Chicago! Chicago!

Finally here it is! It has taken me so long to finally put this together. I really need help with the blogger because when I have lots of pictures it takes me forever to upload and properly place them but I think it more of user deficiency than a blogspot one. Anyway, the 3 of us planned a little girls trip for mid May kind of a post Mother's Day celebration to spend a few days in Chicago. The 3of us have never been on a trip together, ever. We have had several family trips but never just us. We planned it perfectly to coincide with Mom's work trip so hotel and a few meals would be paid for :) KK graciously volunteered (aka jumped at the chance :)) to keep James while we were gone because Chad had an out of town sales meeting so it worked out nicely that all 3 of us would have a little break from the daily routines.

This was my 4th trip to Chicago and I still love it (in the spring-summer time that is I don't think I would enjoy the bitter cold of the winter). Let's just face it I am not a history buff or museum kind of girl and neither is Anna or my Mom. I have been to Wrigley field, the Sears tower, etc. so we did A LOT of shopping and a lot of eating!! And let me tell you Mom did a great job planning our dinners because the food was to die for and sometimes quite heavenly. The leisurely shopping and eating was such a treat for me because with a 2 yr old leisure never really happens. So here goes to run down of the trip.

The first day we head to the airport to make a 6:45 am flight so of course we were pushing it to get there on time. Well as we are rushing through the parking lot of the airport dragging our extra large suitcases at approx 6:00am, Anna stops and says "Wait I don't have my license. I just realized the teller at the bank did not give it back to me yesterday." Awesome! glad she remembered at this very moment. Reluctantly and after heavy interrogation security let her through based on her student id. And we were off!

Once we arrived, Anna and I began shopping while Mom headed off to work. One of the reasons why I love Chicago is the cleanliness and the landscape. It is not just all concrete.

Little areas like above are randomly placed on sidewalks of the busy Michigan Avenue..Along with these entertainers.

For dinner we met back up with Mom and a long time friend of hers from work, Pam. We enjoyed a delicious Italian meal and headed home for some rest.

Thursday we woke up to rain. Mom headed to the office and Anna and I slipped out again for more shopping. Anna and I had a wonderful French lunch including some of the best bread I have ever had. Thursday night the 3 of us went to Japonais for dinner. Chad and I ate at this restaurant when we went to Chicago for our first anniversary however I was 6 weeks pregnant and didn't get to enjoy the sushi or the wine. So I made sure to take advantage this time. It was a great meal and great time besides being stared down and hit on by these older men...one which had skull heads on the toes of his shoes with seersucker pants...interesting combination. By the way I do not have any pictures from our nightly activities because I thought it might be a little much to lug my big camera to these nice restaurants and be tempted to take pictures of the pretty food and really look like a dork. However may have avoided the horny old men.

Friday was beautiful. The weather could not have been more perfect. We enjoyed a delicious lunch with Mom's friend Pam so she could deliver Anna's license that my Dad had delivered to the office so that Anna could make it back to Birmingham without the hassle. We had lunch at the Park Grill conveniently located next to the "Bean"

 

We had a little photography fun with the Bean

And then we headed off to enjoy an afternoon city tour by ferry boat. Something I have wanted to do every previous trip and for whatever reason has never worked out until now.

 

This was our humorous tour guide but still didn't compete with Vince Vaughn in the movie "The Break-up".

And these were our views along the way. Pretty spectacular.

It was a little windy to say the least...

But very interesting to learn a few historical facts about the city as well as a few architectural tid bits such as the building below was designed to resemble a champagne bottle just being opened...and quite frankly it does.

That night we headed to the top of the John Hancock building for a cocktail and beautiful view. Something I have done every trip and never gets old. It is a must. Then we enjoyed another scrumptious meal at the Capital Grill.

Saturday our last day of the trip I took a few pictures of some unique buildings while shopping AGAIN.

For James...

I took this one because it is where I enjoyed such a fun evening with 7 of my closest friends during my bacherlorette trip 4 years ago. Most of the night Dino, the general manager, took care of. It is one I will never forget!  

We came across this in a restroom along Michigan Avenue and it reminded me of our potty training days and wish there more of these out there. Little potty for the little ones. Genious! If only it was also germ free. I am a squatter 100% but kind of hard to teach a 2 year old to squat and not touch anything.

Then sadly we headed to the airport.

Only to find out that our flight had been delayed.

We have to stay longer...

Luckily we were not delayed too long and made it back to Birmingham safely. We had a wonderful trip with no arguments (accomplishment for the 3 of us together for 4 days straight in one room with one small bathroom). We are already working on next year's trip or I am anyway. It was a blast and a perfect break! Thanks mom for putting it all together!