Our day in Chicago

To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day we went to Chicago!

"Da Bears"

First of all, there is so much to do in Chicago and we barely grazed a fraction of it. We're hoping to return at least a few more times in the next couple of years.

Henry LOVED the trains. While we rode he made the "choo choo" noise, but his sounds more like "coo coo, coo coo".

One thing we soon realized was that we probably wouldn't get to see the tops of the highest buildings. It was a foggy and overcast day so it looked like the high-risers were shooting through the clouds.
As we walked next to the tall buildings we passed signs reading "Caution: Falling ice". Yep, ice forms on the outside of the buildings and falls down to the sidewalk. We thought it pretty funny when we'd pass signs reading "Caution: Falling Lice" or "Falling Mice".

This building has no real significance other than it appears in one of my childhood favorite movies: Adventures in Babysitting. I was a little star - or building - struck when I saw it.

We tried to do as much as we could on a really cold day. We succeeded! We saw "the bean", properly known as The Skygate because it was designed to display the skyline beautifully.

Looking up under the belly of the bean

You can see my tiny self smack dab in the middle of the bean waving. "Hi!"

We saw some fun statues, stores, and a library. I also saw a bum on the street talking into his straw, gabbing to an imaginary friend about how his blackberry doesn't work any more so he has to talk on a straw. When we made eye contact he gave me a wink and we both started laughing. I think he's a regular.

We also stopped into Giordano's, an amazing pizza place. We had a classic deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza and I ate one piece and was stuffed.

After lunch Henry feel asleep as we got on to the El train heading toward the museum district; he was in my arms looking rather tired and I whispered, "I love you" and he blinked and was out. We laid him in his stroller and he napped his normal 1.75 hours while we walked the rest of the way to the Shedd Aquarium.

He woke up in the middle of our time at the Shedd and loved the rest of our time there.

We made it back home without anything lost, stolen, or destroyed, despite the cold, fog and traveling. It was a perfect day.

With our friends, the Ouskas. Lucky us, they were our tour guides. Check out the funny statue behind us, a giant man hugging a giant fish. Awww, precious.