Chicago!

The kids had a four-day weekend for President's Day, and it also happens that TR closes for that holiday.  After a little convincing, the bosses at TEK Environmental agreed to celebrate our nation's leaders and we all boarded the Amtrak for Chicago.

It was an early Saturday morning trip, but we made the most of it with movies, snacks, and Bloody Mary's (courtesy of Tyler - complete with salami, pickles, and olives).

We checked into our fantastic hotel (Embassy Suites Lakefront - highly recommended if for nothing more than the amazing free breakfast buffet!).

To maximize our Chicago experience, we purchased City Passes and headed out to see the sites.  First up...the Willis Tower (fka Sears Tower).  Owen and Brian weren't interested in the plexiglass balconies, but it was pretty neat!

We let the kids enjoy the pool and found ourselves some Chicago-style pizza to round out that long Saturday.

Sunday was a trip to the Shedd Aquarium where we saw some neat exhibits, my favorite being the snowy white Beluga Whales...so so cute!!  I also loved the jellyfish room!

We were pretty exhausted by then, so we ran into the Field Museum to just say hello to Sue and then back to the hotel to rest!!

We headed over to the Hancock Tower to put our names in at Cheesecake Factory!  Of course the wait was super long, so the guys took the elevator to the bar at the top to have a drink while Kara and I relaxed with the kiddos.  After we ordered, Kara and I took Allie across the street to visit American Girl!!!  She zero'd in immediately on the doll that was to be hers, and we were back to our table before the food arrived.  :)  We all rode to the observation deck at the top of the Hancock Tower after dinner.

Kara and I managed to finagle a morning of shopping for Monday, which sent us out to the Magnificent Mile in search of...a blue box!  Unfortunately, nothing from the beloved Tiffany & Co came home with us...but we sure had fun looking!!  We did manage to find some goodies at Coach, so our shopping experience was not a complete bust.  :)

Kara and her dream car  :)

Shopping success!

We met up with the guys and kids for lunch at Navy Pier before we headed to the train station.

I will say that the station in Chicago is CRAZY after our experience with the little station in Ann Arbor!  Everyone had a blast and cannot wait to go back again!