We got up to our room, slid the key in the electronic lock, and nothing happened. This happens alot so I just ran downstairs and had them make me new keys. These keys didn't work either. When I went down the next time the maintenance guy "Rich" was there and he came back up and tried the door. His master key worked but for some reason ours didn't . The hotel was already filled up for the type of room that we had so they couldn't even move us rooms. We were told to stop by the front desk and Rich would let us into our room if we went out. I was a little irritated by how the associate at the front desk was treating me so I spoke with the manager about how this was quite and inconvenience and was quickly apologized to and handed gift certificates for breakfast for my family in the hotel restaurant. That brought my irritation down to a manageable level. We just went to the hotel restaurant for a quick dinner and then to bed. The next day was going to be HUGE!
We redeemed our breakfast vouchers in the morning was was it ever worth it. We got the buffet that is typically $16 a person ( We never would have paid that) and ate until we we could eat no more. Grandma Diane (Jake's mom) met us at the restaurant and we walked across the street to the Field Museum for our first Chicago adventure! We got all access passes to the Museum and they were actually worth it. We saw the actual skeleton of a sperm whale and it was amazing. I have never been able to wrap my mind around how large a whale really is until that moment. Unfortunately we weren't' allowed to take pictures of any of the special exhibits. We saw the 3D Trex Movie about the discovery of Sue the T-Rex who "lives" in the Field Museum. Thor was blown away by the 3D part and Baleigh just kept asking "why do the dinosaurs have to be so loud?" Grandma and I took a break from the tour in some lounge chairs and Jake took the kids through what ended up being their favorite part - The Underground- You go into the "shrinking room" where you are shot with lasers and you shrink to the size of an insect. Then you enter the underground where you encounter earwigs, and spiders and an earthworm to mention a few. When you reach the end you are re-sized and become human sized again. They did this three times! Once again not able to take pictures though. : (
Out side the museum we grabbed a cab and headed for the Willis Towers (formerly known as the Sears Tower) to see the city from its highest point! Once again the Army let me in for free! We got tickets and got in line! the trip to the top takes exactly 60 seconds and there is a screen in the elevator telling you exactly how high you are in comparison to other landmarks from around the world. We were higher than the statue of liberty is tall, the St Louis Arch, and pretty much every other building in Chicago. At the top Thor was more interested in checking out the gift shop than actually looking out the windows. It was a spectacular view but not really something that little kids appreciate. It was my first time ever going up and I enjoyed it immensely. We got a picture of the whole family out on the glass Skydeck even though Jake and Thor both hate heights. Baleigh actually sat down on the glass floor and looked down. That was the highlight of the trip for me.
From there we walked to the law office where Jake's Aunt Debbie works and we stopped in and bothered her for a few minutes. Then we were off to Millennium Park to get a picture by Cloud Gate ( better known as the Bean). We were pretty smoked by the time we got there so we took a few pictures and made a bee-line for the hotel for a rest.
There was a bit of a kerfuffle when we got back to the hotel but it was quickly remedied. We took a little rest and then grabbed a cab and headed to Maggiano's for dinner. It was the best pasta I have ever eaten. BEST! and then to top it off they sent me home with a half portion of a pasta of my choosing for the next day. We said our goodbyes to Grandma Diane and she took a cab north while we headed out on foot to the south. It had been threatening to rain for a while and the kids were probably not going to make it back to the hotel before it hit so we flagged a cab at Water Tower Place and were back to the hotel 2 minutes before the sky opened up and dumped out its contents.
The next day at 6:30 AM my family arrived. We were going to go to the American Girl Place with my mom, sister-in-law Traci and niece Kylie as well as my youngest sister Hannah. Jake and I took our things down to the car and grabbed doughnuts for everyone at Dunkin Doughnuts before heading back up. We sugared up and headed out. We decided to drive up to Water Tower Place and park there so that we could just leave when we were done. American Girl did not disappoint. Baleigh and Kylie both have the same dolly and they took them to the salon and got their hair done in the same style. Then it was time to go clothes shopping. Baleigh's baby Dolly Bean, NEEDED everything that Baleigh saw. She ended up with a new summer outfit, and four costumes - a butterfly fairy, bumble bee, dinosaur, and space traveler. All are super cute and she has played with them so much in the past week already.
We did a little more shopping in Water Tower Place and then headed over to Cheese Cake Factory for lunch. I found it funny that we were all so full that we took home two bags of leftovers and none of us even had cheesecake. We said our good byes in the parking garage and they headed north and we headed south down to Jake's parents house. Both kids were asleep before we got on the interstate.
No comments:
Post a Comment