Chicago, Chicago, My Kind of town .....

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. We ended our time of busyness with a trip into Chicago. We have been looking forward to this trip for some time as we have been planning it for a couple of weeks. We wanted to take our kids in to the city to pick out their birthday gifts.
So, this morning we hopped into the van to catch an early afternoon train into the city, after picking up our brother and sister in law. This was an experience that we have not had the courage to do ourselves in the past 7 years that we have lived near Chicago. We have always taken our car in and paid for parking or something dumb like that.
We caught the train and had an enjoyable ride that included trains and buses and ended up downtown where we had to walk a few blocks to eat at a fabulous restaurant under the John Hancock building-- The Cheesecake factory. We had a delicious meal and followed it with a slice of cheesecake of course, white chocolate caramel macadamia nut cheesecake. yummy!
Then we made our way to our next stop, The American Girl Place to let the girls pick out their new dolls. Yes, we have officially entered the realm of the American girl, no turning back now. I had been putting off this adventure because of the fear of expensive teas and brunches that the future may hold, but I was looking forward to the experience of the rite of passage for most 5 year old girls -- a bright face of a new doll. A doll that they can cuddle, dress, and learn how to care for. The looks on their faces when we told them that they got to pick out their own new doll for their birthdays was priceless. It brought tears to the eyes of one mom who can't believe that her babies are 5. It was also overwhelming for the girls to pick out their own among so many. They also learned that they got to pick out one outfit for their new doll courtesy of Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Anouk. In less time than I thought it was going to take, we left with two brand new dolls, two new outfits, two happy children, and lighter wallets. Happiness on our children's faces was worth every penny.
After that we hopped on the city bus and went to Navy Pier -- a place of interest on the waterfront of Chicago. While there we watched a juggler, took a walk on the pier while enjoying the breeze on an otherwise hot day, and finally I enjoyed a carousel ride. As we were leaving the girls were entranced by the dancing fountain outside of Navy Pier and had to play in it and it being a hot day, we could not refuse. Thankfully, their clothes dried quickly.
The train was not as overwhelming as is seems and it is a journey that I would love to take every couple of months. There are so many things to do, museums, parks, shopping, beaches, etc.... I love living so close where we can enjoy the sights and sounds of the city, but far enough away where we don't deal with the traffic on a daily basis.