Chicago!

What a fun couple of days I had!  Hubby had some business to attend to in Chicago on Monday morning so I thought I would tag a long.  We packed up the kids and sent them to Grandma and Grandpa's (as well as the dog) and dropped them off on Saturday.  Sunday morning we left for Chicago.  When we arrived we had time before dinner to take in some of the sites.

We walked from our hotel down to Navy Pier.  It was so much fun.  We thought that we might want to enjoy the sites from a higher perspective and started to go check out the ferris wheel.  When it occurred to me...I am pregnant...I probably cannot ride the ferris wheel.  And I was right.  The sign said, Do Not Ride if you are:...pregnant.  Sigh.  Ok, so maybe we will do that next time we are in Chicago.  :)

Me and my belly

Beautiful skyscape

We got to take a walk all the way around the pier.  It was beautiful!  Then, it started getting chilly so we headed to the inside.  There were some BEAUTIFUL stained glass work on display.  I loved getting a chance to see them and to snap some quick pictures of them as well.

Then it was off to dinner.  We decided that Bubba Gump was the place for us.  It was so much fun!  I loved it.  I had a fun cherry lemonade (I like to say I purchased the cup and got the drink for free...lol!).  The cup lit up in lots of different colors.  Hubby and I shared an appetizer (popcorn shrimp anyone?) and then had our entree's.  I had the "Bucket of Boat Trash" and Hubby had Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp.  Both were VERY good.  I would totally have a "Bucket of Boat Trash" again.  :)

If you wanted your waiter to stop you flipped the sign to STOP FOREST STOP

My "Bucket of Boat Trash"

Lt Dan's Drunken Shrimp

Then we had to top it off with dessert.  So, a strawberry shortcake (for one!) was what we shared.  It was SO yummy!  But we were so full we knew it best if we only ordered one...lol.

Then it was off to our hotel for some shut eye.

View from one of our windows (we had windows on 3 sides of our hotel room).

Our bed room at the hotel...yep, had to bring the snoogle!  :)

On Monday morning, Hubby had some business to attend to so that left me with some time to take a walk and look around.  I headed to a couple of places that I thought I could get some pictures of some flowers and things, but the flowers all looked half dead.  So, instead I headed to a nearby Starbucks and grabbed a cup of coffee and then walked down to the river.  I sat down and returned some calls.  By the time I was done returning calls Hubby was finished with what he needed to do and we were able to go see Millennium Park.

I loved walking around Millennium Park.  It was very beautiful.  We saw some fabulous flowers and the ever popular Bean.

Fountain at Millennium Park

Beautiful Flower bed at Millennium Park

The Bean

Ooh look!  There we are!  :)

And again!

LOVE the way these flowers looked.

One of my favorite trees we saw.

One of the sculptures at the park...my favorite one...lol

By the time we were done at the park it was time to check out of our hotel.  I must have been tired as when I sat down in the chair in our hotel room I dozed off.  Hubby woke me as we had to leave.

Before we headed out we had one last stop to make, Lincoln Park Zoo.  The fun thing about Lincoln Park Zoo is that it is free!  We just had to pay for parking, which for us was about $17 for a few hours.  We grabbed lunch at the zoo (typical food and typical zoo costs) and got to see some animals that our zoo in Columbus didn't have.  That was a lot of fun for us.  :)

This is a pygmy hippo.  This little one kept trying to find a way out through the edge of the tank.

Ahhh, the giraffe!

Love these little guys.  They were so cute and active!

Awwww, aren't we cute?

Beautiful tulips

We got to take in a training session at the seal house.  The seals were pretty amazing.

I love this guy.  Not sure why...just really liked him...lol.

Sally the camel had 2 humps....

And the Zebra...fitting we end on this one don't you think?

Then it was time to make the long trek back home.  I think my favorite part of our trip was the time I got to spend with my Hubby.  We got to talk about a lot of things and just enjoy spending time together.  We had grabbed some old CD's from when we were in high school and listened to those.  It was so much fun!  When Hubby and I were dating he had made me several mixed CD's and we got a chance to listen to those.  What memories those brought.

Hubby left this morning for a business trip and  has another one next week so I am very glad we got to spend that time together.

I hope you all had a GREAT weekend!  It is time for me to catch up on some house work!
<3 Alison