Spring Break in Chicago

Spring "Break" is a slight exaggeration since we only get Good Friday and Easter Monday off.  But it's four days of no school and lots of family time, so I'll take it!  Lindsey and I have been planning this trip for what seems like forever, so we were really excited for the time away to finally get here.

We left Thursday at 3 pm, headed up to mom and dad's house and spent Thursday night there.  Got up early Friday morning, left by 730 am and were in Chicago just after 9 am.  The drive in was a breeze with very little traffic since apparently many places were closed for Good Friday.  Once we arrived at the hotel and Nick got over his sticker shock at the hotel parking garage (such drama!), we received good news that both hotel rooms were ready and we could check in.  At 930 am.  For no extra charge!  Yay!  We had selected this particular hotel because of its proximity to the Shedd Aquarium, its free shuttle, and the indoor swimming pool.

We headed over to the aquarium and were able to walk right past the lines since we had purchased tickets as part of our hotel package.  For anyone who has stood in that line before, you know how long it can be, and I wasn't taking that chance with 4 kids ages 4 and under (plus their daddies)!

The kids enjoyed the aquarium.  Among the 4 kids, we had varying degrees of interest depending on the time of day and the fish we were looking at :)

the kids loved the play area.  it was difficult to take many other pictures in the aquarium areas due to a "no flash" policy.

loved the jellies! although they were kind of gross. 

After the aquarium, we headed back to the hotel and let the kids swim for a bit before ordering carry-out dinner from Lou Malnati's.  The Chicago Deep Dish Pizza looked amazing!  Lindsey and Mike had offered to keep the kids so that Nick and I could head out for a little time on the town before #3 arrives.

poor lindy.  her mom forgot to pack her a swim diaper.  so brilliant mom and dad decided a pull-up would work better than a diaper.  wrong.  hilarious booty on lindy leighn.

the kids super-enjoyed the pool :)

Nick and I hopped in a cab and hit up Navy Pier and some of the shops - especially Garrett's :)  Then we headed to Harry Caray's for a bite to eat and a drink.  We were back at the hotel by about 9 pm, but it was awesome to get out for a bit sans kids!

The next morning, I headed out in search of breakfast for everyone.  I found a Panera and got everyone some breakfast that we shared in our hotel room.  It was about this time that Michael came up with the fantastic idea of stopping by IKEA.  We convinced him this was truly a great idea, so we let the kids swim for a few minutes, then got dressed and checked out of the hotel and headed to IKEA.  They have a play area that Cayle and Finley really enjoyed.  And some coffee that Michael and I really enjoyed.  After the fun, we headed back to LP to continue our Easter weekend fun :)

this is what happens when i instruct the children to watch tv so the parents can discuss a trip to IKEA...