Skip to main content

Chicago - Day 1

We're back!

It was lovely and over much too soon. Not that I expected the vacation to feel long and drawn out. Quite the contrary. I knew we were going to be busy each and every day, which is the perfect recipe for an oxymoron of long days that pass quickly.

We woke up early Monday morning and boarded the Amtrak. (Thanks, Dad, for driving our car home!) We packed heavy since the train allows you to bring your own food on board. The smallest suitcase? Full of snack food for the train and hotel. The cooler? Full of cold stuff we could eat and drink. Not that the kids wanted lunch on the train. They weren't hungry for sandwiches.


However, by the time we got into Chicago, they were definitely interested in finding somewhere to eat. Since our room wasn't quite ready, we checked our bags and decided to go looking for our first meal in the big city.



Maybe we should have stopped at the Melting Pot because the Hard Rock Cafe was insanely expensive. On the upside..the boys took pictures of every guitar in the place.

The hotel we stayed at had two wings. Our room was on the 14th floor of one, while the rooftop pool was on level five of the next. This allowed me to get a pretty good picture of the pool area from the elevator hallway.



After settling into our room, we decided to head over to the John Hancock Building. I wish we would have read the website a little better, though, because our City Pass was also good for the Sears Tower, which is where the glass floor is at. We thought it was at the John Hancock Building. We were wrong. So, I'm sorry to say, you will not be seeing any pictures of our feet suspended above the city.

I must admit this bummed all of us out. I think that's probably one of the reasons our oldest got a bit of an attitude at this point. Well, that and getting up super early, riding a train for 5+ hours, and walking in high humidity.

Thankfully, that was the first and last bad attitude we saw the entire week! Impressive, yes?

Okay, more later! Time to go help the little man put together a souvenir.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for Willing Victims

I've decided I'd like to expand my photography skills and experience. This means I need willing models. So far I've got a couple of people who might be willing to let me practice on them. I'm excited but nervous. I want so badly to take amazing pictures and give them each something they like. Shoot #1: Mom wants me to take Christmas pictures of her three daughters. I'm very excited, but I also want a lovely background. I was thinking of taking them to a park or some other such setting where there's a lot of pines. The problem is that Fall has just arrived and these are supposed to be Christmas pictures. Any suggestions? Shoot #2: A senior. I think I'm okay on this one. She wants fall colors in her pictures, so I just need to wait for the trees to do their thing. Then its a matter of finding the right location. Now here's my real delimna: Where do I upload them so they can be printed to look like professional pictures? Rounded corners and im...

Poor Little Doggie

The dog and I both had dentist appointments yesterday for teeth cleanings.  While my appointment turned up a crack in a couple of old cavities, one of which will require a crown (ouch!), I was at least able to walk out of my appointment without feeling miserable.  Not so for this little fella.. Cash's cleaning turned into a tooth-pulling frenzy.  He lost a total of fifteen (15!!) teeth yesterday.  The rot was so advanced in some of the teeth that an infection had spread throughout his little mouth and into his blood stream.  If we wouldn't have taken him in to the vet for this cleaning, we may have lost him.  According to the vet, the infection would have eventually worked its way to his heart and given him a heart attack. For the next five days he's on a liquid only diet of chicken noodle soup and water; he is not happy about this decision and is convinced he's starving to death.  There is a lot of whining and pacing back in forth in front o...

They saved the finger..

This was supposed to be an easy, carefree weekend.  One of those rare weekends where spontaneity is possible because plans were not made ahead of time.  We could lounge on the couch, work on our hobbies, or even do a little shopping.  And, no, I'm not referring to the necessary evil of grocery shopping, but the much more enjoyable version where you get to buy things that actually make you happy. Because the oldest boy needed some pants and the youngest could use a new pair of shoes, I decided to head into the city to do some shopping at Kohl's.  Of course, my decision to shop there was not quite so altruistic.  Mama needed a new bathing suit! So, I pack the kids up and head into the city.  The youngest picks out his shoes . The oldest tries on a few pairs of jeans and ends up with two in the basket.  Did I mention we have to shop in the men's department now?  That he's wearing size 29?  My baby is growing up! Then it was Mom's ...