Chicago family trip

We got up bright and early on Friday morning to ride the amtrak train to Chicago. The girls were still in their pj's when we started our trip.


We were the first to arrive in Chicago (9am) and couldn't check in to the hotel right away. So we walked around and took in some nearby parks.

We found some fountains for the girls to play in. They didn't have swim suits on, but neither did a lot of other people. It was getting pretty hot, so they decided to just get wet anyway--Morgan was a little more concerned at first about getting her clothes all wet.


Taylor thought it was great--at this point Morgan was still mostly dry. :)

You can see one of the "fountains" in the background here. There were two of them and the picture of the face that is showing was actually video (or something!) that would change. Eventually the mouth would open and a huge spout of water would pour out--that was what finally convinced Morgan to get wet from head to toe--having a video of someone "spitting" on her.
While we dried in the sun (and Jordan woke up from her nap), we had fun posing by this sculpture.




This is the actual sculpture--well, it's almost all in the picture.
Bek, Deb, Mike, and Madelyn were next to arrive and my kids just had to hold the baby!


Madelyn is holding her favorite toy--a spatula.
On Saturday we walked on the river walk and headed to Navy Pier. Abe and Sarah, then mom and Pa also arrived on Friday at different times. We did try some famous Chicago pizza, but mostly just hung out at the hotel on Friday.
Jordan and I at the entrance to Navy Pier.
We went on the big ferris wheel--it moves really slow. Mom and I had the kids in our car and Madelyn didn't like it too much. :(
Madelyn was ready for a nap, so mom walked her back to the hotel while the rest of us did some more sight seeing and shopping.
Eventually Jordan got tired too, and she just went to sleep on my head.
She slept through lunch and since Pa wasn't interested in shopping at the American Girl store, he just sat with Jordan.
Taylor and Morgan got new purses from their Aunts and Jordan was upset that she didn't have one. So, Sarah shared hers and Jordan was as happy as a clam.
Just had to take it.
We had a family dinner at Bennigans, right near our hotel. Jordan and I were waiting patiently for our food.
Saturday evening the older siblings went out while mom went to bed with the kids. Pa joined us for a little bit at our hotel.

Sister pictures--we still aren't too shy around the camera. :)


Deb was posing again and Mike decided to sneak in the picture.


Jon Taylor is a guy I went to Evangel with many years ago and he lives in Chicago. He met us out for a while.
Our walk back to the hotel was very nice too.
The kids were usually up, fed, and in the pool before most of us got up. They just loved little Madelyn.
She's such a little peanut and even though it doesn't look like it, her red hair is getting pretty long.

Pa, Abe, Sarah, and I went to a Cubs game while Deb, Mom and the girls went to the Shedd Aquarium. Bek, Mike, and Madelyn had to go home that day.
We had quite an adventure finding tickets and then got into the game in time to hear the National Anthem. However, right after that, there was a rain delay. We waited it out for a few hours, but the game was eventually called. That was the only bummer of the trip.


Jordan had fun going up and down the escalators--the hotel lobby is behind her in the background.
After we checked out on Monday and Abe, Deb, and Sarah took off, Mom, Pa, the kids, and I all went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Our train back to Michigan didn't leave until after 5, so we still got a little more time in with the grandparents.


We thought we'd better take a picture of these white-lipped deer for Bracken since he didn't get to come on the trip with us. I thought it was a work out carrying Jordan around all the time--imagine how heavy those antlers must be!