



Chicago - Monday

Ready for another beautiful day!

 We started the morning at Navy Pier to ride the humongous Farris wheel.  Lily was super excited.  She kept sitting against the side peering over.  We had to remind her to stay away from the door.

 Mia wouldn't let go of my hand.  She was so nervous but she loved it!

 Ryan took this panoramic picture from the very top of the ride.  Beautiful!

 Taking a quick break after the Farris wheel; how cute is she?

 Grandpops treated us to the Children's Museum.  They had a cool circus exhibit going on.  My little trapeze artist.

 Mia enjoyed this spinning circle.

 Mia LOVED the extremely loud horns.

 I thought this statue was funny so I made them take a picture.

 Magnifying her big blue eyes.

 Both girls enjoyed the "tiny treasures" part of the museum.  Everything was the perfect size for them, and they pretended to bake, sew and all sorts of things.  It was really fun to watch them explore.

 A little bowling while at the museum.

 Digging for dinosaur bones was a big hit.

 The last exhibit we visited was the water station.  They had all sorts of fun things to do with water...pump it through pipes, make it rain, have it splash in many different directions and dam it up; both girls really enjoyed the paint with water wall though.

 We stopped for a few minutes to snack on Garrett's popcorn while we waited on Jan, Nick and Brock to join us at the pier.  When they arrived, we took water taxi over to the Field Museum.  Another awesome panoramic by Ryan.

 Sue, the famous T-Rex inside the museum.

 We wandered around the museum for awhile before it was time to head back to the hotel for nap time.  Mia got a lift on the way home because as she said "My shoes are so tired."

After our naps, we met back up with everyone for dinner at Lucky Strikes which was a fun time.  The girls had taken so well to Nick and Brock; they loved hanging out with them!

We headed back to David and Jan's for more chocolate cake (seriously, so good) and then it was back to the hotel for bed time.

Chicago - Sunday

We were all ready for our first full day in Chicago.  So much so, that the girls woke up at 4 AM ready to go!

 Ryan asked the girls to give him a pose before we headed out for the day.  These just made me laugh!

 We met up with David and Jan and headed over to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Ryan and I couldn't believe that this awesome zoo was right in the middle of the city!

 Right inside the entrance was this cute little train for kids; the girls loved it!

 Waving as they passed us by.

 We also checked out the seal lion and cheetah which were both really cool.  After a quick water break, we headed into the bird house which the girls thought was awesome.

 Trying to look through the binoculars.

 Mia needed a little lift; this little one did a lot of walking on this trip!

 The giraffes were beautiful.

 Maybe a little hippo ride...

 Our favorite part of the whole zoo was the amazing polar bear.  She just kept swimming laps; she was so graceful, and we all enjoyed watching her.

 Before leaving we enjoyed a little snack, and then headed to the gift shop on our way out.  Mia and Lily both fell in love with two stuffed animals.  Lily picked an adorable seal lion that she named Lincoln (and calls Linca as a nickname), while Mia picked a huge gorilla that she calls Rainbow.  They both loved these animals and insisted on sleeping with them from then on.

After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel for nap time; I think we were all exhausted.  After our nap we went over to David and Jan's for Nick's birthday dinner.  We hung out on the tower's balcony on the 16th floor where David grilled us a delicious dinner, we all got to catch up with one another and the girls made a new friend named Livy.  They had a great time playing with one another!

 Just relaxing.

After enjoying some delicious chocolate cake that Jan made, we headed home and went to bed.

Chicago - Saturday

So last Friday was the last day of school and then it was time to let summer break begin!  We were all excited for Saturday morning to arrive because we were packed and heading to Chicago!  The girls couldn't wait because this was their very first plane ride.  Here we are on the tram at the airport.  Mia appears a little unsure.

 Waiting at the gate.

 Checking out the plane.

 I sat by Mia and Ryan sat in front of us with Lily.  Mia kept asking when we were going to "blast off."

 Super excited!

 The girls couldn't believe that a nice lady would come by and offer them cookies and juice; they gladly took her up on it!

 Both girls enjoyed playing on our iPads pretty much the entire flight.

 Mia preferred to keep the window shade down for the flight, but Lily enjoyed looking out.  She told me several times "it was so cool because you couldn't even see the ground!"

 Once we landed, the girls were so happy to see Grandpops.  He drove us to the hotel which was only a few blocks down from where he and Grandma Jan live.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites so there was a living room, kitchenette, bathroom and bedroom.  The girls immediately climbed into our bed and asked "where are you going to sleep?"  They couldn't believe how lucky they were when I said "You don't know?  You get to sleep on the coolest bed ever.  It's hidden right now.  Do you know where it is?  Inside the sofa!  Can you believe it?"  They were ecstatic!

After we settled in for just a few minutes, we headed down the street to David and Jan's place.  They met us outside and we walked across the street to Navy Pier.  The girls were already having a blast.

 We were heading to Navy Pier because one of my favorite restaurants is there.  I LOVE the fried shrimp from Bubba Gump's (or "Bubble Gums" as the girls call it).  It was delicious as always.  Mia was enjoying herself.

 Lily was looking forward to a yummy meal too.

 After lunch we headed over to David and Jan's to enjoy some time together.  The girls loved reading some of Nick and Brock's old books with Grandma Jan.

 The girls loved standing on the window ledges, mainly because it allowed them to stay above Taz, the sweet little dog David and Jan own.  He was a little hyper for their tastes.

 One of the great views from their apartment.

 After lots of fun times hanging out, we headed back and started to get ready for bed.  It took the girls awhile to settle down; they were thoroughly enjoying sharing a bed!