Chicago 2012

As a thank-you to Josh for his work in the children's ministry for the last 8 years, the church gave us a weekend trip to Chicago.  They said to stay downtown and go see a show and a game.  We were very excited and thankful, but my mind couldn't help but immediately think about whether or not to take the kids.  Josh and I have spent many weekends in Chicago, mostly pre-kids, and for the most part, downtown Chicago activities are not kid friendly.  Long story short, although Josh nor I really wanted to leave the kids, we decided if Aunt Emily and Uncle Keith were willing to come stay at our house with them, we would all be ok... so that is what happened!  

(The view from our hotel window!)

We left for Chicago at noon on Friday (my parents took the first 8 hour shift with the kids).  We got up to our hotel which was awesome.  It was right along the river and had a fantastic view.  And, it was a great location!

(The view was even prettier at night!)

After checking out our room, we headed to Reza's for dinner.  Talk about yummy!  It took us back to our college days eating at Chad's in Lincoln.  The chef who ran Chad's actually trained the guy who runs Reza's in Chicago!  I'm still thinking about that food.... it was SO GOOD!  

After dinner, we hopped on the "L" (my first time... glad Josh knew what he was doing!) and went to see The Blue Man Group.  We really enjoyed the show.  It was musical, artistic, and funny!  I would definitely recommend it!

The next day, we got up and got back on the "L" and headed to Wrigley Field for a tour!  It was really interesting, and to me, was maybe more fun than a game!  We got to go in both locker rooms, the press box, the dugouts, and on the field.  We heard a lot of history about Wrigley which was all very cool; Josh especially enjoyed it!

 (The visitors' locker room)

 (The press box!)

 (The Cubs' locker room!)

 (The dugout!)

 (On deck, Josh Downing!)

After the tour, we had lunch at Portillo's.  We've heard a lot about it, but neither of us had been there, so we had to try it out.  I had their famous chocolate cake shake, and it was delicious!

Later that day, we were supposed to do a boat tour, but it ended up being canceled for heavy currents.  That was definitely a disappointment.  But we tried to make the best of it, and we ended up just shopping at The Water Tower and up and down Michigan Avenue.  That night, we went to The Original Gino's East for dinner.  Again, AMAZING food.  The line was out the door, and we were told our wait for a table would be an 1 hr 15 min.  We decided it was worth the wait.  We got in line and had a table in 10 minutes!

Give me my pizza, now!

It was a good thing the table was quick because it takes about an hour for the pizza to cook!  Josh got me hooked on their pizza when we were dating in high school.  We also got a big order of fried calamari-yummy; Josh and I are all about eating on vacation!  I have to say, I love how his natural frugality goes out the window when it comes to ordering food on vacation (we paid for our own food by the way, not the church!).  We had such a nice time at dinner and talked forever. 

(Our hotel is the shiny building in the middle.)

On Sunday morning, we went to The Corner Bakery for breakfast.  Then we did just a little bit of shopping and stopped by a place that had been recommended to us, The Sugar Bliss Cupcake Boutique.  I thought we could take some cupcakes home to have with the kids.  A dozen cupcakes was over $40, so we just bought 4 for $15!

We packed them up and took them home to share with the kids.  They liked them:

Josh and I had such a great time together.  This was our first time going away overnight together since Hannah was born.  It was the first time I'd left the kids for 48 hours, and Saturday was the first day of either of their lives that I didn't see them!  We got to do some things we didn't think we'd do again until our kids were older.  I know we would not have planned this on our own without the prompting of our gift.  We were both glad we went and both thought it was "worth it."  But, we're both still undecided as to whether we'll do it again... maybe in another couple of years!