Chicago
3:42 PM
Oh Chicago. The city of my heart.
We just returned from a week spent there, and as much as I love my home here, in some weird way, Chicago is home to me. It is always hard to leave. Kyle and the kids feel the same.
I've wanted to live there ever since I can remember, so any chance I have to go there, I'm on it.
The company Kyle works for has an office up there, which means he goes there quite often. He had several days of work scheduled and it was close enough to Spring Break that we decided to take ours at the same time. One of the perks of homeschooling, right?
We drove up there on a Sunday and drove back on a Friday.
The funny thing is that we had in our heads that it was an 8 hour drive.
Not quite.
More like 11-12ish. Counting stops for gas, lunch and potty breaks.
Or, as the case going up there, slowing down to account for 30mph wind gusts and a snowstorm in Illinois.
There was a point around Jonesboro where we had to pull over because I had forgotten to give Brooklyn her Dramamine and she thought she was gonna throw up - I was sitting on the left passenger seat behind Kyle watching a movie with the kids, and the wind was blowing SO HARD against my door that I literally could not get the door open to let her out. She had to crawl across the seats to the front seat and get out that way. It was pretty scary feeling wind that strong just bang into your car.
And when the snow started coming down, we were very thankful for 4 wheel drive - which my Dad had to remind us to turn on. HeHe. That was while he was checking the weather for us to let us know how long we had to drive through the snow. It was pretty exciting!
The kids were oblivious to our concerns as they watched a movie and listened to Adventures in Odyssey cd's. I grew up listening to Adventures in Odyssey and it is so much fun to listen to them again (plus lots of new ones) with my kids. Makes the miles pass quickly.
We were treated to a beautiful sunset in Illinois.
And finally arrived in Chicago around 10:30. So good to be back.
Here was our home for the next 5 nights!
Comfy, cozy.
Room for everyone - Wyeth slept with me and Kyle, and Dorien slept on a pallet on the floor beside us.
Here's Brooklyn and August's spot.
Which became a movie station one night after a full day on the town.
Eating a breakfast of bagels and fruit before heading out for the day!
On Monday, Kyle spent the day with us. I wanted to hit a few stores on Michigan Ave, and I was a little nervous about attempting that by myself with all the kids. I wore Wyeth in my Baby Bjorn and he did fantastic. Everytime I put him in it, he fell asleep almost immediately. We had also brought a stroller which Dorien rode in. I could also tuck my diaper bag in it and any other bags from purchases. It worked perfectly.
A beautiful building that caught my eye - it was right beside a huge construction site which captivated the kids with its cranes and big machinery.
Here is the view from our hotel room - a dog run for a condo and its accompanying rooftop "lounge."
Looking right out our hotel window...
Looking left...
And the dog run which gave my kids such excitement. They would wave at the dog owners and announce every dogs' successes to me. Oh joy. It actually was pretty funny.
Wyeth chills on the bed after being strapped to my chest all day. What a trooper.
And since this post has been kind of long, I'll continue with more pictures and stories tomorrow! Tune in!
1 comments
Looks so fun! I always have wanted to go to Chicago! I'd hoped to go one day and see the Oprah Show, but that never happened; boo!
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