The Windy City

No, I'm not talking about Las Vegas (despite the fact that we've had 40mph gusts the last couple days). I'm referring to THE Windy City... you know.... Chicago, Illinois.

Ryan had to go to Chicago for work, so we decided to make it a mini vacation and I'd tag along. I rarely do this because it's so much work to get the kids arranged. But thankfully Ryan has wonderful and willing parents who offered to watch the kids for us. (Now that the kids are older I'm sure it's not quite as hard as it used to be for them)

We left early Wednesday morning around 7am and didn't arrive at our hotel in Chicago until 5:00pm (Chicago time). So there wasn't too much time to do any sight seeing that day.
Our Hotel was beautiful. Here's a photo from the 7th floor down towards the lobby. ... yes those are real plants everywhere.
Thursday we hitched a 45 minute ride on the subway to downtown. First stop was the Sears Tower. We took the tour and went to the 99th floor lookout balcony. WOW
What an amazing view of Chicago. I couldn't believe all the skyscrapers. Because the kids were not with us and I was armed with the camera, poor Ryan had to endure being in many of the photo's himself.
Thank goodness for other nice tourists who offer to take our photo . We headed to the Magnificent Mile to do a little shopping and ran into a Chicago Harley Davidson shop. Ryan had forgotten to bring a hat so decided a new one was in order.
Love it Babe!We ended the day with a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.We only had an hour, but we were able to see a lot of the more famous paintings.

Friday we ventured Northwest of Downtown and visited the Chicago Temple. At first glance I thought, hey this is just like the Las Vegas Temple and felt at ease knowing I'd know exactly where to go. However, it was much different once inside. It was much smaller but equally as beautiful.
It was nice to be able to do a session and relax that morning.
We headed back downtown for a little more sight seeing at the Navy Pier.

I had printed out the address of a Chicago Scrapbook store so Saturday morning, before heading back to the airport, we cruised over to check it out. (Thanks Ryan!)

We arrived home Saturday evening about 5pm. The kids, of course, were well taken care of. I appreciate Nancie & Raynold coming to help out. I didn't want them to get too bored while babysitting, so I left them each fun little "jobs" to do. (more on that later). It's not too often Ryan and I get the opportunity to venture away from home together. It was a wonderful relaxing vacation, despite the cold, and I look forward to going again sometime. Next time, however we will plan it in the warmer months.