Ponder This: Chicago!!

This weekend was our first full-fledged vacation with the babe. When my brother Blake got drafted into the MLS back in January, Josh and I started planning when/where we were going to see him play. At first the plan was to go to Montreal, but flying internationally meant too many layovers and too much money when thinking of a first trip with a baby. So we settled on Chicago. It was a city we've always wanted to visit and they were playing there at the end of September, which just tends to be our travel season (usually early October, technically). So the trip was booked!

{BONUS READ: Skip down for actual details of the trip, this was a precursor to the trip, but I had to share. The few weeks before our trip, Blake hadn't been traveling with his team. His coaching staff continues to bring in new European players, which has knocked Blake down the list. I was getting so nervous that Blake wouldn't be traveling to Chicago, after all, and that was our main reason for going!! This was a challenge to me to start praying WITH FAITH. That second part was the tricky part. I pray for things all the time, but many times I still have doubts that things will happen. I spent my bible study times and prayer times challenging myself to have faith and not allow doubts. Normally the boys don't find out about who is traveling until Thursday or Friday, which would have been after we were already in Chicago. However, on Monday, we had a HUGE surprise of finding out there would be a Reserves game scheduled for Sunday, so he would be traveling no matter what!!!! It was such an awesome experience in my prayer life and relationship with God. Like I said... not as relevant to the actual vacation details, but a part of this trip I will always remember.}

Thursday:

We woke up at 3:20 a.m. (GULP) and left the house at 3:45 to head to the airport. We grabbed S at the last minute to put her in her car seat in hopes that she would sleep through the drive and maybe even through security. However, she woke up immediately. (After many hours agonizing over and planning what to do with her, go figure!) We had NO line at security and got to the gate in plenty of time to let S play a bit before the flight.

She was such a champ on the flight! She nursed and slept on me about half the flight and played the other half. There were a few mild fusses, but nothing in comparison to the kid behind us! We got to O'Hare, took a cab to our hotel, and then headed out for a day on the town. 1st stop, Navy Pier.

Eating lunch at Bubba Gump. I've always wanted to eat at one of these.

Riding the Ferris Wheel @ Navy Pier.

From there we went back to the hotel for S to take a nap. Having a baby nap in a hotel room with you is a bit of a challenge. Add in the cold she'd been fighting for two weeks and it becomes nearly impossible! (I had to nurse her to sleep EVERY nap and bedtime on this trip. It was like her newborn phase all over again). After a hard-fought nap, we explored Michigan Ave (where our hotel was) and went up to the John Hancock building. We didn't feel like paying nearly $40 for a view of the city, so we went to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor where the view is the same. Technically you're supposed to buy a drink, but we were seated, looked around, and then just left. From there we got some deep dish pizza and a slice of cheesecake to take back to our hotel for our picnic dinner in the dark... again... baby sleeping in the same room.

View from the Signature Lounge

They had these painted fire hydrants all around town

Delicious!

Friday:

That morning we woke up and went down to breakfast. {We learned something new on this vacation that we wish we had known for all our previous vacations. Dell has discounts at hotels all over the world! We were able to stay in a nice hotel for less money than the cheap ones we normally use! This particular hotel included free breakfast vouchers at the connected restaurant}. Breakfast clearly did not agree with me, so we hung around the hotel a bit longer than we intended to that morning. But it let S have a better nap! My parents were flying in that morning, so we planned to meet up with them. After a bit of chaos, we finally organized our meeting. The three of us went on a walk down to Millennium Park to see the Bean (we are tourists after all) before walking back to our hotel to catch a ride with my parents to the zoo. (They were staying in the suburbs and had a rental car).

On Michigan Ave.

Our little cutie on our morning stroll : )

The BEAN!

They had these super-awkward statues in the park. There was a sign saying to respect the art, but clearly we didn't listen : )

Such pretty architecture around this city!

Gorillas! We got to watch one being trained. Also, the zoo was FREE!

The zoo was a lot of fun. I kept expecting Samantha to fall asleep in her stroller since she hadn't slept for a few hours, but she was so mesmerized by all the animals and their noises. (This tended to be the case during the whole trip... so many things to see!) After the zoo, we took a trip drive by Wrigley Field and then Mom and Dad dropped us back off at the hotel and left for the evening. Since Samantha DIDN'T nap all afternoon, she was overly exhausted. Therefore, we called it an early night with a low-key bath time and snuggles. Again, it was another dinner picnic for us with local take-out. But hey... we didn't have to pay waiters!

Saturday:

Another morning with free, yummy breakfast started our last day in the actual city. Mom and Dad picked us up again and we drove to the Millennium/Grant Park area to spend the morning. We had done everything on our list, so we walked a lot and just enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather.

Family time at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park

With Pops and Nana by Lake Michigan

Family time!

One thing I would have liked to do was ride a train. I feel like you don't truly experience a city without taking city transportation. But I at least got to see them. I even got to walk under a set of tracks as a train passed!!

Yet again, we aren't so great at "respecting" art the way we should...

FINALLY, we were able to meet up with Blake! (He only had so much free time allowed). We went and got MORE deep dish pizza (Thursday was Pizzeria Uno and Saturday was Lou Malnatis, we preferred the second). Samantha enjoyed getting to finally meet her uncle Blake. It took almost 6 months! After pizza, we headed back to the park (where Blake's SCHMANCY hotel was) and played in the grass until Blake had to go back. From there we headed to the 'burbs closer to where the soccer stadium was and said good-bye to Chicago.

Meeting Uncle Blake

Playtime in the park

First time eating bananas!!!

Yay family!

Photo-bombing!!

The drive to the burbs was a LONG, EXHAUSTING one. Samantha cried hysterically for about 30 minutes before falling asleep. I might have cried a good portion of that as well. I never let my baby cry. Yes, I'm THAT mom!

That night at the game decked-out in our Impact gear! Samantha's shirt is a size 12 mo (the smallest they sell). It was massive and adorable! The team lost, which is what they deserve for not playing my brother!! It was a late night, but S hung in there well.

Sunday:

That morning was the reserves game. (There are a few of these per season where the players who didn't play in the real match play against each other the next morning). So we checked out of our hotel and headed to the game. We had to leave at halftime in order to get to the airport. Mom and Dad had a later flight, so they stayed until the end, but the three of us piled in a cab and headed out. Again, Samantha did very well on the plane. She actually slept all but 15 minutes of the flight this time. She was a trooper!! When we got home around 4:30, she only hung in there until about 6:15. It was an early night for all of these weary travelers. I'm glad she was as good as she was on the trip despite poor napping conditions, fighting a nasty cold, and being juggled from place to place each day. All in all I'd say she was an awesome traveler, which is good since we don't plan for this to be her last trip. That being said, it definitely wasn't the same as vacations pre-S : )