Chicago part deux...

So Joel's mom, Cristie wanted to go on a vacation a while back. Did we accept? Are you freak'n kidding me - any chance to get away baby. Anyway, at first we were going to have a little adventure at a place called Put-in-Bay, Ohio. After researching a bit, we decided it would be a bit cold for that particular trip. Joel had such a great time in Chicago the first time (like 2 weeks ago!) that he suggested that for our adventure. They accepted and away we went.

Ummm, first of all traveling with little ones is umm a lot harder than just adults. Everything from packing to eating to sleeping is more complicated. Man we most suredly love our little seedlings to put up with all of this craziness! It definitely made a difference to have a couple of extra helping hands - thanks Stan and Cristie!

I think my favorite part of the trip was experiencing Chicago through my kids' eyes. One of the first things we did upon arriving at our hotel was take the kids on a fairly long walk to the famous Frontera Grill. I was so excited to experience this great little iconic restaurant. Luckily we got reservations for brunch (dinner can take up to a month to get a reservation!). Anyway, the trek to the restaurant was so enjoyable for me - my kids were in awe of the towering buildings and the Chicago river. JD received an excellent education as to why some parts of the city smell like urine.

There are tons of bridges over the
river that raise up for big ships to
pass through. We were lucky enough
to come across one. It was
a pretty magnificent sight.

Christian loved staring at the river and
all of the boats passing by. I think
he ended up throwing a bunch of
leaves and garbage into the river.
Oops.

The food in Chicago did not disappoint. Frontera Grill was, according to Stan (lived in Mexico), very authentic to true Mexican cuisine. The food was quite different and interesting. In a good way! After all was said and eaten, Joel and I decided that we are just a couple of boring Americans that prefer the Mexamerican flavors. We had some dahang good deep dish pizza at Giardano's for dinner. Man, they know what good cheese is! I ate the whole inside out of a piece of cheese pizza. I swear it was a 1/2 pound of cheese. Yum-o. It reminded of the days in my youth when I would break off a chunck of cheese, melt in in the microwave and eat it straight. That sounds good, I think I'll have that for lunch. We hit the West Egg once again for breakfast for their, among other things, famous Turkey & Avocado Eggs Benedict.


When traveling with Cristie Gardner, you can bet that you'll be upgrading to a fantabulous suite by bedtime. One time we took a fun trip with them to Niagara Falls. After Cristie worked her magic, we had 2 rooms right smack dab in front of Horseshoe Falls. Saweet! So when the rooms in our downtown Chicago hotel weren't exactly ideal, Cristie worked her magic and we ended up with a suite (humungous) overlooking the Chicago river, Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile and the Chicago Tribune building. Saweet part deux!

We had an interesting next morning. After breakfast, we decided to visit the Shedd Aquarium. Little did we know that there was a Chicago Bears football game that morning as well. Umm, traffic kinda sucked! So after driving all the way there, we were told that because of the game, we would have to turn around and drive back to the parking garage (where we started in the first place!) and pay $25 for parking! Gotta love a big city! It was a fun little adventure. We got to drive past all of Barack Obama's huge acceptance party set-up in Grant Park - kind of interesting. We enjoyed the aquarium, but got pooped out enough to call it a day and head back to Michigan.

The shark tank was pretty cool. I was
mad I didn't have my nice camera to
take some decent pics in the dark.

Christian was obsessed with all of the
turtles in the aquarium. He and Camryn
still talk about Nickel, the enormous
sea turtle.

We were tired by the time we got home, but not as tired as Stan & Cristie! They still had 2 hours left to drive back to Cleveland. It was great to see Chicago with loved ones. I'm glad we got to have some one-on-seven time with Joel's parents too!

Our next trip is in a few weeks. I think I'll be able to handle the wait.

Now wintering over in Michigan.....I'm not so sure about :(