{mother's day in the windy city}

We celebrated mother's day weekend in the windy city.  We talked about our plans to go to Chicago for several weeks before we departed and by the time we loaded up the car to go the girls were quite excited about "Cago!"  We stopped at a rest stop about 2/3 of the way there and the girls were soooo excited.  They were running around, doing somersaults and yelling "Cago!"  I think they thought we had arrived and they were not disappointed :)  They were however disappointed to have to get back into the car, but when we did actually arrive in Chicago their excitement returned.

The girls were so excited when we checked into our hotel room. The hotel that we stayed in had a “VIK” (very important kids) program so we had adjoining rooms and the girls room had child sized furniture, games and was decorated with an aquarium theme. Kenzie & Lexi loved it! They also loved looking out the window and were mesmerized by all of the tall buildings and quite excited that they could see the lake and boats from our window.

When we starting talking about going to Chicago one of the things we mentioned was that we could go on a boat tour while we were there. Somehow that stuck with Lexi and she had been talking about going on a “boat ride in Cago” for weeks. So that was our first order of business. We walked down to Navy Pier and took a skyline city tour by boat. The girls were very excited, but not very happy about having to stay seated while on the boat.

As we were disembarking the girls spotted the Thomas the Train ride, so that was our next stop. They marched right onto the ride … no fear or hesitation.

We then walked and found a nice spot for dinner and then made our way back to the hotel. To keep the excitement going we took a trip up to the pool on the 42nd floor for a pre-bedtime swim. This may have been their favorite part of the day. Our girls are little fish and did not want to exit the pool. Swimming with a nighttime view of the city was also pretty cool – even for Mom & Dad.

Saturday was rainy but we had big plans and didn’t let the rain get in the way. First stop, brunch at the American Girl Store. The girls got dressed up – we loaded them in their raincoats with their Itty Bitty baby dolls into the stroller and were off. It was a fun experience. AG is really marketing genious … and executed with perfection. Brunch was really fun – the girls had a blast, the food was actually pretty good and I loved all of the little details. After brunch we told the girls that they could pick out a new outfit for their babies, but they really had no interest. Lexi spotted the Lego store next door and said “I want to go there!” So we got some new legos instead of new doll dresses – our girls prefer their dolls naked anyway :)

We did a bit more shopping … as much as is possible with 2 two year olds in the rain … and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. After nap time we made our way to the Aquarium. It was a really impressive aquarium and we all had a great time (except Kenzie who got a bit scared in the dark exhibits).

Then it was time for dinner and the hotel recommended a great little Italian place – super kid friendly & yummy!

Sunday was Mother’s Day. I didn’t want to do anything fancy, just wanted to go somewhere where we could all hang out and enjoy time with my girls. It was a glorious day – bright and sunny – so we walked down to Centennial Park and just relaxed and had fun.

We stopped at the “Bean” – which is where we came up with “bean & sprout” (the girls’ nicknames when they were in my belly) on a visit to Chicago over 2 years ago, - played in the fountain, walked along the lake and then came back to the fountain for some more fun! It was perfect. My girls were happy and therefore I was happy. As I sat in the grass with the sun shining down upon me – my 2 beautiful daughters playing in the fountain, squealing with delight, only pausing to run over to me to give spontaneous hugs every now and then – I was so happy & so grateful. I am one lucky momma. I am so blessed.

It was a perfect Mother’s Day weekend ! I love watching my girls experience new things – and there was lots of that this weekend. Watching their wonder and amazement s my heart burst. One happy momma :)