Weekend in Chicago

A couple weeks ago, Sarah and I were sitting around the house after dinner and we had just put the girls to bed.  Sarah brought up the idea of going down to Chicago to take the girls to Shedd Aquarium.  Sarah saw that I had a Friday-Saturday-Sunday "weekend" coming up from work and it was my last true weekend off from work until our baby was due in mid-March.  It worked out perfect, we had no prior commitments that entire weekend.  We jumped online to get an idea on prices for a hotel near the Aquarium and see if it was feasible.  I scoured the web and found a few hotels right on Michigan Av all within 1 mile of the Aquarium.  I booked a hotel that night.  Our plan was to leave Friday afternoon after I took a short nap after working the night before and Sarah had to work for at least 4-6 hours on Friday anyway.  Our hope was to be on the road by noon or 1pm.  We would then spend the day at Shedd and then come home on Sunday. 

We lucked out a couple days before we were planning on leaving.  I ended up taking Thursday night off from work and Sarah was able to take off Friday.  We now had the ability to leave plenty early on Friday.  After packing up the car and getting everything set for 3 hours in the car with a 2 and 4 year old, we were officially on the road shortly after 9am.  Since we were able to leave earlier then we initially anticipated, we planned on stopping at Millennium Park to see the Cloud Gate (the giant mirrored jelly bean) and maybe even going ice skating right in downtown Chicago. 

We got to Chicago around 12:30 and figured out were to park near Millennium Park and brought the girls to the Cloud Gate.  The weather was cold, but tolerable and with it being the middle of January, the crowds were basically non-existent.  Cloud Gate was really neat to see, it was something that I had always wanted to go check out.  Not only is the Cloud Gate itself unique and beautiful in its own right, but then you consider its location in downtown Chicago with the backdrop of Chicago's skyline, it makes it that much more intriguing.  After seeing the Cloud Gate, we went down to the Millennium Park Ice Rink.  I was surprised to see were the rink was set.  It was directly below the Cloud Gate, which made the setting of the Ice Rink all the better.  Sarah and I brought our own ice skates, knowing they charged $10 for skate rentals.  We had planned on renting 2 pairs of skate for the girls, and were surprised that toddler sized skates were free!  I was taken back by the fact that we were able to ice skate in downtown Chicago for free!  Nothing is free no-a-days.  After getting the girls' skates laced up, we brought them out to the ice.  It was no real surprise, but neither of the girls really took off on skates, with it being their first time on ice skates, they had a hard time figuring out the whole lack of traction.  I basically did a combination push/carry with Maya to take her around on the ice.  Delaney balanced really well on the ice, especially considering the fact that she is only 2 years old!  With being out in the cold for an hour or two already, the girls were only able to make it out on the ice for about 30 minutes.  After returning the girls' skates, I wanted to do some skating of my own with out a kid hanging on for dear life.  I did a couple of laps and then we headed back to our car and made it to our hotel to check in. 

We stayed at The Essex right across the street from Grant Park near Shedd Aquarium.  The rate was about $100 a night and had a large indoor pool, along with a free shuttle to the Shedd Aquarium.  For dinner we went to Ed Debevec's which is in downtown and is known for their sarcastically poor service.  The setting of the restaurant is a traditional dinner with burgers, fries, and milkshakes, being their staples.  Dinner was fun for both Sarah and I, but also the girls.  After dinner on Friday, we came back to the hotel to let the girls swim in the pool. 

We slept in a bit on Saturday and were in the lobby ready by 8:50 for the free shuttle ride to the Aquarium.  Once at the Aquarium, we opted for the tickets which gave us access to all the areas of the Aquarium and included tickets to the Aquatics Show and the 4-D movie.  We first toured the Amazon wing and spent about 45 minutes there and then went down to the Oceanarium for the Aquatics Show.  With in the first couple minutes of being at the Aquarium I knew how excited the girls were.  Their eyes lit up after seeing the first large tank of fish.  Then when we went to the show, they were mesmerized with the animals.  They enjoyed watching the Beluga Whales jump and then seeing 3 dolphins jumping together, but loved seeing Corral, a dog adopted by the Aquarium who do tricks alongside the whales.  After the show we spent about a half hour in the polar play zone looking at penguins and otters, along with a couple small playgrounds.  After passing 30 mins, it was time for our 4-D movie of Ice Age.  I had little expectations going into the movie, but left thinking that it was so worth it.  The movie incorporated 3-D glasses, vibrating seats and chair backs, real blowing snow, squirting water, odors, and blowing wind.  It was short (15 mins) and simply awesome.  After the movie we finished touring the remainder of the galleries.  We spent time petting, or touching, live star fish, petting live sturgeon, seeing large sharks, jelly fish, and other bright and colorful fish.  The hotel only offered a free shuttle service to the Aquarium, but not a return shuttle.  Luckily our hotel was relatively close, because we opted to walk back from the Aquarium.  The walk was nice, it took about 15 minutes and was snowing.  It was rather peaceful.  The girls laid down for a nap after the Aquarium and then spent the evening in the pool before dinner.  For dinner we ordered a true Chicago style pizza from Lou Malnati's.  The pizza was probably the best pizza I have ever had.  It was so good. 

We left early on Sunday with hopes of getting home early enough to pick up our newly ordered bunk beds and set them up during the 2 big football games which were on in the late afternoon.  My dad helped me get everything set up.  We left to go pick up the new furniture around 2pm and had it all set up in the girls' new bedroom by 5pm.  After getting everything set up, we ordered chicken in and had dinner with my parents for helping us get the bedroom all set up. 

In the end we brought our girls ice skating in downtown Chicago, Shedd Aquarium, they got to go swimming on Friday and Saturday, and we got them completely moved into a single room for the anticipated arrival of their new sister.  It was a great weekend - one that makes it just that much more difficult to go back to work.