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If you follow me on Instagram (ramblingjen), you’ll know that we were not at home this weekend. Did you figure out where we went? If you guess Chicago, you got it right! B ran the Urbanathlon and the kids and I tagged along, because well, why wouldn’t we? I won’t do a full recap of our trip (*), but I’ll share a few highlights.
~The Target on State Street might be the coolest looking Target ever. Once we got to the hotel, we realized that I we hadn’t packed swim trunks for the big boys. Since it is basically the law that if you have kids and stay in a hotel, you must you the pool, we went on in search of some trunks. Fancy pants Target didn’t have any, but Sears did. $3.99/each. Score.
~Also on State Street is Magnolia Bakery. I’m pretty sure of all the cupcakes I have eaten, these are my favorite so far. They aren’t loaded with frosting like the places around here, which is perfect because while frosting is delicious, too much of it ruins a cupcake. And while we are talking about food, we had dinner at Dos Diablos Mexician Cantina one night, which was kind of meh. Probably because I wasn’t a huge fan of the guacamole (L didn’t like it either and that kid knows his guacamole!). But after dinner we walked over to Froyo, which totally made up for it.
~As for the Urbanathlon, B finished the 10.8 miles + obstacles in just under two hours (1 hour, 53 minutes if you really want to know). The obstacles included running the stairs at Solider Field, which sounds like my own personal h*ll. The boys and I opted to stay in bed and not go with B since he left the hotel before 6am and it was supposed to rain. We spent the morning watching cartoons and enjoying the Starbucks in our hotel. I cannot wait to see the pictures from the event and will be sure to post them when they come out! Oh, and about 45 minutes after L woke up that morning, he glanced around the room and said “where is Daddy anyways?”. Way to be alert kid ;).
~L loved all the trains in Chicago so of course we had to go for a ride. I have never actually just ridden the subway / L train just for fun, but that’s exactly what we did. Don’t say we aren’t fun people ;).
~This was WB’s first ever stay in a hotel (he’s been up-north, but never to a hotel) and I am happy to say he did amazing. No really. I feared that he wouldn’t each much (since he prefers to eat only at home. in the dark. with no distractions.), but he ate great! With the help of the Podee bottle and Similac Ready to Feed Cans, he did just fine. And, he slept great. Saturday night he was so tired that he totally slept through us playing trains super loud and watched the Tigers game (with all the lights on). I think WB’s on his way to becoming an professional traveler, just like his big brother. I’m so glad we went on this trip because, this may sound dumb, but I think it’s important to make sure your kid can sleep just fine in different places. Starting young makes it way easier too.
~On Saturday, L and I hot up the Magnificent Mile, while B and WB went back to the hotel to nap. L was super annoyed by all the walking that was going on, but once he saw the Apple store, there were no more complaints and he ran right in. And then we went to the Disney Store where we spent a long time trying to find the perfect souvenir. We settled on a set that came with Zurg’s Blaster, Buzz Lightyear’s Blaster, and Woody’s Blaster. And a belt like Woody wears to hold your ammunition. Yeah, basically I got him a weapons cache. And let me be the first to tell you, these toys are so fun. So fun. We had a blast shooting them around the hotel room at each other! Oh, and we also picked up matching Woody pjs for the little boys. L picked them out and insisted that they get matching ones (I tried to suggest someone could get Woody and someone could get Buzz, but he wasn’t having any part of my idea).
~Yesterday before we came home we went to The Shedd Aquarium. It was my first time ever going and I have to say, it wasn’t everything I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, it was great, but the way people talk about it, I thought it would be insane. I really just want to see colorful fish that’d you’d see scuba diving in Belize. I kinda expected more of that. But L really enjoyed it and that’s all that matters.
~We also went to the Willis Tower, which I was impressed with (it was also my first time there). It was super clear when we went and the view were amazing. L went out in the scenic ledge with B and was fairly scared, but he did it and I’m proud of him! WB and I didn’t want to take up space in line (like he really cares about going on the ledge), so we stayed back.
~Where were the furries you ask? At the pet resort! They had a great time (so the people that work there say) and look so nice all freshly groomed!
~I think our next big city trip is going to be San Francisco. B and I got engaged on the Golden Gate Bridge (awwwwww) and we just love that city. And I know the kids would too!
~What’s your favorite big city? What’s your favorite part of Chicago? We didn’t want to do too much (we wanted to do Navy Pier, etc. as well) because then we’d never have a reason to go back ;).
(*) I may eventually do a hotel recap though.