Chicago

At the end of July we embarked on our very first vacation as a family of three, to Chicago!

We had the.best.time in the world.

All summer long I tried to plan a family vacation, but I just couldn’t land on a destination.  So many things sounded like fun, but not fun with a baby.  I wanted to find something that would be better with Beckett along, not worse.  Example: renting a house on a lake.  Relaxing, right?  Unless you were trying to keep a 7-month old entertained.  Then a friend (shout out, Erin!) suggested Chicago.  The idea kept sounding better and better.  I found a last-minute KILLER deal on Priceline, and BAM—we were off!  With Chicago being a walking city and Beckett loving riding in a stroller, plus the long list of fun things to do and places to see—I definitely give it an A+ for a baby-friendly vacation destination.

All credit for the fun we had on the trip goes to Beckett for being such a stinkin’ easy baby.  He did great on his first flight (hello 5am!) and continued to be a total dream with naps, flexibility, mood, etc. as we toted him all.over the city and back.  A second shout out goes to our CityMini Elite stroller.  We were basically a walking infomercial for that thing.  I won’t bore you with the details, but that thing scored some major points as we folded/unfolded it about a million times and rolled it 10+ miles down the streets of Chicago and onto dozens of trains, buses and subways.

OK, on to the trip…..

Day 1:  Travel + Cubs game

Beckett's first flight.  Very early flight = baby in pjs :)

Wrigley Field!

 

Day 2:  Aquarium + Wheaton

Chicago has a great aquarium.  I think it was Beckett's highlight of the trip.

We took the train out to Wheaton, Kolby's Alma Mater.  Kolby had such a fun time showing Beckett all around the beautiful campus, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

We met up with six of Kolby's best friends from college-- who happen to live in the area-- for a long dinner and ice cream.  It was such a fun evening, but I don't have any pictures.

Day 3:  Sears Tower + Lincoln Park/Zoo + Gino’s East Pizza + John Hancock Observatory

Sears Tower now has these lookouts on the 103rd floor that stick out 4 ft from the building and have glass on all sides, including the floor.  Beckett had no idea there was anything different about it, but it was a cool experience that we'll get to tell him about when he's older and can show him these fun pictures!

 (All the sunlight really shows how reddish his hair is, huh?)

Here's a street view of the Sears Tower and at the very top you can barely see the four lookouts sticking out. 

We spent midday at the free zoo at Lincoln Park, but I guess I didn't get any pictures.

For almost all of our meals we just grabbed take-out and ate in the hotel room while Beckett napped/slept, but we did manage a fun family dinner at Gino's East pizza on the Magnificent Mile.  The pizza was awesome and Beckett was a champ (thanks mostly  to a big screen tv) and we all had a great time.

We ended the day by going to the top of the John Hancock Building for a night view of the city.  Apparently I don't have the skills to take a skyline picture at night.  This cell phone shot of Beckett is the best I could do.  His zoned out look is courtesy of it being almost 3 hours past his bedtime.

Day 4:  Playtime at the hotel + The Bean + Travel

The king-size hotel bed may have been the best part of the whole trip for this guy.

We visited Millennium Park, which is famous for a sculpture called Cloud Gate, better known as "The Bean."

I was SO SAD it was already time for the trip to be over.  But after being in the 70s all week (GLORIOUS!) it got really hot on our last day, plus it was the opening day of a huge rock concert right across from our hotel so there were thousands of cool people everywhere--not really our crowd (side note: mom jeans and 80s clothes are back in?!?)-- so it was good timing for heading home.

I am so thankful that we had such a successful first family vacation.  Chicago was the perfect destination for us, and it was very nostalgic to be back in the same city and doing the same things that Kolby and I used to do when I visited him at college.  It was actually in Chicago 8.5 years ago that I knew I would marry Kolby (we weren't technically even dating at the time).  Would never have guessed that we'd be back there so many years later, happily married and with our precious bouncing baby boy in tow!