Chicago

We went to Chicago this past weekend, and it was an interesting experience. The first half of the weekend made us think we had made a huge mistake in planning to go! The last half was wonderful. We literally prayed about the unforeseen circumstances we faced and God chose to answer our prayers. We are grateful for the fun memories we got to make!

We planned to go up Friday and come back Saturday night. The annual Air and Water Show was this weekend and since we really enjoyed it last year, we wanted to go again. After doing some price comparison, we decided it was time to take the train up. We've been wanting to try this (and since our little man LOVES trains - and anything else that goes), we knew we needed to try it. I've never ridden the Amtrak and Jason has only done it once, about 15 years ago. I could really drag this story out, because it made for a loooong weekend, but I'll save you some time.

Our plan was:
1. Take the 11:10AM train to Chicago, arriving around 2:00. Eat lunch on the train.
2. Spend the afternoon at Navy Pier.
3. Eat some Chicago-style pizza somewhere in the city for dinner.
4. Take a boat taxi or boat tour through the river in the evening.
5. Retire to the hotel for the night and possibly have time to swim.

Here's how Friday went:
1. Arrived in Bloomington, IL at 10:30 to board the train and learned it has been delayed 3 hours.
2. Discussed getting a refund and driving to Chicago, but decided that would break Jaxon's heart and what's a few hours anyway?
3. There's a wonderful children's museum across the tracks from the Amtrak station, so we decided to spend a few hours there, eat some lunch, then head back to the station to catch our (late) train.
4. Got back to the station a little before 2:00 and learned that it would be another hour before the train arrived (making it 4 hours late).
5. ARGHHH!!
6. Nothing like napless kiddos in a tiny train station.
7. Waited an hour in the station and learned it would be about another hour before the train arrived (making it 5 hours late).
8. It did finally arrive just a little before 4:00PM. We got to Chicago a little after 6:00PM, checked in to our hotel, walked to the nearest pizza restaurant, got back to the hotel around 9:00PM and all of us passed out!

And that was just Friday!





Here are a few pictures from the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, IL. I said this on here last year, but it really is one of the best children's museum's I've been to. There's so much to do for all ages.



The cute cashier who checked me out in the museum's grocery/nutrition section.



Sissy LOVED the toddler area.



I'm not sure which of my three kids liked the floor piano most!




CHICAGO (finally):

We tried a new pizza place, on the recommendation of our hotel concierge (the free dessert coupon she gave us helped make up my mind); Lou Malnati's. We may have found a new favorite! Excellent, friendly and efficient service.


It had been a very long day for both kids. Sissy is used to a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon, and on Friday, she only napped in her stroller from the Amtrak station to our hotel (about 30 minutes).


They ate well though! I guess they had worked up their appetites with the long day.





Jaxon got a hold of my camera and I thought you would enjoy a few pictures from a 3 year olds perspective.







We were excited to wake up Saturday morning and looked forward to the Chicago Air and Water Show. We took our time getting around and decided on one of our new favorites; The Corner Bakery Cafe for breakfast. We chose a cute little table outside and sat down to enjoy a relaxing breakfast. Jason started noticing the clouds coming in and decided to check the weather, where he learned that the 0% chance of rain was now a 50% chance of rain. Just about then, Jaxon said, "Dad look, there's an airplane!" Sure enough, it looked like the air show had started early and we were still a 30 minute cab ride away. We quickly finished our breakfast, loaded up on water bottles at the nearest Walgreens and hailed a cab. We decided to get dropped off at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a zoo with free admission and its location is perfect for watching the air show action. As we are approaching the zoo, Jason and I both notice rain drops on the windshield. By the time we got to the zoo's entrance, it was nearly pouring.

We ran from the cab to the seal habitat, because it's in doors. We spent some time there, then dashed to the Lion House, another indoor exhibit. We would spend the next (almost) 2 hours in the Lion House. Our poor children. We aren't scared of a little rain, but it was a down pour, we had no extra clothes for the rest of the day, plus it was lightening off and on. Our kids were amazing though. Sissy actually fell asleep in the stroller for about an hour and Jaxon loved watching the animals and shopping the gift shop. Once the rain let up a tiny bit, we dashed to a cafe for some lunch and that's when the rain stopped! We were really starting to worry, thinking we had come all this way and wouldn't get to see the air show! So off to North Beach we walked and the four hour air show was crammed in to two hours, but it was wonderful.

The train ride home was a wonderful experience and after all that, the weekend was a success. We really enjoyed the train and plan to utilize it a lot more. We're planning some day trips in the near future, on the train.


My awesome little family in front of the jaguar:




Chicago Air and Water Show:
Once the Thunderbirds took to the sky, she fell fast asleep.



Jaxon had the best seat in the house.




Boeing was handing out these great fans that doubled as sunglasses.



My favorite guy in the world (under 4 feet).





Our cuties looking out the window on the train ride home:


Jason's son reacting to the air show performers: