The first week of August, we went to Chicago for an end-of-summer vacation. We had a wonderful time! The kids had never really been to a BIG city before, and they were amazed by the number of tall buildings and people and cars (and honking) everywhere. Although they thought the busyness was cool, my Favorite Boy did say it's too loud when you are trying to sleep in the city (I agree).

We arrived in Chicago on a Tuesday morning and headed to the Chicago Children's Museum. (We really took advantage of the membership to our local science museum during the trip. Most of the museums we visited have a reciprocal relationship with ours, so we got in free!) The CCM is geared toward young children, so my Best Girl especially liked it. She dug for dinosaur bones, played in the water area, and really enjoyed building things with Tinkertoys and large Erector sets. My Favorite Boy went for the physical activities, and he and Dad enjoyed the super-sized games. However, my Favorite Boy did not enjoy losing to Dad in checkers.

After the museum, we headed to Giordano's for my husbands favorite pizza in the world. I did break my healthy eating for one meal and had a couple of slices. I mean, you can't go to Chicago and not eat pizza, right? The kids couldn't believe how thick it was (we ordered a thin crust cheese pizza for them).

On Wednesday, we split up for some separate activities. My Favorite Boy and Dad went to the Cubs game. Thankfully, Dad now has a camera on his phone, so I have some evidence that they went to Wrigley field. The Cubs won 15-4, so it was a good day at the ballpark. The only downside was that it drizzled for most of the game. They were under the overhang, so they didn't get wet, but my Favorite Boy was hoping to run the bases after the game, and they cancelled this because they didn't want the field to get sloppy.

My Best Girl and I headed to American Girl Place for a special girls' day.

First, we took Sarah (the doll) to get her hair fixed. I was very impressed with most of our experience, but the hair salon was a rip-off. It only took the girl five minutes to finish. I did, however, learn that we should be spraying Sarah's hair with water when we brush it, so at least I got some helpful information.

As funny as it sounds, my Best Girl's favorite part of the American Girl Place was the bathroom. She loved it so much that we visited it four times. It was pink, purple, and completely girly. It was even equipped for the dolls: each stall had a doll holder. This was very well thought out, but amusing at the same time.

Our lunch was my favorite part. The restaurant was adorable, and my Best Girl and I enjoyed our four-course meal. The presentation of the food was so cute (the dessert was chocolate mousse in a flower pot with daisy, a flower shaped cake and butterfly cookie). Even Sarah got to enjoy the food.



We all met up in the afternoon and headed to Navy Pier for fun and fireworks. Both kids enjoyed the putt-putt course (even though it wasn't very nice). I guess it was an easy course because at some point, we all got holes-in-one. My Best Girl and I enjoyed the Ferris wheel while Dad and my Favorite Boy played a second game of putt-putt, and then we all watched the fireworks over Lake Michigan.

Our first two days in Chicago were so much fun! I'll post about the rest of our trip soon!

Labels: Family and Friends, Fun, My Best Girl, My Favorite Boy