Chicago!

Here is a photo of the kids on the train that I couldn't get to go to the bottom :) They all loved the train ride! When we left Iowa, a couple of girls and I said we would meet this spring in Chicago. One of them couldn't make it, but my friend Amanda and I ventured into the big city outnumbered by children 4-2. We stayed in an awesome Residence Inn (I highly recomment them if you're staying with friends or children!) in a two bedroom suite- so we were able to put the kids to bed at a decent time and visit in the living room of our suite. They also have full kitchens in the rooms, so mac and cheese for dinner for the kids it was! They offer full breakfast AND dinner included in your stay- we ate there one night but were not able to overcome the temptation of Five Guys Burgers and Fries across the street on the first night :) They also had a pool and hot tub, which we enjoyed one night with the kids. Now that I'm done advertising for Marriott, let me tell you about our trip :)

Amanda has two boys, Jack and Walker. Jack and Liam are very good friends and very close in age, and Walker stole my heart in Iowa...he's now two. The first night we just hung out in the hotel room and let the kids play- no rules except safety ones. They had a blast and we went to the pool before putting them to bed. So much fun. The next morning we were a little crazy and decided to take them to Downtown Chicago. Josh and I have done this with our kids before, but Josh was there and we each took one kid. Amanda and I had two kids and a double stroller each to manage. Crazy. We left the hotel to catch the Metra train and missed it, literally by two minutes, so we went to the mall playground until the next one came. We caught that one and managed to get on the train and seated, no thanks to a VERY grumpy conductor who was not very helpful at all. We walked from Union Station to the Field Museum, where we wanted to take the kids to see the dinosaurs. We made it to most of the pertinant parts of the museum before we decided to head home before we collapsed from exhaustion. We caught a bus (A very full bus with no seats and 4 children and two double strollers...just picture it!) We got to Union Station JUST in time to RUN to the next train and take it back to the car. This time, there were a lot of people willing to help us with our strollers and children, rather than just watching us. At the end of the train ride, I got up to get London, who had just spotted a seeing eye dog and was going to pet it. I grabbed her, and sat back down, only to realize that the seats fold up when you stand up. So here I was sitting on the floor of the train with a backpack on my back and London in my arms, and I can't get up because I'm so tired, and I'm laughing so hard. We decided that this was a good picture to represent our day :)

The following morning, we got up and let the kids play while we packed up to head home. The kids did GREAT in the car and I think they had a great time. It was SO good to see Amanda and her boys. We are planning to do it again in the spring, this time adding more moms and more kids, but THIS time, we learned our lesson. We are going to pick a suburb with a lot to offer and stay off of the public transportation with the children :)

Liam and Jack checking out the buttons at the museum: Amanda, exhausted on the museum bench:

All 4 kids in front of Sue, the T-Rex

Liam and London playing on a forest exhibit:

Liam, exhausted in the stoller on the way to the museum: