Chicago!

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago! We were only there for 4 days, but we packed in as much as possible. We arrived Saturday afternoon and after checking in to the hotel and getting unpacked (sort of) we decided to walk to dinner. I brought several umbrellas with us, so even though it was raining we arrived intact. We started ordering when Hannah decided to check out things on her own and fell on the wet floor. She cut her head pretty deep and of course there was blood everywhere. Paul kept pressure on the wound with a billion napkins, Christian ran out and hailed a cab (I'm not sure how he knew to do this, t.v. maybe?) Holly and Cassie covered their eyes and for some reason I grabbed a cup and filled it to the very top with ice. Now you all know to NOT go to the Boddeker women during an emergency. We rushed to the ER where Hannah was quickly stitched up. We ate at the hospital cafeteria that night.

Even after all the drama, we found time to go to Navy Pier to ride the Ferris Wheel and watch the fireworks. Paul was in heaven after finding a McDonald's inside the food court there. He is a man of simple tastes.

The next day we headed to Lincoln Park Zoo. The monkeys and seals were our favorite (based on the informal survey I took on the drive home.) We spent a good 4 hours there until everyone was sick of animals.

Hannah fell asleep in the cab on the way to the Hancock Building and slept through lunch entirely. The view was great from the table, but even better from the women's room.

Holly and I ventured out to Michigan on our own for some serious shopping while the rest of the kids and Paul went swimming back at the hotel.

That night we ate at Ed Debevic's, a really fun, inexpensive place where the servers are quite smart mouthed and really cater to the kids. Their motto is, "Eat, Pay, Get Out!" It just happened to be their 25th anniversary so we also got free cupcakes for everyone!!

The Field Museum was next on our agenda.

We spent a long 5 hours there and still missed most of one floor. Someone (I can't remember who) told me that going through the museum with kids was going to be pretty quick, and they were right. It was Paul who slowed us down...way down. He was interested in everything so he had to read every single sentence. It is a beautiful museum, and much to Paul's delight, again came equipped with it's very own McDonald's. Oy. This night we finally got to eat some real deep dish Chicago style pizza from Gino's East. The most delicious pizza I have ever had!!! The kids loved it and especially enjoyed being allowed to write on the walls.

The next day, and our last, we went to the free day at the Shedd Aquarium. This was a pretty quick tour because we all wanted to spend some time on Michigan Ave. Cassie had been patient long enough and this was finally her day for American Girl Place. We started with a full bag of wish list items, then narrowed down to three stacks, "Can't live without", "Christmas or birthday lists" and "Never mind." She did a really good job of thinking things through and budgeting her money. She has been doing extra jobs around the house for months now to save up so I was pleased with the outcome. (As pleased as I can be while purchasing a sleeping bag for a doll.)

Christian had a field day at the Hershey store and got a tin bucket filled to the brim with his favorites. We went to Niketown and found him some shirts and a cool bag.

At the Disney store Hannah got a tiny, pink, princess soccer ball. Holly and I bought some makeup and Paul got a new coat. Exhausted, we went to Portillo's for dinner. Later that night we rode the subway just for the fun of it.

We couldn't consider our tour of Chicago complete without going to the......wait for it........ yes folks, the 3 story McDonald's for desert. Paul had been dying to step foot inside so I had to grant him his one Chicago wish.