The Wilke's Take On Chicago! (Day 1)

In December of 2010, Dan and I had decided that we wanted to spend our next Christmas in Disney. We took Molly, Sadie, and Abbie to Disney in 2009 and we had the best time ever!  We left Kenadie and Gavin behind as they were too small.  That was the BEST decision we ever made!  I can't tell you what an amazing time we had!  So, in December, I booked a vacation for 7 nights at Disney for this year.  We were due to leave on the 17th of December.  

However, God had other plans for us!  The day that pregnancy test came back positive....the Disney trip got cancelled!  So, we decided we would try to do smaller trips with the kids.  As school approaches, we decided to take a last minute trip to Chicago.  Oma had originally wanted us to take the train down there with her...but that ended up being very pricey!  We headed out first thing Saturday morning.  It started to rain as we got on the road.  Then it started to pour, and pour, and pour.  It poured the entire way to  Chicago.  Dan was able to watch the live Radar on his iPad from the car and it seemed as if the "eye" of the storm was always right where we were!  

We FINALLY made it downtown!  The air and water show was supposed to be going on at the lakefront that morning.  We saw flocks of people walking back to their cars just soaking wet.  The air show had been cancelled. 

We stopped at McDonalds to grab a quick bite to eat.  Food in Chicago is double the price it is in Watertown.  Hmmm I wonder why?  We got a 20 piece nugget, 1 cheeseburger, 1 double cheeseburger, and 2 drinks.  That was $20.  The kids were still hungry, but we told them they had to wait.  

 Did I mention that it was pouring out?  Good thing at the last minute before we left, Dan tossed their umbrellas in the car.  Only thing was, we didn't have one.  We made our way back to the car and headed towards the hotel.  Check in wasn't until 4 p.m, but we knew we could park our car there and just walk.  We unloaded our bags and valet parked the car and we set out on foot to Michigan Avenue!  First we stopped at a pharmacy to buy an umbrella for us.  Guess what?  It stopped raining after we bought it!  Go figure!

 Michigan Avenue was madness.  People were every where.  Umbrellas were everywhere.  It started to pour again.  Pushing a double stroller down the sidewalk while keeping track of 6 kids was a challenge.  First we stopped at the Disney store.  The kids each had their own money to spend and it was burning a hole in their pockets!  Sadie and Abbie picked out a Rupunzel doll.  Sadie was so proud to make her purchase.  Then she got up to the register and had to pay.  She didn't realize that she was going to have to use all her money.  She almost lost it...but she held it together.  She hasn't put down that doll since!  She made a good decision!  We headed to American Girl next.    That store is a recipe for disaster any time with any girl.  There were girls walking around with bags and bags of items that their parents were buying them.  Then there were our girls who were just there to "look!"  Someone may have broken down and let them pick our something small to buy!  We bought Lanie a Bitty Baby for her 1st birthday coming up and we bought Kenadie a doll for her birthday.  She is the only one that doesn't have a doll.  Good thing I used to volunteer at the warehouse and could buy the dolls for cheaper....oh wait, I didn't keep any!

 While we were at American Girl, Dan took Gavin and Lanie to the Lego store.  Gavin has really been into Legos lately.  We met back up and headed over to the Hershey's store.  The sun had now come out and it was super humid and hot out.

 The kids each got to pick out a treat from the Hershey's store.  We needed to sugar them up as we had a long walk back to the hotel.  We made it back to the hotel and when we got there, Oma had made it to join us as well!

 The kids LOVE hotels.  This one had a nice view of downtown with a ledge to sit on.  Lots of stories were played on that ledge with cars and dolls!

 Lanie was just excited to be able to move.  She was all over the place.  She had been either in a car seat or in a stroller all day.

 Dan yelled at Gavin for something....I don't know what...but Gavin disappoint with his typical mad face!

 The kids enjoyed jumping on the soft beds and then falling down on them.

 After we got settled in to our room and we made the beds up for the night, we headed back out on the town.  We headed to Millennium Park.  Oma was insistent that we walk.  So, off on foot we went.  The walk there wasn't so pretty.  We walked under a bridge lined with homeless people.  Such a sad thing.  Some had Vodka bottles laying next to them.  You want to give them something to help them out...and then you seen alcohol bottles.  I kept picturing standing next to God when I am in Heaven and Him asking me..."and when did you help me when I was hungry and had no place to go?"  Such a sad thing.

 We finally made it to the park.  We took a pretty walk through the park over a bridge and made our way to the bean!

 It was pretty crowded there, but that didn't stop us!  The sun was out and the rain had stopped!

 After we took some pictures, we were off to find something to eat.  We stopped and ate at the Park and Grill.  It was nice to find a place to sit and relax for a few minutes.

 From our seat at the Park and Grill, we could see some sort of water fountain.  We headed over to check it out.  Two big fountains with a small lake in between them.  Digital pictures showed up on them of faces.  Most of the kids enjoyed playing in the water.   Gavin didn't seem to mind getting wet and he had a blast.  Molly, Sadie, and Kenadie played for a long time too.  Abbie didn't want to get wet so she watched from afar!

 Then someone splashed Gavin.  He was already soaking wet, but how dare someone get him wet.  He left crying.  We were going to walk to the Willis (aka Sears) Tower, but because they were wet and tired, we headed back to the hotel.  We took a different route this time to get back to the hotel.  When we got back we couldn't decide what to do next.  We were going to head to Navy Pier, but the concierge told us that there was fireworks later and it would be very crowded there.

 So, off to the pool we went.  The kids kept asking to go swimming.  We didn't drive to Chicago to go swimming in a pool, but we broke down and let them!  I would say this was their highlight of the day.

 They jumped, they swam, they had fun.  It was nice to be able to let them unwind and not make them walk!

This building  was right outside our window.  The kids were pretending that this is the castle where the Hunchback lived.  It was a really pretty view seeing all the buildings at night.  I think we were in bed by 9:30.  Lanie didn't sleep very well.  I think the constant beeping kept her up.  Chicago is a very noisy city at night.  Dan said he didn't sleep well.....I beg to differ.....his snoring kept me awake!

Stay tuned for day 2 of our Chicago Adventure!