Chicago Excitement

We had a wonderful time in Chicago. As much as we wanted to be in Indy, Chicago was a great way to forget about not going there.

We got to our hotel Thursday evening around 10:15. The W hotel was nice. The service was excellent. The lady at check in became Lauren's best friend as she handed her a stuffed Lion to cuddle with. Lauren carried it most of the weekend with her. The hotel room was nice. The beds were a little too soft, which wasn't good for my back, but the room size and amenities were wonderful. Brad enjoyed the LCD flatscreen TV, or maybe I should say Lauren enjoyed it more. We were able to watch Monster's Inc. and Mary Poppins in style.

Friday morning we woke up around 8:00 and had McDonald's for breakfast. It was right down from our hotel. Then we were off to the beach. We needed to take a cab so the first one we approached was a woman. I asked her if she could take us to the Oak Street beach and she just looked at me, rolled her eyes and said I guess with an attitude. I stepped back and told Brad that we weren't taking that cab. She was a witch. So we stepped down to the next cab. A very nice man. We told him where we wanted to go and he explained to us that that beach didn't have good access to drop us off and directed up to go up to the North Avenue beach. Very nice, he was the best! It was service with a smile. We were dropped off right outside the beach amenity area. We were able to get an umbrella and chair for Brad to sit under the shade. Lauren and I played for nearly two hours. We ate lunch: hot dogs, chips and juice. It was fun. But....I got fried! After leaving the beach we went back for naps.

While taking naps I remembered a theatre that we drove by that said "Doctor Doolittle". So I called Jeff our Concierge to see if we could get tickets for that evening. He hooked us up with tickets for the 8:00 show. His service was very quick and friendly. So we got ready, went to another hotel to get the tickets and then ran into another friendly conierge at the Allegra hotel. This gentleman gave us top service not just getting us the tickets but also directed us to their hotel resturant for VIP service to insure that we got to the show on time. He delivered us our tickets, we ate our dinner and we were off to see Doctor Doolittle. I ate a caesar salad and broccoli and goat cheese soup. YUCK! Brad had a delicious meat platter. The show was cute. Lauren enjoyed the animals, singing and dancing. The show itself was only 1 1/2 hours so it wasn't too long for her. Lauren's favorite part was the singing and dancing during the Money Island scene. She thinks the main money was "Boots" from Dora the Explorer. We had a great time.

On Saturday we got up at 8:00. Literally 8:00. Lauren come jumping over to our bed saying she wanted to get up. I told her if the clock said it was before 8:00 she had to go back to bed. It was 8:01. Urgh! Lauren ate fruitloops for breakfast. We got ready and headed out to the Zoo. Oh, the Zoo. It was hot, hot, hot! The animals even thought it was too hot. We didn't get to see too many as they were all inside their caves keeping cool. Lauren got to feed the cows hay and pet the goats. It was so hot we decided to go ride the carousel and then have lunch. Lauren was melting and we were tired of dragging her around so the cool air in the Cafe' was refreshing. After lunch we went through the monkey area and then the penguins. The monkeys were active, the penguins were not, which bummed Lauren out because she enjoys watching the penguins jump in and swim around the tank. So since there wan't too much activity we went back to the hotel for naps.

Saturday night was fun. We headed out around 6:00 to eat at Giordano's on Randolph. We arrived to find only a few people eating. Going to Giordano's off the beaten path is the best. The service was very good. The pizza of course takes a while to bake but we had paints and piglets to keep us busy. While we sat waiting for our pizza a gentleman came in with a pig hat and a small pig pouch. Inside the pouch he had little piglets. Lauren loves them. They keep her busy the whole time we waited and ate. So the Pigman was a big hit! The pizza was excellent and we took the leftovers to hand out to a homeless person. After we left the pizza place we ran into a Volkswagon pig parked along the street. It looked just like a pig. It had the nose and the little tail. The license plate said Jims Pig on it. So we have no doubt that the Pigman was Jim, the man we saw at Giordano's.

Our next stop was American Girl Company. Of course we didn't bring Lauren's bitty baby, we forgot it in the hotel room, not thinking we were going to go by there. So we went in. $$$ later, we were walking out with an American Girl doll and lip gloss. I really wanted to get it for her because it has hair she can comb, braid, etc. But now that we have it I realize that mommy may be enjoying it more right now than Lauren is. She'll grow to love it! Now we can buy clothes for the baby and the doll the next time we visit (November). :-)

So then we were off to our main event for Saturday evening. The fireworks over the lake. We ran into a group of people who where on a scavenger hunt who was wanting to take pictures of couples kissing. Of course we agreed and did so. It was our first kiss of the day and it was our anniversary. Hmmm? Anyway, we walked down to the lake and ran into tons of people. It was so humid. We found a bench and I took a load off for a few minutes while Brad and Lauren enjoyed walking the short pier down by the boats. There were hundreds of them. Brad sat back and dreamed of owning one while Lauren and I brushed her new dolls hair waiting for the fireworks. Fireworks set off at 9:45. There were neat. After the first few Lauren lost interest. It was hot and she was getting sleepy. After the fireworks were over, along with a million other people, we were trying to get a cab back to our hotel. We ended up walking up to lower Wacker, which was a mistake when you have a 3 year old, a large bag and a stroller. Lower Wacker takes you nowhere but to a flight of stairs. While walking the humidity level was rising, Lauren had melted and Brad and I were just trying to catch fresh air. We walked up those stairs dying and finally we reached the top. Now we are still several blocks away from our hotel. No taxi available. Just when we were about to faint a very nice taxi driver pulled over and let us get in. We were only 5 blocks from our hotel so that tells you how exhausted we were. Our fare was only $3.45. But because he basically saved us from dying, Brad gave him a generous tip. We were never so happy to see our hotel.

Sunday at 7:30 came quickly and Lauren was ready to get up. Again she had fruitloops for breakfast. We decided we would go to the Navy Pier and ride a few rides and have lunch. By the time we got to the end of the pier Lauren was tired. The rides perked her up but she lost it when we wouldn't let her ride the kiddie Lighthouse ride. We started to get on it and she said she didn't want to so we got off. Then she cried because she said she could ride it and we said no. Honestly, it would have freaked her out. It takes you up may be 15 feet and drops you a few inches at a time. She cried and cried and cried. Basically, we ran her down and there was no energy left. We ate lunch at McDonald's, rode the Train Express twice and then headed back to the hotel. A short nap followed and we finished packing for the train ride home. Woke Lauren up at 2:30. Got to the train station at 3:00. Board at 4:00. Champaign at 6:30.

On the way home we decided to pre-order Papa Del's for dinner. We enjoyed Diordano's so much we wanted a taste of thick pizza again. We waited around Champaign to pick it up and we finally got home to enjoy it.

We had a wonderful time. Everything fell right in place going from place to place. I guess the only thing that would have made the trip more fun would be going to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs beat the Cards! :-)