Chicago!

In September we got to go to Chicago to visit Grandma Claudia and Grandpa Bruce.  They have been there serving a mission since June 2013.  When they left Finn was just a few months old and we were all missing them.  Neither Brian or I have ever been to Chicago so we thought now was a great chance to go.  When you see the pictures you will see that our visit to Chicago was probably not your average tourist trip to Chicago.  We never went down town to the city, but we had such a fun time and it was perfect for our family.  Best of all we were able to reconnect with Grandma and Grandpa.

Day one September 23rd.  We flew out of SLC about 11 am.  This was Finn's first plane ride and Sadie has not been on a plane since she was about 18 months old.  We were not sure how they would like the plane ride, but they did fantastic.  We had a bag FULL of tricks to help keep them occupied.  We got to Chicago about 3:00pm.   That first day we just headed to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment had dinner and relaxed.  

Day 2 September 24th.  We went to a nature preserve near Grandma and Grandpa's apartment.  It was a fun place.  They had a neat little visitors center with lots of fun things for the kids to do. Including puppet shows, a big birds nest to play in, books to read, coloring, fishing and lots more.  After we checked out the visitors center we headed out into the woods.  It was beautiful, the trees were beginning to change colors and leaves were falling.  we had fun wondering and finding "treasures".  Then we stopped and enjoyed a picnic lunch.  Well the adults enjoyed lunch, I think Sadie and Finn just wanted to keep running and exploring.  After we were done we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's so Finn could nap and everyone could relax and play.

Day 3: September 25th: Botanical Gardens:  When your Dad is a horticulturist your vacations will always include a trip to see gardens.  :)  Chicago was no exception.   Oh my goodness these gardens were AMAZING!  We spent five and a half hours there and enjoyed just about every minute.  The flowers were beautiful, they had fun fountains and ponds and the kids loved running on the grassy fields.  Beware pictures galore....

Finn took a moment to stop and smell the roses...or a lot of moments, there were a lot of roses.  ;)

Day 4 September 26th: Lake Michigan:  The whole time we were in Chicago Sadie kept talking about wanting to find a park with "big girl swings"  We had decided to go Lake Michigan and lucky for her there was a park at Lake Michigan with big girl swings!  We drove out and when we got there we headed right to the park to have lunch before we headed down to the lake.  The Lake felt more like an ocean, when you look out at the Lake you can just see water as far as the eye can see.  The beach was what we called a 50/50 beach.  Half was rocky beach like in Washington the other half was like a California sandy beach.  Best of both worlds for two little kids,  so many rocks to find and collect and sand to dig and play in. Boy oh boy did Sadie find rocks!  We took bags full back to Grandma and Grandpa's and then narrowed that down to 2 containers full to take home with us.  The water was pretty cold, but Sadie didn't seem to mind.  She dunked her head in and sat right down in it!  

There were lots of lady bugs on the beach.  Who knew lady bugs liked the beach?

After our fun day at the beach we stopped to get deep dish pizza.  You can't go to Chicago and not eat deep dish pizza right?  Funny story about that though, As we were headed back Grandpa kept asking Suri on his phone for directions to the pizza place.  Suri was struggling to understand and kept saying "sorry master I didn't understand that"  A few minutes later we tried to show something out the window to Sadie and she replied "  I am sorry master I didn't see that"  We all just about died laughing!  The pizza was yummy!

Hanging out at the apartment...

Day 5. September 28th Lincoln Park Zoo...

Our last full day in Chicago we decided to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  We thought we would take the train down because it would be fun for the kids to be out of the car.  When we asked the lady at the train station how long of a walk it would be from the train station to the zoo she told us just a couple of blocks.  Well it turned out to be a bit longer than that.  I think we about wore Grandma out that day with all the walking we did. Finn was Mr. friendly on the train wanting to give everyone a high five. We had a fun time at the zoo.  They had a carousel, so we had to take a ride!  I did get one picture of the city skyline from the zoo.  On our way home from the Zoo we stopped at the Chicago Temple.  The Temple was closed but we did get a quick picture.  

 I love this picture I snapped of Grandma and Grandpa as we walked back to the train from the zoo.  We had such a fun time visiting with them.  We have missed them while they have been serving.  I am so thankful for their examples of Faith and Sacrifice.  I know their mission has not always been easy for them, but they serve because they love our Savior Jesus Christ and his Gospel.  I hope to one day follow their example and serve a mission with Brian.

The next day we headed back home to Utah.  We had such a great time.  Months later Sadie is still saying she wants to go back and why did we have to come home?  The walk to security at the airport about broke my heart as Grandma and Grandpa waved goodbye and Sadie cried because she didn't want to leave.  We had such a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa and we are looking forward to their return home in a few months.