What would it be like to live in a world where you were always on vacation? I would love to know! And if I could spend that vacation time anywhere Chicago just might top the list. We were only there for a long weekend. I wanted to stay for more. What a great city. Great hotels, yummy restaurants, fun parks, loads of attractions within walking distance, clean streets, even cleaner cabs (we were impressed), great shopping, I could go on and on. Max cried when we packed up our things and headed home... and who can blame him? Heck, I'm teary-eyed just blogging about all the fun we had. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where you were always on vacation....
After arriving in town we walked two miles to the Sears... ahem... Willis Tower. (seriously, does anyone call it that?) Max was hell bent on going out on the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor. So it was first on our agenda. What a weird experience! The whole process of waiting in line then waiting in another line for tickets then waiting for an elevator then waiting to watch the movie about the Sky Deck, etc. took about 2 hours. It was worth it though. Max loved it. Stepping out onto the RETRACTABLE (if that isn't enough to make you squeamish then I don't know what is!) glass was pretty amazing. Being that high and looking down at the street and buildings below was unlike anything you could imagine really. Max giggled the whole time. I stepped on, looked down, then tried to step off but Max was holding my arm and pulling me back. I felt a bit panicky at that point. Chris couldn't bring himself to do it at all. It was pretty freaky. Some girls were doing handstands on the glass. Like whoa!
Saturday morning we got up and headed to the convention center bright and early to pick up my race packet for the half marathon on Sunday. I admit, I had a bad attitude about it because I have been plagued with this weird pain in my left side that worsens when I run so I didn't think I'd even make it to the three mile mark of the race. It left me sad. But we ended up having fun at the Expo anyway. Games were played, prizes were won, pictures were taken. Max had a great time even! And he experienced his first cab ride ever as is posted below. He was a little worried. He said "what if the driver smokes?!!" Not sure where he got that idea?
After the convention center we hit Millennium Park. We saw the fountains, the bean, the crowds... it was beautiful! We were just a block north of all this action all weekend and made frequent trips here to cool off and enjoy the city views.
Saturday afternoon we stopped by a Catholic bookstore to pay a visit to my aunt's friend, Sister Helena. She runs this bookstore and my Aunt Suzi had arranged for Max to stop in and choose any item from the children's section he wanted, her treat. We got to visit with the very charming Sister Helena while Max shopped and then posed for a photo as we were headed out. He decided on a book about Christmas, one that you could use water to color to create new scenes. He felt pretty special being about to choose anything he wanted. Thank you, Suzi for such a generous gift.
Sunday at 6:30 am was the race. Off we went. Max really really really wanted to see me do this race. I wasn't so sure and felt a little defeated before I even began. But what do you know I did it!?!? I did have to walk about 10-12 minutes or so because my pain started to arise but all in all I am seriously shocked I could pull it off. I haven't been able to run normally in 5 weeks so this was quite a feat. It was an awesome race and the city views were spectacular!! I hope the Rock n Roll Series heads back to Chicago in 2013 so I can run it again... feeling great! ;) The saddest part was Chris and Max didn't even see me finish! All that hoping and waiting and they missed me. I called Chris's phone about 10 minutes after I was done and he said "oh we are on the left near the finish looking for you"... I said "uh, I passed you all like 10 minutes ago then..." Ho hum. Don't worry, Max said he was still proud of me although hesitant to hug me afterward because "you're all sweaty, eww".
Sunday after the race we got breakfast, rested up, then met Suzi, Dalius and Andy out in Park Ridge for lunch at Harry Caray's Restaurant. It was so great catching up with family! We spent hours with them just chatting and eating and then visiting Andy's church... er... Father Andrew's church. ;) Pretty cool stuff. We are definitely looking forward to seeing them again soon! I'm thankful to Suzi for taking out her camera for a few photos!
After the late lunch we decided to hit up the beach. Not too many cities can boast that they have a gorgeous skyline AND a nice beach. Look to the east and you see nothing but blue water. Look west and it's skyscrapers as far as the eye can see. So cool. We spent time here playing in the sand and wading in the water. Lake Michigan was the first place Max ever experienced a beach about 3 years ago when we first made a trip with him to Chicago... now we are back!
If you ask Max I'm positive he will tell you the best part of the trip for him was visiting Navy Pier. We ended up going twice at his request. The first night I rode the ferris wheel and the swings with him. The second time Chris agreed to do the ferris wheel while I rode the swings once more. Here are Chris and Max before getting on; Max giving two thumbs up... Chris a big thumbs down (but smiling!). Well apparently that is not the attraction for Chris. Max said Daddy couldn't look at anything but his own chest the whole time and his palms were very sweaty. Chris doesn't like heights and this wheel went pretty high. Oh what we do for our kids...
We rounded out the weekend on Monday morning heading out early for breakfast and back to Millennium Park. We spent time exploring the entire park, even found a "real" park with swings, monkey bars and a slide. Max loved that. We went back to the big face fountains (what are they really called??) and then revisited the bean before getting cleaned up and heading home. We had an amazing trip and were very sad to head home and back to reality. I'm already looking for another excuse to head back to Chicago. With it just being a 5 hour drive we really should take advantage of it more often.
