Back in August (don't judge my tardiness...remember I'm determined to catch up on stuff not related to my mom), on a Tuesday night, my husband randomly says... Remember how I wanted to take Jake to a Tiger game in Chicago? Well, they're playing tomorrow and I'm thinking of going. Say whaaaaat? I mean, I can be as spontaneous as the next person, but really!?
To review, we did not go on a family vacation this past summer. The closest thing was probably spending part of 4th of July weekend up north. I don't think I ever went into this, but Megan had to take a "Personal Fitness" class from 8am-12 noon for the first six weeks of the summer. Monday thru Friday and could not miss a class. See, you may find, like we did, that if your kid happens to take a foreign language class and is in music, their schedule does not allow for the personal fitness requirement. Thus, we got to pay for a summer class, drive her to it, and be stuck here for six weeks... Lucky us!! Then, of course, band and football start in August, Megan started a job in June, the husband was tearing up our deck and rebuilding (still is!) and for those reasons and more we were close to home all summer.
So, because I was stir crazy I said if you're going then me and the girls are going, too!!! After making last minute dog sitting arrangements with our neighbor, getting Megan excused from marching band, and my husband getting game tickets on Stub Hub, we kind of had a plan.
We arrived by 1pm and parked right in the center of the city and the boys took the "L" to Cellular Field for the game.
To review, we did not go on a family vacation this past summer. The closest thing was probably spending part of 4th of July weekend up north. I don't think I ever went into this, but Megan had to take a "Personal Fitness" class from 8am-12 noon for the first six weeks of the summer. Monday thru Friday and could not miss a class. See, you may find, like we did, that if your kid happens to take a foreign language class and is in music, their schedule does not allow for the personal fitness requirement. Thus, we got to pay for a summer class, drive her to it, and be stuck here for six weeks... Lucky us!! Then, of course, band and football start in August, Megan started a job in June, the husband was tearing up our deck and rebuilding (still is!) and for those reasons and more we were close to home all summer.
So, because I was stir crazy I said if you're going then me and the girls are going, too!!! After making last minute dog sitting arrangements with our neighbor, getting Megan excused from marching band, and my husband getting game tickets on Stub Hub, we kind of had a plan.
We left super early (like 4 or 5 am) to drive the 5 plus hours to Chicago and make it by game time. We did stop for a quick breakfast and coffee on the road at the famous...Cracker Barrel!!
Both of my husband's sisters used to live in Chicago. One still does. My husband and I have been to Chicago many times, but I realized rarely have we gone in the summer. Family holiday visits were typically in the Fall and Winter it seems. I was scrambling to try to come up with a plan to make sure me and the girls got to see the maximum amount of stuff in the minimum amount of time. I made a list in the car that included things like "The Bean", Michigan Avenue, Lakeshore Drive, deep dish pizza, Garretts popcorn, the Apple store and shopping... No art, science, museums or aquariums this trip...
We arrived by 1pm and parked right in the center of the city and the boys took the "L" to Cellular Field for the game.
Our first stop was Millennium Park. Interestingly, my girls are always up for a "photo shoot". We had a beautiful day and the park was active and pretty!!
Meanwhile, the boys were sending us some shots of their fun at the baseball game. The Tigers ended up winning that game and they had a great time!!!
Our first time taking some shots at "The Bean" (Cloud Gate)!! Can you tell I don't do "selfies"
all the time, but some of us know exactly how to do it!!!!
We walked and we shopped and the girls got some clothes. We
couldn't even resist stopping at this downtown Target which was also a lot of fun!!
Garrett Popcorn was also on our list and we had not eaten since breakfast. I remembered Oprah (my bff?) talking about it and when we finally got there it did not disappointment!! Yummy fresh carmel corn and cheese popcorn!! This place probably always has a line, but it moved fairly quickly and was not too long when we were there. Took a bunch of popcorn home and munched on some at Starbucks while we waited for the boys to meet up with us.
Throughout the day we had been texting my husband's sister who had no idea we were in town. Her office overlooks Millennium Park and luckily, she was able to suggest a pizza place and meet up with us for dinner. I think it was Pizano's... There's a couple of good ones. She said she has actually gone on a "pizza tour" through Chicago before where they got to sample from each place. Pizano's was her preference and it was good!! It was nice to catch up with her -- the kids love their Aunt Jill!!
We knew that 8 pm was our witching hour. That would get us back home by around 2 am. My husband had to work the next day (believe it or not) and the kids also had some commitments. That's what happens with poor planning!!!!
However, our seven spontaneous hours in Chicago were a lot of fun -- and it was nice to hang out with my girls for awhile!!!!
Chicago -- we'll be back -- and this time Mom will plan the trip!!!
