CHICAGO with the Boys

This summer has been a particularly busy one! Thus, the reason that I haven't been blogging on a regular basis for those of you who have expressed concern! But, busy it has been. After we ended our regular (3) baseball seasons, my BFF from Arizona came for a visit. This was a SURPRISE to the boys, FYI, and so they were pretty darn excited to see her! After a few days of low key visiting around the house and all, we decided to head to Chicago. Mainly we were going there to pick up my Godson, Seth, who lives in Arizona, since he was going to be staying with us for a bit. But, since we were going, I decided that we might as well have a fun time, and see some of what the Windy City had to offer us! First stop, the infamous Sears Tower.... We went up to the 103rd floor to the viewing observatory and saw a FANTASTIC view of the city! In fact, they had just opened up a new viewing area, called "The Ledge" 2 days before. It's a 4 ft. extension away from the building, built entirely of glass! So, the theory is that you could step out on it and have a "floating" view of Chicago. Here's Daniel who was FEARLESS about this! Me on the other hand, um, not so much! I opted to stay on the "solid floor" and take the pictures!

The great thing about Chicago, is that it's a walking city. You can park your car and virtually walk to MANY of the famous things from wherever you are. After leaving the Sears Tower, we walked to Michigan Avenue and saught out the beautiful Buckingham Fountain. So Pretty! And, it was pretty busy there, because it was the Annual Taste of Chicago. The kids didn't want to partake, and I have to say it was kind of pricey, so we opted to agree with them. It smelled good though! Maybe next time.

Outside of picking up Seth, our BIGGEST thing we wanted to do in Chicago was attened the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a traveling exhibit of various costumes, props, etc. used in the various Harry Potter films. It was so AWESOME!!!!! We all enjoyed seeing all of the cool things used in the movies that we've seen and loved!

Here are the boys with the infamous Weasley "enchanted" car from the 2nd movie "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets".

The museum itself was awesome! It's such a HANDS ON musuem. GREAT for families with children. Very interactive, and TONS of things to do! We didn't even see it all, because of how many levels they have to view. Very cool! One of the boys' favorites was the funhouse mirrors, and all of the funny things they looked like! Hillarious!

When John and I went to Chicago last year, we didn't get to go to or see Wrigley Field. But, this time, we made a special point of driving by! What an awesome American icon!

Navy Pier was also a cool stop. We actually went twice: once to meet the Standages/Mayberry's where we had ice cream, and rode the Ferris Wheel and carousel. And, then the next day to ride the SEA DOG water cruise! What fun! The boys absolutely LOVED doing this, and Suzanne and I had a blast too! Here's the boat we were on....

Speeding along on Lake Michigan....

Raise your hands in the air like you don't care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The nice thing about this boat cruise is that you get a wonderful view of this cool city, that you can only get that way! And, you get to see Chicago from EVERY vantage point on Lake Michigan. Very beautiful.

On our last day in Illinois, we drove up to Wisconsin, just across the border, and toured the Jelly Belly jelly bean plant for FREE! What a cool activity!

You ride a little train, and it takes you around the plant, and see how the jelly beans are made, and how they store them. SURROUNDED BY TONS OF JELLY BEANS!

This was hanging down above from the ceiling!

After the tour....every person gets a free bag of jelly beans! Woot! Woot! And, you could sample any and all flavors that you want to. Of course, the boys loved that concept! Especially DANIEL! LOL! Of course, NO ONE took the bait to try these "gross" flavors! Can't blame them!

After picking up Seth we headed home. On the way outta Chicago, we went to this cool place.....

It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I think the boys had a good time anyway. They all got a commemorative free Lego as a souvenier.

They also had a place that they could just build to their little hearts content. This is Daniel's creation....a car that he could "race" with other Lego patrons.

Here are some fun buddies racing each other!

Building, creating, and developing with legos, legos, and MORE legos.

Chicago was AWESOME and I had so much fun enjoying it with my kiddies. And, of course, Suzanne. What a fun time, and I want to go back AGAIN SOON!!!!!