Labor Day Weekend Trip to Chicago

Last Wednesday, Yusaku woke up, rolled over, and asked me if I wanted to go to Chicago for the weekend. Um, sure, I guess. Of course I was excited at the prospect of going to Chicago and seeing my sister, but also needed a little time to adjust to the idea. Going on a quick car trip for the weekend with a toddler isn't always the easiest. And Olivia was coming down with a runny nose, which I wasn't sure was teething-related or cold-related. After a little back and forth, we decided to be spontaneous and go for it. So, Friday morning we packed up the car and headed out.

Despite Olivia only napping for about 20 minutes of the entire trip, it went pretty smoothly. Sarah took off a little early from work and when we got into the city, we picked her up near the train station and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Here are some pictures from the zoo. As you can see we spent a lot of time playing with/climbing on the gorilla statues.

Look! A zebra!

Hiding in the bushes is hilarious!

Saturday morning, we walked from Sarah's apartment to Ann Sather (a Swedish restaurant) for breakfast. After that we decided we would take the train to the American Girl Store. Turns out, that was a traumatizing experience for Olivia. So, after one scream-filled stop on the train, we got off (much to the delight of the rest of the passengers I'm sure) and took a cab.

"Yay! I'm so excited can't you tell?"

"Oooh, dolls!"

The trip to the American Girl Doll store was about the most exciting part of our day. After we left, we checked out H&M, ate some lunch, and took a cab back to Sarah's apartment where all four of us napped the rest of the afternoon away. By the time Yusaku and Olivia woke up, Yusaku took the train to go get our car from the parking garage, and we checked into our hotel, it was close to dinner time. We did a little window shopping on Michigan Avenue before heading to Portillo's for dinner. Sarah came back to our hotel after dinner for a little more visiting before we had to say goodbye/go to bed.

Dancing on the hotel bed...
most fun of the whole day!

Sunday before we left, we finally got the chance to meet up with Yusaku's college friend Heather and her husband and little girl Amelia who is just one week older than Olivia. We had hoped to take the girls to the aquarium but with the hour-long wait to get in, we decided to change our plans and go to the field museum instead. It was fun and great to meet up with them, but I hope to make it to the aquarium next time we visit. I think it would be a little more enjoyable for little kids than the museum.