Day 2 in The Windy City

Today we ventured out to see the Shedd Aquarium. It was as great as I remembered.  CH, Mom and I visited 3-1/2 years ago and I was impressed with the Dolphin show. Mondays and Tuesdays are free museum days in October. We paid $60 for the 6 of us and spent about 3 hours. It was well worth the money. Parking is $15 if you have your own car. We decided to drive since bus fare 2 ways would be more than the parking fee and taxi fare would be approximately $22. When you have a large family like we do, it is always a challenge to get around. We are glad to have our car. 
After the aquarium, we had lunch at Harry Caray’s. We decided to try the lunch menu, hoping the prices would be better. I don’t know that they were, although most of us chose sandwiches, which wouldn’t have happened at dinner. It certainly is the place to see for baseball enthusiasts. B and R and MH got to see Sammy Sosa’s bat from his 20 HR month and Mark Maguire’s signed jersey - right behind our table. They actually had Harry’s glasses in a case. The food was good, the pictures and memorablilia numerous, and the bill - well, does it really matter when you go for the first 2 reasons?

We walked through ESPNZone after lunch. I thought it was a store. It is a huge gameroom - a haven for 3 boys and a dad. I think they are headed back tomorrow sans girls for some bonding action. Then we traipsed up to the JohnHancock Building for a trip to the Observation Tower. It was really cool - although not for those afraid of heights. The elevator trip is 40 seconds up -  94 stories. The entire time I was up there, I felt like the building was swaying in the wind. It turned out to be a pretty day and you could see for miles. We loved it! After the ride back down, we made a few purchases at American Girl and had an afternoon "pick me up" at Ghirardelli. Michigan Avenue is the greatest. It was a fun few hours.

Embassy Suites really came through for us tonight. The walk back from Nordstrom’s was just enough time to discuss our options for dinner. #4 is absolutely exhausted and I have been eyeing MH all day to tell him 4 is going to bed EARLY. Tomorrow is his 6th birthday and we want him to be well-rested. We really weren’t too hungry and after a busy day, I really wanted to have a quick dinner. We walked into cocktail hour and there were hotdogs and popcorn! We hurried to the room to dump off the day’s purchases and down we went for a FREE dinner. Whoopee. Did I mention Free? Dessert was in our room - Hersheys nuggets and kisses from our Monday night excursion.

Tonight we are holed up in the room for a restful evening. I am sothankful for my 4 kids. They have been troopers today - walking all over without a complaint and excited about all there is to see in a new city.

I am so excited about tomorrow. We have one last surprise for them. It is going to be WICKED!!!