"My kind of town...Chicago is!"

To celebrate Ben's 4th birthday we decided to take a quick weekend trip to Chicago. We took Ben to the Field Museum to see all the dinosaurs, to the Shedd Aquarium to see all the fish, and overall the sights and sounds of Chicago. Jenny and I have been to Chicago a few times over the years, but this was Ben's and Megan's first time. They both had a fun time.

Here's our first day in Chicago....snow.

Off to the Field Museum.

Ben loves dinosaurs, so seeing the famous T-REX here (named "SUE" after its discoverer) really blew him away.


Here are the lions made famous in the movie "GHOST AND THE DARKNESS."

More dinosaurs. Ben and I had a lot of fun walking all around naming the dinosaurs and talking about them. We read books on dinosaurs all the time, so he was able to identify quite a few.








Time to go swimming...





Dinner at our Chicago favorite...GINO'S EAST.








Exploring the Shedd Aquarium.






While Jenny and Megan went shopping on Magnificent Mile, Ben and I spent Saturday afternoon trying to get to the top of the John Hancock tower. But the observatory on top had a wait of over an hour, and Ben was getting tired and hungry. But he was insistent about getting to the top. So I considered taking him up to the "lounge" which is the floor just under the observatory, but it's a lounge/bar kind of place. I asked the ticket agent if it was kid friendly and she said it pretty much was...and that it was non-smoking. That sounded good to me, so we headed for the elevator to take us to the lounge. There we encountered a 30 minute wait just to get to the elevator. Right then I pretty much gave up, but Ben kept talking about getting to the top. So we waited for the elevator, and finally got up to the top in the "lounge." Once up there the place was completely full. I found two seats and a table away's from the windows, and Ben was content with the obstructed view of the scenery. Well...shortly after we arrived a group of people who were leaving got up from their table (right by the window) and they asked Ben if he would like to sit by the window. His eyes grew wide. I'm sure everyone around us got upset, but Ben was pretty lucky. So we moved right by the window. It was great. We shared some chips and guacamole, had our afternoon cocktails, and took in the view. We loved it. We both got to feel like big shots...if only for a little while.



A "jazz-dinner" kind of place in NAVY PIER.


Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!



Time to say goodbye to Chicago.


Well...that's the trip. I love Chicago. One of the few perks to living in Michigan is being within a day's drive to Chicago. It's such a fun, unique city. You get the big city life as you do in New York City, but without the attitudes and stress. You can get first class museums, theaters, and culture, and the restaurant selection is enormous.