Chicago fun!

Chicago was our destination for a long weekend.  We went to some neat places, but I have to say, the favorite part of this trip might have been the hotel pools.  Our kids have turned into little fish and they could hardly get enough of the water!

We arrived for dinner and did a rerun of last year eating at Lou Malati's pizza for some Chicago style deep dish.  # of us loved it and one tolerated some way too cheesy pizza.  We found our way to our first hotel and it was right too the pool.  Timothy and Teresa loved jumping in and diving for dive sticks.


The next day we headed into the city to explore the field museum.  This is where Sue the T-Rex lives.  We also saw all kinds of neat animal displays.  There were an awful lot of big cats on display and I think we have a picture of Teresa with every single one!  We had fun learning and enjoyed a 3D movie about the Galapagos Islands.  It was a nice day and the kids enjoyed playing by the edge of Lake Michigan as we walked back to the car.  For dinner we walked to a fun place called the BBQ Patio.  We had yummy hot dogs and hamburgers.

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The evening was of course filled with more swimming.  Troy got into the action a bit more than me at the first pool!  On the second day we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was a hot day and that had us dragging some, but we enjoyed seeing many of the animals.  The reptile house was a highlight and of course seeing some of the big cats.


We found our way to our second hotel.  This one was a bit more plush--bigger room, warmer pool, breakfast and evening appetizers.  I was more into the swimming at this second place.  We spent a good deal of time in the pool once again.

On our third day we went into the city again and went to the Alder Planetarium.  Some highlights there were the two shows we got t o watch about space and the children's play area.  We all loved walking through the room that simulated walking in space.  We had a fun picnic lunch outside overlooking Lake Michigan.  We were worn out by the afternoon and returned to our hotel for some more swimming!  We had a picnic in our hotel the last two nights and made some fun memories!



On our way out of town we stopped at a natural play area.  There were neat climbing structures and equipment for open ended play.  There was even a little stream to wade in.  Eventually we were on our way home.

We celebrated the 4th of July at home with fireworks on TV.  Then as we put the kids to bed, there were fireworks in our neighborhood.  This was the first real live fireworks the kids have seen.  The loved it!  It was a wonderful trip and wonderful family memories!!