Not Just Chicago

Last week we put life on hold and went to Chicago with the kids. Chicago will always be an extra, extra meaningful place to take them. Last year at the end of December - when we were a family of three - we went there for just the day. We walked all over and talked a lot about Baby Girl; we made some decisions that I believe led us straight to THIS girl climbing on me right now. 

Exactly a month later, there she was. And a few days after that, we were back in downtown Chicago holding her before a judge, getting the okay to take her home. 

So Chicago will never just be Chicago anymore.

As significant as this city is to us now, we decided to brave just one night because we didn't know how C would do sleeping in the room with us in a pack and play. Turns out, we were probably right to stay just the one night. While we didn't really have many tears, we had a very lively baby who was too distracted by all of us in the room to settle down. It took about 2 hours for her to finally lay down, be quiet and stop moving from corner to corner. Tolerable for one night, but we were probably right not to risk it for two!

On Wednesday morning we drove straight to the Field Museum to see all the dinosaur bones (among other things).

 Simon was altogether more enthralled with the screens and buttons than anything else!

All through the dinosaur exhibit we saw the below message...it was a little unnerving. Ha.

 It was my turn to have C on my back through this area. The whole time we were there, she was an absolute angel. Thank God for baby carriers!

We decided to let Simon pick something out from the gift shop. This was a very time consuming ordeal as he just couldn't decide what he wanted. We even took a break from the perusing to get lunch, then returned for him to make his final decision. We were on vacation, so this kind of tomfoolery was acceptable :) He landed on a dinosaur costume that he wore much of the rest of the day. He is so easy to love!

When it was time to go through the Egyptian pyramids, Bryan got a hold of Cecie and I was pushing the childless stroller.

It didn't fit...

So it was Daddy, baby and dinosaur boy who went up and down through the pyramid.

I caught up with them in another part of the exhibit...

The next morning, Cecie helped us get ready by helping herself. I'm sorry to admit it, but I looooove when independence starts to shine!!

This picture was just too cute not to share...sorry, kid.

On Thursday we went to the Shedd Aquarium. This was really more appropriate for small kids probably, but it wasn't quite as enjoyable of a day since both kids were coming off a busy day with less than a full night's sleep. They still did great, but we had to parent a little more to get through it peacefully.

She did this A LOT at both places :)

I think Simon's favorite part of the place was the submarine he could play in. He did not want to leave and HAD to go back once before we left the area for good.

My germ-phobe friends (I'm looking at you LV) would probably think I'm crazy for letting him wear this well-used penguin costume, but how could I say no? The boy loves costumes (see photos 8, 11 and 12).

I was trying to get a picture of these two so naturally Simon hid his face...

After a minute of begging, he finally gave me this....

As I said, they were a little more edgy on Thursday and by noon my un-napped, under-slept baby was DONE. Simon did his best to distract her while we were getting ourselves ready to go.

It pretty much worked :)

It was really nice to have the time together and just do something fun, especially there. I have a pretty good feeling this will be an annual event!