Family Getaway!

This Thursday we packed our bags, dropped the puppies off at Camp BowWow and headed East towards Chicago!  We have and will do a fair amount of traveling in 2011, but this trip was just for the three of us! 

Lila "helping" me pack!

We approached the city around 2:45 on Thursday afternoon, I am not sure who was more excited...Lila or Mike and I.  We have both been to Chicago several times, but neither of us have been to Navy Pier or Shedd Aquarium both of which were on our list of things to do!

After a much needed nap for Lila we packed up the stroller and made the trek to Navy Pier.  We were heading to the pier for a specific reason that evening, the Children's Museum was free on Thursday, so we thought we would take advantage.

Inside the museum you find lots of stuff to do.  Including an exhibit called "forts!"  This was fun for Lila as I know they build a lot of forts at daycare! 


We then moved on to the dinosaur exhibit that was equipped with dinosaur bones and an archaelogical dig!  It was cute seeing the little kids with their brushes sweeping away the "dirt" to uncover the dinosaur bones!

Dig!  Dig!



Next stop was "Big Backyard!"  This spot was full of large flowers, jungle gyms, butterflies and more!  They had some neat screens set up for the kids to put different objects on their hands and use the light and screen to project their shadows!

They had a lot of spots throughout the museum in which you could do little activities amongst the bigger exhibits.  Mike and Lila had fun with some large dominos!

Set 'em up!

Knock 'em down!

The next stop was "Water Works!"  When you see the kids putting on rain coats to go in here, you have to know that it will be lots of fun!  It was cute, a whole system centered around different water activities. 

Leaving Water Works!

After some time spent on the fire truck, we figured it was about time to go.  Lila enjoyed herself, but if you remember I mentioned above that the museum was free on Thursday evening.  So, free also meant very busy.  Lila enjoys being around other kids, but she definitely isn't aggressive and it takes her a bit of time to warm up to all the screaming and pushing and shoving that the other kids seemed to be doing a good job of! 

We spent a bit more time on the pier before heading back to the hotel for dinner (PF Changs, yum!) and to get some good sleep in anticipation for the fun that was in store on Friday!

Earlier this summer we spent some time with my cousin Jamie, her husband Danny and their little girl Audra and found out that all of us were going to be in Chicago at the same time.  We planned to meet them on Friday after they got in town.  While we were waiting we headed down to Michigan Ave. to do some shopping on the "Magnificent Mile!"  Our first stop was Niketown where Daddy and Lila both got a new pair of kicks! 

Jamie, Danny and Audra met up with us for lunch and we did some more shopping until it was time to head back to the hotel for the kids to nap.  After nap time we went back to the pier to have dinner and do some of the rides!  The weather was absolutely perfect, especially by the water, so we were able to enjoy dinner outside on the patio.

Lila on the pier with one of her souveniers!

We had been talking to Lila about riding the ferris wheel at the pier for a few weeks leading up to leaving.  She could barely contain her excitement when she saw the ferris wheel all lit up against the night sky!

The ferris wheel was actually an interesting experience.  It moves very slowly and never actually shuts off, so you board your seats and get off while it is still moving.  I thought it was going to move a bit faster, but nope!  Either way, it was a neat way to see the city, especially at night, and Lila was not disappointed!

Happy camper!

Family Photo Op!

The Fath Family!

Next stop, the carousel!

We woke Saturday morning to pack up the car and head off Shedd Aquarium, our last stop of the trip.  I made the mistake of telling Lila weeks ago that we were going to go the aquarium and see the fishies...she had a meltdown when it wasn't that exact moment that we were going to the aquarium!

Breakfast - vacation style!

Waiting to go to the aquarium!

Look Mom, no car seat!  (yeah, right!)

We pulled into Shedd Aquarium around 9:30.  I had done some research online that said to purchase your tickets in advance and hold them at Will Call.  WRONG!  The will call line took longer than the people who were walking up and buying them.  Apparently everyone else got that same advice, therefore making it so it isn't a quick option!

The aquarium is broken up into types of territory.  So in each area there are animals native to that type of environment: rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, etc. 

We saw so many neat things and learned a lot about the different animals, their habitats and why they reside where they do in the world.

The frogs in this cage looked fake!

Our little explorer!

Look at what I found, Dad!

Even Puppy got in on the action!

We added the Jellies exhibit to our ticket and I am so glad we did.  The jellyfish were absolutely amazing!  The aquarium did a good job of setting up the experience and you would almost swear the jellyfish were fake!  They were so peaceful to watch and were almost art-like as the different colors would change the water and their backdrop.

Our next stop was the Oceanarium where we stopped to spend some time with the Beluga whales!  As you can imagine, they were amazing!  Sleek and smooth as they maneuvered through the water!  There were a lot of them to keep each other company.  There was an observation deck below to watch them underwater where you could push different buttons to hear the different noises the whales make.  Lila enjoyed pushing the buttons to reveal each sound.

Out of all the animals, Lila's favorite were the penguins!  She was excited to see them and when they would dart off the rocks into the water and swim back and forth she giggled with delight!  She loved the penguins so much her treat from the museum was a pink penguin named "Penny" and a book called "The penguin who wanted to sparkle!"  We had to read it last night before bed!

While we were all excited to get home last night and sleep in our own beds, Mike and I were both a bit upset that the trip was already over.  We were looking forward to this trip all summer, so the fact that it came and went was a bit sad, but we had such a good time that I don't think it will be long before we are off on another adventure!