Chicago

We got to Chicago around 8:30 pm on Saturday night. After unpacking we walked down to the local frozen yogurt store with the boys. We got to sample many of their interesting flavors like mint, red velvet and cake batter and then there was tons of fixing you could add on top. It was fun that everything is self serve and you pay by the ounce. It was late though like 10:30-11:00 when we got home and finally put the boys to bed. We stayed up late the first night with Matt and Shar catching up.

 Sunday we just a hang out with Matt and Shar day. Matt and I went running in the park while Shar, Dave and the boys played at one of the playgrounds. One thing I realized right away is we left the heat and humidity behind in Minnesota. The highs in Chicago were in the mid 70s and there was no humidity. I only brought one pair of jeans and a couple long shirts- whoops. That night Shar cooked us an amazing Indian dinner.

On Monday while Matt and Shar were at work we went into the city on the L. Adam said it was the best train ride ever and Eli proclaimed "we found the city." I guess I didn't realize it was missing.

We got off the L a long way from Navy Pier where we planned to take an architecture boat ride on the river. So we walked all along Lake Michigan to get to Navy Pier. Once there we found a quiet little outdoor restaurant about half way down the pier to order lunch and eat. I had awesome fish tacos, Dave mini slidders and Eli and Adam shared fancy mac and cheese.

The boat tour was great and the boys did well on it. We learned a lot about Chicago and I fun snapping photos. Eli only made it through 3/4 of the tour before he curled up on my lap for a nap. So after the tour we walked along the river and just enjoyed being in the city. I would have liked to go to the top of the John Hancock or Sears tower (I refuse to call it by any other name), but Eli was napping, we were in the middle of both buildings and would have had a long walk and Adam and Dave weren't that interested. So instead we found the L and got back on the blue line before rush hour was in full swing to go back to Matt and Shar's place.

I had a lot of fun counting down the stops with Adam and Eli on the L. We were looking at the map and listening to each stop announcement and then figuring how many stops were left before we got off. I'm sure it was obvious we were from out of town, but we enjoyed it.

We got off the train in Lincoln Square and walked to an equally adorable and awesome toy store and let the boys play for a while. I couldn't resist getting a little toy for our new nephew Nathaniel and we got two bilge pump water toys for our boys.

Shar said she was super pumped to come home and spend time with her nephews. We got to eat yummy Indian food leftovers and then we walked to the river park again. Matt had a great idea to give Adam and Eli each a ball to hold. They would throw their ball and then run to go get it which kept them moving at a pretty good pace. We walked around the park and played. The boys enjoyed Chicago but were excited to go visit their cousins James and brand new baby Nathaniel.