This past weekend Justin and I took the older girls to Chicago for a long weekend. We decided to do a trip with just the older girl’s months ago. Initially we were going to visit NY but realizing we wanted to have the girls to have their first plane experience sooner than later, we decided we would go to Chicago. I had never been and felt like it was one of those cities I may never visit if I didn’t make it a priority. So…Chicago it was!

We left on a 12:55 p.m. flight Thursday afternoon. It was perfect as we didn’t have to rush in the morning but with the time difference, we still had most the afternoon to explore Chicago once we got to the hotel. Justin especially had done a lot of talking about the flight to prepare the girls so they wouldn’t be frightened of flying and it paid off. The flight was non-eventful and the girls did great!

We took a cab to our hotel (Springhill Suites in River North Area). It was the girls first time a cab and they were without car seats so they thought they were living it up.

We settled on Springhill Suites as the hotel room was a little bigger and breakfast was included in the rate. The hotel room was ready early so after quickly unpacking we set out towards Navy Pier. While we traveled with the double stroller, we decided the girls would walk. They complained some, especially Emerson, but overall they did pretty well walking. First stop was the beach. Seriously, how cool to just go to the beach surrounded by city buildings. The girls put their feet in the cold water.

Next stop was Navy Pier. The girls rode the carousal by themselves. Emerson wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel…Avery didn’t. It would have been ridiculously expensive to ride so we managed to divert our attention elsewhere and somehow never made it back to the Ferris Wheel.

The Children’s Museum was on the Pier and it was just our luck that the high admission prices are waived every Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00…we arrived at 4:45! The girls had fun playing in the fire department area, climbing, and exploring a few other exhibits.

We didn’t stay as long as we probably would have had we paid to get in but without having dinner reservations, wanting to get into a good restaurant, and knowing time was against us with regards to the girls behavior being that we had gained an hour, we decided an hour would have to do.

I had done a bunch of research on restaurants prior to the trip and I identified several top rated in each of the areas I thought we might visit. That led us to Volares, which was excellent Italian food. Great find…we were very happy with our choice! Justin and I shared a kale salad that was excellent. I had salmon for dinner. Justin had the chicken parm. Avery had plain pasta and salami. And Emerson shared a little bit of all of our dinners. Yum…my mouth is watering just writing about it now. And the service was excellent!

We strolled back to our hotel, gave the girls a bath, and were all in bed at 9:58! Since we were all in the same room we all went to bed at the same time. We all slept great and for over 9 hours…probably not great for the girls, but awesome for me and Justin!

Friday morning we woke, ate breakfast in the hotel, and then headed out for our next adventure. Again, we had the girls walk. We headed to the river as we were planning on taking a 11:00 boat tour; however, when we got there the tour we were planning on taking wasn’t recommended for children. We decided to take the 4:15 boat tour recommended for children (the price was half as much as well). So we decided to head towards Millennium Park. We saw the Bean.

Emerson wanted to take some pictures as well. She went finger happy and probably took at least 20 of the same shot.

We just walked and explored more including walking past the Museum of Art, which Justin would have LOVED to go to had we had the time to fully devote to it and Avery and Emerson appreciate it.

We then made our way to the Crown Fountain. I had packed bathing suits so the girls stripped down and let loose. At one point they ran into each other and fell and Justin managed to capture it on video. I managed to capture it on camera.

While the girls were playing some twenty something workers were doing a random act of kindness for their company and started giving away ice-cream.

We then made our way to The Gage for lunch. It was excellent. I had an heirloom tomato salad and Justin had the NY Strip sandwich special. Emerson was thrilled because she got to have her own mac and cheese and Avery ordered (but didn’t eat) chicken tenders and fries.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and rested for about an hour before we went back out again.  Again, Emerson took about 30 pictures of Justin and me. 

We left the hotel a little after 3:00 so we could get to the boat tour early. We decided to bring the stroller since we knew we could store it on the boat and the girls had already done a lot of walking that day. The boat ride was great….it was 90 minutes but went by really quickly.

Chicago is just a really cool city and it was neat to hear about the history of the city. Avery fell asleep about halfway into the trip.

We didn’t get off the boat until 6:00 and we knew the girls were tired and hungry so we decided to go to Portfillos, which was a well-known “fast food” restaurant in Chicago. Based on the reviews I knew it was an order at the window type place. I anticipated it to be small; however, the place was huge and a little overwhelming. We got hotdogs, burgers, and chili. It was okay…definitely cheap and I’m glad we tried it out, but that type of food always leaves me feeling blah. For dessert Emerson had a smoothie (she barely ate her dinner as I think she was saving up for the smoothie) and Avery had a chocolate cone. Justin and I shared the vanilla and chocolate custard…it was cheap and delicious!

We took a few selfies on the way back and pics by the canal before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday morning we headed back towards Millennium Park with the girls in the stroller. We hadn’t seen everything we wanted the day prior. We walked past the Art Museum and took a picture with the Lions that was part of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…I only vaguely remember the famous sight after Justin telling me.

We then headed to Buckingham Fountain. Again, Emerson wanted to take some pictures and probably took about 30…some of me and some of me and Avery. When she was taking one of me and Justin, a man offered to take one of the four of us.

We then walked along the river and past Cubs Stadium, where a pre-season game was about to start. We headed to Lou Malnati’s for some deep dish pizza, which was pretty good. After lunch we headed in the direction of the Lincoln Park Zoo via a quick stop through the Crown Fountain.

We walked for a bit before deciding that while the trip was walkable, we would waste too much time and energy if we walked there. So we hopped in a cab and saved about an hour of time and energy.

Since the zoo was free, we probably didn’t explore as much of it as we would have had we paid an entrance fee, but we saw a few exhibits and the girls got a kick out of watching the gorillas.

When we exited the zoo, this was the view…just gorgeous.

We walked back to the hotel from the zoo. We were planning on going to the beach area right across from the zoo, but somehow missed the path to cross the highway and had we turned around, we most definitely would have had to get a cab ride home. We stopped at Portfillos on the way home for custard and a smoothie for Emerson. The day was very hot and we were so sweaty so Justin and I took showers in the hotel while the girls played together and colored. For dinner we went to Frontera Grill. The wait was an hour…we strolled around trying to buy some time…passing by the firehouse.

Then Avery fell asleep before dinner and Emerson sat at the bar with me complaining that the wait was taking too long.

The food was good quality but not superb….as I expected it would be.  Again, Emerson was practicing her photography skills.

Sunday morning we took the girls in the stroller and just started walking. We headed along the canal and the river and just kept walking for about an hour….it was a hot day again….we came upon Maggie Daley Park, which was an awesome outdoor playground. Avery had some trouble and kept crying so we didn’t stay for too long. For lunch we headed back to The Gage since it was so good and we knew we could expect one last good meal in Chicago.

And after a quick walk back to the hotel, our trip in Chicago was coming to an end. Our trip was great. The weather was great. The food was great. Our adventures and the sights were great. The girls were overall well behaved. It was busy but relaxing at the same time. While we sure missed Harper, Harper was having a great time being alone with Papa and Grandma. I don’t know when, but we will go back to Chicago again!