Chicago

When we were researching about our trip to Michigan we noticed that Chicago was only 90 minutes away from camp.  We decided to take a trip over when camp was done for the day on Saturday.  We used our hotel points and stay right in the downtown area.  We checked in around 10:30 am and loved checking out the amazing views!!!  

 We knew we only had about 12 hours in the city so we quickly headed out to check out the city.  It was the first time we had visited a big city with kids and didn't know quite how it would go.  It went great but we are used to walking in cities which was a little hard to do with small kids in tow.  But we made it work.

 Our first stop was at Giordano's for some classic Chicago deep dish pizza!

 The picture didn't turn out good but the pizza was great.

 We then headed over the Millennium Park.

 We had to check out the world famous "bean."

 It was so cool.  Kate loved looking at herself in the bean.

 Right in the middle the view was so cool!

 A family selfie in the reflection.

 Since the kids were tired of walking we took the public bus to our next stop.  The kids loved the bus.  Public transportation is the way to go in big cities.  So much cheaper than cabs.

 We HAD to stop at Water Tower place to check out the American Girl store and the Lego store.  Both kids got to pick out a treat!  Kate was so cute in the American Girl store.  She pulled me throughout the store jumping up and down.

 We walked across the street to the John Hancock building to go up to the top.

 It was the fastest elevator ride in the world.  The views were amazing!!

 Everyone was getting tired at this point and tired of walking.

 We went down to the river front and had a little sugar snack to keep everyone going!

 We then took a river/lake cruise.  It was really interesting.  We learned all about the Chicago skyline and architecture.

 We got to go through the lock system into Lake Michigan.

 The city views from the lake were spectacular.

 Our last stop for the day was the Navy Pier.

 We took a ride in the Ferris Wheel.

 Matt and I were just a "tad" nervous way up high.  We are not big fans of heights.  The kids loved it!

 We were all worn out at this point and were ready to sleep.  We packed a ton into our 12 hours in Chicago!

Sunday we headed out for the 10 hour trip home.  We made it quickly with only a couple of quick stops.  It was such a fun week away full of lots of great adventures!