The Windy City

We all traveled to Chicago this past week for a family reunion. It was the first time that my two youngest boys have been on an airplane. They loved it! I on the other hand am terrified of flying, so I was white knuckling it all the way there. We had a great time once we landed. It was a whirlwind of two days seeing the sites of downtown Chicago.





We started our trip off with a visit to the beach at Lake Michigan. It was funny to see palm trees dotting the beach. I felt like we were in San Diego. I was dreading the weather on this trip. Everyone kept telling me how hot and humid Chicago can get in the summer. The weather was great for us. It was cool and we even had some showers.




Later that same day we took a cruise along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. What fun! It was very interesting to see all the architecture the city has to offer. The boys really enjoyed the cruise. We ended our first evening at the ESPN Zone for dinner. It was a very kid friendly place and they had one whole floor dedicated to arcade games. The only catch was the games were really pricey and you had to purchase a card to play the games. But, my boys managed to have a great time.

The next day we headed out to the Field Museum. What an incredibly interesting museum. They have the most complete T-Rex called Sue. She is huge! The boys thought she looked like the dinosaur from Night at the Museum. The exhibits were great and the museum was huge. We spent most of our day there and still didn't see everything. They had a wonderful exhibit on pirates. I thought it was going to be just some kitchy exhibit, but it was fascinating. It was the story about a slave ship called the Whydah. It told about the slave trade and about the people and life on the ship. The story continued on how the Whydah was captured by the infamous pirate Sam Bellamy and turned into a pirate ship. They told the story of the pirates and even had the pirate treasure on display. Very interesting! That evening we went to Navy pier and walked around.


My brother in law journeyed with us. This is all of them in front of Soldier Field.



The boys were hoping these were filled with real syrup. They were just piggy banks.


Our second half of the trip was spent in Wheaton and Naperville for our family reunion. Naperville is a cute town and they had a lovely river walk.


Hubby's cousin hosted the reunion and she has a beautiful old farmhouse. The kids had an Olympic contest and my little guy is winning the "spin around on a baseball bat and walk straight" contest.






We had a wonderful time visiting with family. The boys loved meeting cousins and seeing Uncle Tom and Aunt Marion. What a joy to be with everyone and reminisce. My hubby had a terrific time, especially seeing family he hasn't seen in a long time. Fond memories and fun times!