Chicago....My kind of town!

During the last weekend  of April we spent a few days in Chicago for some much needed family time before Derek flew out of O'Hare to Vancouver for the week.  Derek had a meeting at a hotel near the airport all day Thursday and was scheduled to fly out on Saturday, so we loaded up the car early Thursday morning to spend a few days together in the "Windy City."  When visiting the city and exploring many of the fun things there are to do in the Chicagoland area I often find myself thinking "Man, it would be great to live here!"  But then something happens, usually traffic related, and my opinion changes to "Man, I love visiting here!"  We truly loving visiting the city and are so lucky that we are only two hours from so many wonderful things to explore and do. 

While Derek was in his syllabus committe meeting all day (which I am sure was truly mind blowing and interesting) I took the kids to Schaumburg to check out Woodfield Mall.  This mall is one of my favorites.  At one time it was one of the largest in the country and has more stores than I could ever visit in a day.    We spent a few hours browsing a few stores (mostly kid related) and playing on the indoor playground.  I know the that those indoor playgrounds are "germ-farms" but I couldn't resist after seeing how excited Addy was when she saw the area.  She and Carter had a great time and Addy made several new friends whom we kept seeing in the mall afterwards and each time they would yell "See you next time!" After the playground, Disney Store, Lego Store, and a few other stores Addy was less excited about we decided to do lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  At first the giant hissing snake at the entrance to the restaurant made Addy a bit hesitant about my choice of restaurants.  However, she eventually warmed up to the idea and loved all of the animals and fish tanks.  Carter was also entranced by his surroundings and just kept looking around and letting out random screams of excitement. Before ordering I asked Addy if she wanted dino nuggets and with a disgusted look on her face she responded "Are they really made of dinosaurs?"  After assuring her that they were made of chicken and only dino shaped, she devoured all six.  The girl must be on a growth spurt or something!

Enjoying lunch in the "Rainforest"

After a family nap in the hotel room we headed to the hotel pool.  They had a great kiddie pool complete with a mushroom thing and water jets.  They also had tons of beachballs of all different sizes, which Carter loved playing with. On Friday Derek took the day off and we headed to the Brookfield Zoo, along with what seemed like everyone else.  Apparently it was a popular day for school field trips and many people were taking advantage of the nicest day Chicago had seen in a few weeks.  Although it seemed a bit busy at the beginning, thankfully the zoo grounds a large which spread out the crowds and allowed us to steer clear of as many school groups as possible.  For a few weeks Addy had had her heart set on seeing the elephants; it was all she talked about.  So, Derek scoped out the pacyderm house on the map and trecked across the zoo to fufill her wish only to find out that they have gotten rid of their elephants and won't be getting them back for two years.  Needless to see Addy shed many tears and was VERY disappointed!  We finally got her to cheer up and settle for going to see the kangaroos instead. 

Loving pool time!

Carter was a litlle scared of the water, but warmed up to it eventually.

Addy and Daddy at the Zoo

Later the night we headed to U.S. Cellular Field to watch Derek's Chicago White Sox play the Baltimore Orioles.  It was Frank Thomas bobblehead night, who happens to be one of Derek's favorite White Sox players of all time.  So we intended to get there early to ensure that we were one of the first 10,000 to enter to secure our bobblehead.  However, we greatly underestimated travel time into the city on a Friday evening and had to hustle to the ballpark from our parking spot.  We did manage scoring 3 (yes 3) bobbleheads, which Derek was very excited about....One for his office, one for the basement sports decor, and I'm not sure where'll he put the other one...probably on his nightstand:)  The game was Carter's very first baseball game and he really enjoyed the sights and sounds.  The biggest surprise to us was how much Addy enjoyed the game.  She loved watching the action with her daddy.  At one point I took her to the restroom and decided to swing by the giftshop since we didn't have time before the game.  As we were heading in the store the crowd cheered about action on the field and Addy said "Mom, we're missing the game."  That's the last time I ever try to buy her a souvenir at a game!  The game was a 7:10 start so we certainbly didn't expect to make it the whole game.  We left at the beginning of the 7th inning, which was good since the White Sox gave up four unearned runs that inning.  We had a great time and have already planned to go to several other games this season.  The White Sox ended up losing 10-4, which was one loss in a very long losing streak! GO Reds!

Carter's First Baseball Game

Enjoying the fireworks after a White Sox homerun

On Saturday we had the whole day before we had to drop Derek off at O'Hare for his 8:00 p.m. flight.  We hit the pool one last time and then headed out for lunch at Weber Grill and checked out the Cabela's Store.  Derek has been wanting to go tent camping and is supposed to pick out a new tent for his birthday.  So we went to check out their camping gear.  They also had a ton of stuffed animals and Addy finally got to see her elephant.

After a quick snack at a toll road oasis we dropped Derek off at his terminal curbside and said out goodbyes.  The kids did great on the two hour drive home and slept most of the way.  Even though we were sad to say goodbye to Derek for a week, we had a great time spending the weekend with him in Chicago before we he had to go.