Chicago Trip!

We took a mini spring break to Chicago last weekend with the kids. We met two other couples with kids there- the Lindsays and the Nelsons, and also got to visit our friends Scott and Jeremy. What a great time! It wasn't "easy" per se, traveling with both kids, but we stayed downtown at the Marriott Suites about 3 blocks from Michigan Avenue and everything was surprisingly more simple than expected. Preston and CeCe had a blast and both did amazingly well for being so thrown off their routine. All together in our group, we had 5 kids- ages 2.5, 2.3, almost 18 months, 11 months, and 7 months. God help us.

We arrived into the city Friday morning and went to the Museum of Science and Industry on way to the hotel. It was the Friday of spring break, so it was packed, but we still had a great time. Preston LOVED the farm and train exhibits, and CeCe was happy and easy going as ever. Here's some shots from MSI:





That evening, we met up at the hotel with the other families and loaded up all the kids for dinner at Quartinos. Italian family style small plates and let's just say.... the servers got a big tip and we ordered pizza in the next evening. Probably should have paid for the meals of the people dining around us, as well. Thank God that's over.


In fact, it was so stressful, the mommies needed to leave the daddies behind once the kids went to bed and go enjoy a wine and cheese flight at Bin 36. (I felt badly, because that is one of Kevin and my favorite restaurants to go to together in the city, but alas, the kids can't stay by themselves. ;)



Saturday was a great day! We walked along the river all the way from our downtown hotel to Navy Pier. It's was a gorgeous morning and we all loved getting a chance to enjoy the sights of the city. Navy Pier is a perfect place for kids. They had little rides, tons of games, and the awesome Chicago Children's Museum. We met Aunt Kim and cousin Eve, who were also in town, and ate lunch outside on the pier. After several hours, we were all exhausted and decided to take the bus back, which was CeCe and Preston's first experience with public transportation. Interesting crowd. After we got back and got the kids down, I was even able to head to Nordstrom's for some shopping. Which I *might* have enjoyed even more than Navy Pier. :)






Chicago Children's Museum was very cool- totally hands-on for kids and there were even spaces in each exhibit room for non-walkers so that babies didn't get trampled by the overly excited toddlers. Their water works area was awesome, they had a fire station and truck that allowed the kids to fight a blazing house fire, and tons of places to dig, learn and explore. Preston and CeCe both loved it!








Here are some pics of the rest of our trip. It was an awesome getaway and reminded us that we should be a bit more brave when it comes to traveling with the kids. Now, if we could just figure out a way to pack less next time....