Chicago

Our family was blessed to be able to get away to Chicago for a weekend in December.  Josh was able to take a day off of work; we took Hannah out of kindergarten for a day; my mom watched Madelyn; and I was able to get Sunday covered at church.

We made every second in Chicago count.  In 48 hours, we were able to go to Navy Pier's Winter Wonderfest, Christkindlmarket, the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights, Macy's on State, the American Girl Store, the Lego Store, the Disney Store, Trader Joe's, go ice skating and swimming, see Santa, and eat at Gino's, Portillo's, Quartino's and the Rainforest Cafe,  Looking at that list, I still can't believe we were able to pack that all in.  And honestly, we really didn't do much on Sunday, so most of that was done in a day and a half with a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 7 month old in tow.  That's how "vacation" goes when you're with Josh Downing, haha!

 Navy Pier's Winter Wonderfest

 We had unlimited rides, thanks to a great deal on Groupon!

 Buddy the Elf?

 I realized after going on the Tilt-A-Whirl and this giant Carousel, with very little holding us in, that I might be getting a little too old for some of this stuff.

 We tried ice skating.  Jacob lasted about 1/2 a lap.  Hannah was determined to figure it out.  She did pretty well for her first time ever.  Josh stayed with Aleah.

This was the craziest part of our day.  Hannah decided she wanted to try the craziest ride at the whole place, the Cliff Hanger.  There was no way I was doing it after the Tilt-A-Whirl craziness.  She was just barely tall enough to get on, but she marched herself right up to it and said she was going.  Josh reluctantly said he was going with her.  I'm so glad he did because it was a CRAZY ride, and I'm glad she wasn't alone.  I said she seriously has to be one of the youngest kids to ever ride this because she just barely met the height requirement, and she's tall for her age!  She and Josh both said it started off fun but then they both felt pretty sick and were ready for it to be over.     

 Recovering from the crazy ride...

 We stayed at The Palomar, which was really nice!  They had a fun hot chocolate bar in the lobby; the bathroom was huge, which worked out great because we could put Aleah's pack and play in there; we had a "girls bed" and a "boys bed;" we had a very nice continental breakfast on Sunday morning; the location was great; I would stay there again!

 Macy's Christmas Windows

 Christkindlmarket

 On Saturday, we took Hannah's American Girl doll, Marie-Grace to get her hair done.

 Hannah also got an American Girl pet and named her Peaches.  She LOVES it!

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Jacob was excited to go next door and get a new Batman Lego set.  

  

 Swimming at the hotel!

 Looking like "city girls."

 You don't see too many babies being carried around the city!

 Aleah loved the bread at Quartino's!

  Hannah and Jacob also ate their weight in bread.  All of the food was great, actually!  We all tried brussel sprouts for the first time ever.  Josh and I really liked them; the kids did not as much because they were broiled and in their eyes, "burnt."

 Yummy dessert:

 Waiting for a taxi outside our hotel: 

 Hannah wanted her picture with all of the lights, but it was hard to capture what they really looked like!  

  The ceiling at Macy's:

 I got a new coat!

 Our final event was eating lunch at The Rainforest Cafe.  

Josh and I were actually really impressed with how good the food was!

  Proof of a great weekend: