Trip to Chicago!

This past few days Eric has had his first days off in a row since starting at his job 15 months ago. He has 1/2 of Saturday, all day Sunday, all day Monday and all day today (Tuesday). We are so excited that he finally gets a break. We decided to take a trip up to Chicago for a couple of days. It is a 3.5 hour drive north from us. We left early Sunday morning and headed straight for the Shedd Aquarium on the edge of Lake Michigan. It was quite crowded but because we had a stroller, we got to go in the Accessible entrance and ticket office which took less than half the time of the regular line - WAHOO!!! Anyways, we walked around for a bit and saw tons of huge fish and sealife.

The huge stingrays!! There was a large family of stingrays in there.
Daddy and Alyssa by the lizard.

The octopus!! Affectionately named Henry the Octopus (Wiggles)

Alyssa loved the little seahorses.

The Jellies exhibit. I love when the flash reflects off the glass and you can't really see anything. This was before I learned that you are not allowed to use the flash at all in the Aquarium.

Alyssa was amazed at all the waterfalls and so we took her picture by her favorite one.

Daddy & Alyssa playing in the submarine. I was being the typical pregnant Mom and sitting down watching them.

Driving the Submarine

They had a divers show when the divers fed the sealife. It was really neat.

We went to watch the Dolphin show but because we couldn't use the flash ( I had learned that by then) I couldn't get any good pictures of the dolphin show. I need a better camera next time.

Alyssa played in the hands on exhibit where they could touch fake sea stuff. Her favorite part was splashing me.

They had a 4D experience movie. We watched Dora and Diego. It was really fun and Alyssa loved it!!

Out side the Shedd Aquarium was this huge fountain.

Sears Tower!!

Soldier Field (Where the Chicago Bears play)

After we got dinner and headed back to the hotel all Alyssa wanted to do was swim so we got our swimsuits on and went swimming. The water was cold but we got used to it. Alyssa did great in the pool. We are looking forward to her swimming lessons this summer!!

Chicago Childrens Museum!!

Monday we headed for the Chicago Childrens Museum. It was on the Navy Pier and it was Awesome. We had a great time there. There were a lot of school groups so we had to work around those. After a while they all left and we had the place practically to ourselves.

Alyssa with her jacket on so she could play in the water area.

Daddy and Alyssa playing with the water.

Playing in the grocery store.

Digging for Dinosaur Bones!!

Building blocks area.

Daddy - Alyssa took this picture!!

We went to lunch at the Mexicana Cantina and it was the best Mexican food I have ever had!! We sat on the balcony and this was our view of Chicago. It was gorgeous!! We were trying to guess where Oprah and all the famous people might live. We did some research and found that to buy a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in one of the buildings on the ocean front it would cost over $750,000. No thank you, I'll take my nice big home with a back yard and no traffic.

After lunch we went back to the Childrens Museum and Alyssa dressed up as a Fireman and drove the fire truck.

She put out a few fires.

Then we went to a different building area and built a house.

Alyssa in her cute gear. With the way it made her face look, I couldn't stop laughing!!

Daddy and Alyssa in the bed that we built.

My cute little Alyssa!!

On the long drive home Alyssa played with the camera. This is a couple of the pictures she took!!

We had a great time in Chicago and we love living close enough to enjoy it!! We already have our next trip planned. 5 Days before Baby Mason is due to arrive we have tickets to the Wiggles Concert. We'll see how that works out but Alyssa is so excited for it!!