Chicago

This year we took everybody to Chicago by train.  Last year it was a boys trip but Dude insisted that Lucy and Momma get to come this year (and Norah too).  Grandpa Don came along as well, which the kids were thrilled about.  This is the first time that Norah has been on a train and the first time that Lucy would've remembered.  Our train left fairly early in the morning so we packed a nice little breakfast so that we could have it while we were getting to our final destination!  Lucy said that she was happy with the trip already because she just wanted to eat on the train haha.  She had heard stories about how the boys ate on the train on the way back from their trip and wanted to as well.  We had an interesting omen while waiting for the station and that was a bird pooped on Gaetan and Norah!  G was holding Norah and this bird must've been aiming because he got him square on the shoulder and the residual splatter got Norah's jacket.  Seriously.

The train ride went well.  Norah was a little difficult to entertain, but we found a car that had all the seats together so it worked out well.  We mostly snacked the entire way there and then we were ready to go!  G did a wonderful job planning everything out making sure that we had enough time and that the different points of interest coincided with proper modes of transportation.  We did get to ride the subway and the L and dude thought it was great... more trains!  We first went to Millennium Park because it said there was places for the kids to run around and enjoy the outdoors.  The bean is also there which was a huge tourist attraction.  They were holding free concerts there at night and the orchestra that was going to be performing was having a dress rehearsal so we got to enjoy their music.  We found this little water thing that the kids thought was fun to dip their feet in and then Norah just ended up hopping in, so we had to change her entire outfit.  The kids started to get hungry by then so we went to Giodarno for yummy lunch. They wanted to go last year but ran out of time because it takes so long to cook that delicious deep dish pizza!  This time, however, we decided to get it early enough in the day so that we KNEW we would have time to eat.  And, it was worth the wait.  :)













After that we walked to the Hancock Building and if you say you're going to get drinks in their restaurant on the 96 floor you can go up for free... if you want to pay lots of money you can go to their viewing deck on the 94 floor... So, we went up and the view from the women's bathroom was amazing.  Apparently, the mens bathroom was this little closet with no view at all haha.  The kids really enjoyed their time there and liked looking out and seeing all of Lake Michigan.  however, around this time Norah was so tired but refused to go to sleep, so she was screaming in my ear because she was in the backpack.  Turns out, she had pooped and wasn't thrilled about it.  We found this out when we headed to the beach afterwards and we were changing her clothes.  Poor girly...  The crazies had a BLAST in the water though.  At first it seemed rather chilly, but after you were in it it was really refreshing.  There were some awesome waves coming in because there was a pier type thing there so it was crashing off of there and coming in from the boats.  I honestly think the kids would've stayed there all day, but who wants to come to Chicago just for the beach?  We did a little finagling and got them into their dry clothes (which was the last pair I had brought them) and we headed towards Navy Pier.








On the way there Norah finally fell asleep and was OUT.  It was nice that she finally gave him and stopped screaming.  The kids wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel, which I did not, so I hung out with Norah while they rode.  Lucy absolutely LOVED it.  They all said that she was very good and sat and just enjoyed the view.  After that, we headed to catch the water taxi back to Union Station.













The day was planned out very nice with enough time in-between everything and we got everything we wanted to do done.  We had a bit of a set back after getting off the water taxi, which made getting to our train a little more rushed than I would've wanted but, we made it!  We were gonna get the big burritos that they got last year, but there just wasn't time.  We seriously got to our train and walked right on.  Whew.  It would've been a much more expensive trip if we had missed it since it was the last train that night so we would've had to get a hotel.  I highly recommend getting a water taxi.  It's really relaxing after all that walking and its a nice way to see all the different buildings in Chicago without having to worry about walking into the street.  :)
















Back to the poop omen... So... while we were getting into our seats Norah had pooped up the back of her clothes and had gotten it on her trike, Dad and she was on her last outfit.  She then proceeded go to go again later that same train ride but luckily it was contained (we took disposables because I really didn't want to mess with cloth there).  When she had pooped on the way to the beach she had pooped up the back too.  Ridiculous.

Overall it was a great trip.... exhausting, but good.  The kids stayed up the entire ride home on the train which was impressive.  Whew.  What good memories though!

JVG