I told you about the first
3 days of our trip out to Illinois, and I want to tell you what else we did. Thursday morning, we got to sleep in some, and we had planned to spend the day with my sister and her family. I was really looking forward to this time, because I feel like we weren't with them much. My brother-in-law went to work in the morning, and we were planning on picking him up around lunch time. My sister made sandwiches for the kids to eat in the vans on the way to Chicago, and we picked up some sandwiches at Subway. This day, we fueled up before getting into Chicago! We weren't going to pay $4.50/gallon again. When we got into Chicago, we drove under the city in the tunnels. That is such a cool thing to do! I wish I had some great pictures to show you of this adventure, but none of them turned out well enough. Chicago has several tunnels that travel under the city. When we got into a parking ramp, we walked around for awhile to find a bathroom. (Of coarse I really needed to go). Then, our second stop was to Millennium Park. We got to see Chicago's famous stainless steel (very large) Kidney Bean!
Chicago is well known for the arts and structures. This is one of many unusual, but very cool pieces of art. It was huge, and fun to look at!
This a picture of my sister's kids, our niece, and my kids. My sister's friend let us barrow her stroller while we were out there. It was great to barrow a double stroller!
This is our family picture in front of the "Bean!" It was a bit rainy out during this part of the day, a light drizzle.
I love the view of the city's buildings in the mirrored-image of the Bean. As you can see, it is super big! I really thought it was cool how the bean had the curved out shape in the inside.
This is a view of the Bean looking straight up when standing underneath. It was just cool to look at. My sister said it made her a little nauseous to look at it too long.
After the "Bean," we went for a walk through Millennium Park.
This is the band shell where they hold outdoor concerts! I would say it was bigger than a football field, and it was huge! There were many speakers over our heads! It was a neat looking place, and I bet it would be fun for a concert.
Nathaniel is really growing up! He will be 10 in a few months!
This is the big fountain in central Chicago. There is also a big spray that shoots up the middle once in awhile. I have a picture of it, but it didn't turn out so well. It reminds me of 'ol Faithful in Yellowstone.
This was one of our favorite parts of the day. This place had two large stone walls that displayed faces of people. The people would change, and the looks on their faces would change from a sober look, to smiling, to smiling with teeth showing.
The stone walls also had water spraying off of them, like a waterfall. The kids had fun with their shoes off walking around playing in the water.
The more they walked around and played, the more they got wet. This is Caleb, Nathaniel, Terry and Madelyn.
This is my sister with her daughter E. and baby D. Her little guy was happy to toddle around in just his diaper.
It was cool how the faces on the stones would change with their face expressions, but what was really weird (and cool) was that there was a hole where the mouth was, and every so often, water would shoot out the mouth. The kids thought this was fun!
Here is my sister with her little guy.
Nathaniel and E. loved getting wet, and walking through the water.
I really think that Nathaniel got the most wet!
Madelyn and Caleb got tired from the long day. They really had fun though!
Terry took this cute picture of Maddie.
Caleb had such a great time!
Ta-da!
Thursday was mine and Terry's 4th Wedding Anniversary! This is a tradition to take a photo of ourselves. Our four years have really flown by! We have done a lot in four years! I will have to share that sometime.
Happy couple!
The famous Chicago-Style hot dog! The "works" includes: ketchup, mustard, onions, jalapenos and a pickle. We didn't get the jalapenos. It was rather tasty. We had to try one.
After the Millennium Park, we went for a drive around the city. We saw a great view of Lake Michigan. I think it looks like an ocean. They had a really long, sandy beach with volleyball nets, and other outdoor activities set up. The buildings in Chicago are big! We saw the Hancock building, drove by the Navy Pier, and saw the Sears Tower. We saw the Water Tower, and then we went to a "yuppy" mall. That is what my sister called it. It was a nice mall located very near the Water Tower. My two nieces loved to go shopping in there. Shopping isn't really my gig anymore, but it was fun to let the little kids run around in a section that was a bit closed off. We ate supper in there in a food court called Food Life. It was a lot of fun in there. The lighting was a little dim, and there were so many great food selections. We each had a card that we brought to which ever location we got food from. The place would prepare our order, and put the charge on the card. Then, we just paid our bill upon leaving. The selections were great! I had a Chinese-type of meal. I filled up my bowl with veggies and the chef added meat and sauces. It was served with rice or noodles. It was very good, and reminded me of a Mongo's Grill. Terry had a HUGE burrito, and the kids ate chicken Alfredo. I wish I could share photos of this part of our trip, but I had forgotten our camera in the van. My sister took pictures, and I am hoping to get copies (someday). The drive home was fun. I love seeing the city lights and action. It was a great day! The time flew!
I will share the last two days in another post. This post is a long one already! The trip was so fun! I hope to go again someday!
My kids love their Zoobie pets! Caleb has Kojo the Croc, Madelyn has a baby Zoobie~ Hada the Hippo, and Nathaniel has Mashaka the Monkey!
Zoobies have just launched their 2009 line, and I can attest to how cute they are! Cole got the adorable Black Bear Bubba. Cole loves to snuggle with him, and lay on his back.
I love the new line!! There is the Wildlife collection: Bubba the Black Bear, Boone the Buffalo, Mudd the Moose and Tubbs Teddy Bear. There is also a Turkey named Turley, and the Bugs Collection: Bing the Bumblebee, Calyx the Caterpillar, Lily Ladybug and Saba the snail. I personally think the Black Bear is the cutest~ just because I love black bears!
Zoobie Pets have won numerous awards including: the Toy Man Seal Award, Babies and Mom's Radio's "Squeal of Approval," Baby Planners Seal, New Parent's Seal of Approval, iParenting Media Award, Dr. Toy Winner, JPMA Innovations Award, and more! I do say they are one of my favorite toys for my children, and I highly recommend every child adopting a Zoobie Pet to love! It is very hard to pick out a favorite, though, because they are all so adorable! Plus, they each have their own special character! Since launching at the 2007 Toy Fair Zoobie Pets have quickly grown to over 1400 US stores (higher end boutiques and toy stores), plus they are distributing in over 40 countries! The Zoobie Pets keep growing and adding to their family! Zoobie pets were originally created by two brothers who wanted to create a functional and fun product for kids. They knew what they were after, coming from a family of 9 kids total! I think they have fully succeeded, what do you think? Keep an eye on the Zoobie website for the 2009 pets coming soon! The new 2009 Zoobies we released at New York Toy Fair. However, Lily the ladybug is due to release Fall of 2009.
