So I got hit by the travel bug, which happens to me all the time, because I LOVE to travel! So we decided we'd do a little Spring Break getaway! So we went to....
If you guessed CHICAGO....you are right! So maybe it wasn't a little trip, because it is a nice drive there. But we decided it was doable in a day, and packed lots of snacks and stuff for the kids to do in the car and headed off on Sunday morning. Since Jeremy and the kids have never been out that way, I thought stopping in St. Louis to see the arch would be a nice afternoon car break. Not sure anyone was all that impressed and a lot of construction made it a little longer of a stop, but Jeremy and I enjoyed getting out of the car!
I booked the embassy suites outside of Chicago next to Woodfield Mall, which is huge by the way (the mall), to save on money and nightly parking, cause it's $$! We also enjoyed the mall on St. Patrick's evening, I was worried maybe things would get a little crazy for the kiddos that night. I planned everything out, but didn't want to pack our schedule so we'd just have some time to enjoy the big city. After doing some online research, I bought a
Go Chicago Card where you can pick your admissions and buy everything online on one pass. It was so great, cause you saved money and we saved a lot of time in lines. So first up we went to the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed a lot of walking that afternoon. The museum is awesome, I highly recommend it. I loved that in each room they had a small place for Drew to crawl (cause that kid is still not walking) around in. The kids really enjoyed it. They have a lot of different rooms and we even went back for about an hour after lunch cause you can go in and out all day and they are very nursing mom friendly!
So after our lunch we went on the Farris Wheel. Which was pretty high, but it was a nice slow ride around. Since we could all go together it was worth it. The kids loved it, Jeremy, probably not so much! (He's not a fan of heights.)
That evening I made us reservations at
RPM Italian, because I like Giuliana and Bill Ranic, and that is the restaurant they own in Chicago. It's a well priced nicer restaurant, and they always talk about it on their show so I really wanted to try it. The kids were excited cause they had to dress up for dinner. They were so well behaved; we were so proud of them. The people sitting next to us came to our booth and told us they thought it was great were brought them here, that they needed to learn how to eat out nice, and that they behaved so well. I'm sure being seated next to a family with 4 kids on a night out isn't ideal, but it was a Monday, the kids loved the food and I had the best steak ever. Seriously so good. Jeremy and I decided to get several items and split them to try a few things. Everything we had was amazing, I highly recommend this place! It's totally worth the money!
The next day we visited Shedd Aquarium, which I choose because I thought the kids would enjoy seeing all the animals. It was nice, wasn't too crowded and the kids enjoyed it. All of their exhibits are continent based, so it was fun to see the fish from around the world. That's the only other museum we went to, I know I know, there are a ton more, but again, we wanted time to hang out, and I didn't want to overload the museum tour, we will go back!
The last thing I bought on our Go Chicago cards was entry to the sky deck, because I wanted to go there. It was great because a really nice lady skipped us through the line so we didn't have to watch the movie (probably a perk of having a very small child, who was a little fussy!) Obviously the height didn't bother Drew at all, everything thought it was funny he was crawling around. Jeremy and Kellyn didn't want to step out on the deck, but the entire floor offers some really great views!
Tuesday night we went back to our hotel, rested, then walked around Woodfield Mall and did a little shopping! Wednesday we headed into Chicago a little later to shop the Michigan Mile! The kids were major troopers and walked a ton, then Drew was nice enough to share his stroller with Maddie. We went to the bean, and attempted to take a few pics, but the kids were cold, tired, and hungry by that time.
(American Girl Store, the girls favorite!)
You can't go to Chicago without having Chicago Style Pizza, so we enjoyed Geno's East for dinner. We got there about 5, and didn't have to wait to be seated, but it takes about an hour to get your food cause the pizza takes that long to bake. Luckily the kids pizza's didn't take that long. The kids made their mark on the wall and we headed back for one last swim at the hotel!
Last, but not least on Thursday as we headed out of town we had to stop by this iconic statue to get a quick pic.....
cause a visit isn't complete without seeing Jordan. Overall it was a great trip, and we made it there and back safely. It did inspire me to travel a little more, so what if the drive is long, the kids are great, it gives Jeremy and I time to talk, that we don't get a whole lot, and we can see things we wouldn't see otherwise! So take a road trip with your family, you'll be glad you did!
