Thanksgiving in Chicago

Since we are not near any family, we have made it our Thanksgiving tradition to be different. In Colorado, we went to the Aquarium to eat and see the museum two years in a row. This year, we decided since we are only 4 hours away, we would go see Chicago! The Windy City!!!

We were not disappointed. We drove up Thursday day. The first thing you notice as you drive in is the ginormous Sears Tower. We drove around the city and looked up at ALL the huge buildings. Luckily there wasn't very many people out and about so traffic wasn't horrible.


We drove to the North side of Navy Pier. We let the kids play on the beach for awhile. Keep in mind it was about 35 degrees. They didn't care...they still got their feet wet.












We decided to go find a hotel. We ended up staying over by O'Hare airport in Rosemont.

The next day we took the "L" train into town. "L" is a short version for the word elevated as in the trains are elevated above the street. The kids thought that was the coolest thing to do. We also took some bus rides around town so we didn't have to walk far. I am glad we did it this way, because being Black Friday, the streets down Michigan Avenue were PACKED!!!

We went to the Planetarium. It's ok to see, but nothing spactacular. The kids enjoyed the movie they are playing called "Cosmic Collisions". It talked about how stars are constantly slamming into each other and how the solar system came to be.

We decided we needed to try Chicago pizza. We went to Gino's East. This was about 2pm, and there was a LINE around the building. Aparently we picked the "IT" place for pizza. We got in after a 20 minute wait. We were seated on the 3rd floor....yes..this establishment has 3 floors. Everything in Chicago is built up...not out. The pizza? TOTALLY WORTH THE WAIT!!! It was the best tasting pizza I have ever had! I don't think I want to eat Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa Johns again. Oh, and for you Arizona people....my favorite place in AZ for pizza is Barros. This place BLOWS Barros away...and Barros isn't true Chicago pizza.

The waitress gave us a marker and let us write on the walls. So we signed our names.























We decided to walk around at night since everything was lit up for Christmas. It is beautiful! We went to Navy Pier. The only thing opened was a fun house. So we went in and had some fun. Those mirror rooms are absolutely CRAZY!!

After about 2 1/2 hours of walking, we headed back to the train. We got the car and decided to go find the Chicago Temple.


















Then we went back to the hotel to crash. We were tired of walking all day!



The next morning, Saturday, we went straight to the Sears Tower. Actually it is now called the Willis Tower. We waited FOREVER in line to go to the skydeck. They shoved as many as they could into an elevator and it only took 60 seconds to go to the 103 floor.












They have built these plexi-glass boxes that let you stand over the city below. That was wild!




We went to a place called the North Shore. It is a park outside of Chicago. The kids wanted to play on the beach of Lake Michigan. There was a dog park and my kids can't resist playing with dogs, so we went and petted the dogs. One lady was kind enough to let my kids throw the ball in the water for her dog. And he went after it in the freezing water.








While we would have loved to have been with family....we enjoyed our time in Chicago!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!