CHICAGO!

I've always wanted to visit Chicago. It was on my list of cities to see someday. Now I can cross that one off! Jeremy had a convention there because he's the President of the Utah Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects this year. So the organization paid for his trip. And since the trip was all paid for...I thought I should tag along. Why not, right?

The four older kids were all happily dispersed among neighbors, sisters and grandparents. What an ordeal that was to figure out. Thank goodness for such wonderful friends and family. THANK YOU to the Thompsons, Rigby's, Glenns, Bachers, Larsens and G&G Fillmore. Of course, baby Eli came along, since I'm his source of nutrition.

I LOVE Chicago. At least in mid-September. It was 75 degrees with a slight breeze. The Chicago river runs right through the city and Lake Michigan borders it, almost like the ocean would. It has almost a coastal feeling. I love just taking in the different feel of a big city. It's so fascinating!

We were there for four days. The first day, Jeremy was in meetings. So Eli and I walked the "Magnificent Mile" and did a little window shopping, then we walked and walked and walked some more, along lake Michigan.

We finally ended up at Lincoln Park, where there is a Nature Conservatory and a Zoo--with free admission! By the time we finally reached it, I thought my feet were going to fall off. So we mostly sat on a bench and watched people. But that was OK. Still very fascinating watching people. Thank goodness there was a bus that drove right past the zoo that could take us back to our hotel area.

It's tiring traveling with a baby! But he was sure fun to have along. Everywhere we went, we got comments about his smiles. He's just the friendliest fella. All you have to do is look at the kid and his face lights up like this.

Our hotel was only a few blocks from the famous "Millenium Park." There are some incredible sculptures and fountains there. This one looked really cool at night.

This is a big, mirrored bean-shaped sculpture. SO awesome!

This is a water feature with two tall fountains that have people's faces on them that change every few minutes. Eventually, each face "spits" water out of it's mouth. SO cool!

This is the Sheraton Hotel, where we stayed. We enjoyed sitting out on the patio watching the boats go by.
We also ate lunch at a fun restaurant on the other side of the river one day.


Friday night, we splurged a little and went on a romantic Dinner Cruise on Lake Michigan. Other than feeling a bit out of place with our infant, it was so magical. There's nothing like seeing a city all lit up at night, reflecting against water.




The food was all so good, wherever we ate. On Saturday, we ate at a yummy Italian place on Michigan Avenue and tried some of "Oprah's favorite thin-crust pizza." We thought it was funny that the Utes football game was on at the restaurant. What a coincidence!


The best part about traveling, I've decided, is coming home, though. It was so good to return to our nice, quiet neighborhood after all that crazy city life. And even after just four days, we really missed the kids. But I'm so glad we got the opportunity to go. What a great memory!