This past weekend we had the opportunity to travel to Chicago.  Tom had some business meetings and I accompanied him on the trip.  We had such a great time exploring this very cool city and eating some amazing food along the way!

We flew out Saturday morning pretty early and the airport was incredibly busy for some reason!  Thankfully we made it on the flight with no problems and the flight was uneventful.  We arrived in Chicago in the late morning and then went to the hotel to check-in.  After dropping our bags off in the room, we ate at one of the hotel’s restaurants called Cityscapes.  It had a really pretty view of the city and the food was amazing!  We got the crab-crusted salmon and the crab-stuffed shrimp.  Seriously, so yummy!  Much better than we were expecting and a great culinary start to the trip!

We then went out to explore the city. We were slightly sore from our runs yesterday, but we powered through and hit the town.  It’s a very cool city with tons of skyscrapers and architecture.  So much to take in, but it was great!  When we started our walk, it was 99 degrees, but with the humidity, it felt like 114.  Even just walking down the street, we were dripping with sweat — it was insane!  So, so, so hot.  After about a half hour though, this cool breeze came through and all of a sudden it turned stormy.  It was crazy!  The weather dropped to where it was almost cool, which was such a stark change!

We walked down to the end of the river and then into the city.  Tom found this route that took us to key sites, so that worked out great.  We first went to this place called Buckingham Fountain, which is apparently one of the biggest fountains in the world.  It was awesome!

Next we walked through some rose gardens and over to the city center, where we saw a cool reflective fountain with pictures projected on it.  Then Tom took us to an iconic hotel.  As we were getting there, it started pouring rain so we ducked inside and waited in the lobby for a bit until it let up.  The timing was actually quite perfect — plus, it was nice to get off our feet for a bit!

We then stopped at a little candy shop called Kilwin’s and got a box of chocolates for the McBrides.  Next we walked along the street, stopping to take a pic at a fun shrub statue, and then getting a pic at the start of the iconic Route 66 sign!

Next we walked over to the “Chicago Bean” which is this cool, silver, super-reflective sculpture that’s supposed to be a cloud but looks like a big bean. It was very busy but pretty cool — very classic Chicago!

Next to “The Bean” was a really cool outdoor amphitheater, and we noticed there was a concert being setting up.  We decided to go get a pizza and then come back to the concert. The line at the pizza place (Giordanos — apparently the best in the city!) was crazy long, so we just ordered online instead and went back to the concert, because the wait time was an hour and a half.  The concert was a classical concert, almost symphony-like, and it was a fun thing to experience!

After the concert, we picked up our pizza and got a Lyft back to the hotel. The pizza was AMAZING — stuffed deep dish that was some of the best pizza we’ve ever had!  SO beyond delicious!  We didn’t even eat half of it because the slices were so big.  Wow — it was incredible and so worth the wait!

There was a beautiful sunset that evening as we got back to the hotel.  We had an awesome corner hotel room on the top floor, so our view of the city was breathtaking!  It was he perfect ending to a very busy, exhausting, but fabulous day! 

On Sunday morning (which came after a full night’s sleep without any kid interruptions — amazing!), we went to church at a local ward.  Even though the church was only a mile away, it was raining so we took a ride.  The church building was cool — tall but definitely resembled an LDS building!  It’s amazing how no matter where we are in the world, whenever we go to church or a temple, it always feels like home. 🙂

It was still raining when we got done with the meetings, so we got a Lyft back to the hotel.  We then ordered some brunch from a local place called Wildberry Pancakes and had it delivered through DoorDash, which was super convenient.  The pancakes were amazing!  We got key lime and blackberry and the “wildberry special” pancakes.  They were so yummy and totally hit the spot!  We then watched a movie while we ate and then took a nap… Haven’t done that in a while thanks to our kiddos, so it was quite delightful!  We were also trying to take it easy after a busy day the day before, so it was a very relaxing afternoon!

In the early evening, we headed out on the town again and walked down to Navy Pier. We walked through the city a different way this time and admired some of the cool buildings.  One funny thing we did was notice how many people were trying to get “candid” and “perfect” pics for social media, so every time we saw it, we had Tom replicate it.  It was so funny!  Seriously, it was kind of ridiculous how many people were trying to pose and get pictures for the purpose of social media.  It was a good reminder to enjoy the moment and not be so concerned about getting a perfect pic!

We made it to Navy Pier and walked around for a bit.  There was a carnival-like area and some beautiful views of the city, so we were glad we checked it out.  There was also a great view of the city skyline, so that was fun to get pictures of, too!

We stopped for dinner at Bubba Gump’s and it was really yummy!  Seriously, we’ve eaten so well this trip.  We got the shrimp mac-and-cheese, loaded “Spudtacular” mashed potatoes, and the shrimp sampler.  I also got the strawberry mango firecracker drink, which was mango juice, strawberry purée, and slushee in a light-up cup (that Isaac will surely love!).  It was the perfect amount of food, too — we shared everything and it worked out great!  So yummy!

We then walked around a bit more —the city skyline all lit up was gorgeous!

At the end of the night, we caught a car back to the hotel and it was off to bed for another full night of sleep — hooray!  We do miss the kids though… No amount of sleep makes up for the joy they bring!  Here are some of the fun pictures Sara sent us while we were in Chicago.  We love these little cuties so much!

Monday was our last day in the city and went well, but was pretty uneventful!  I went out on a run in the morning along the river walk while Tom went to his meeting (the whole purpose of our trip!). We got a Lyft to go to the airport, and talk about a crazy ride!  First, the driver (Juan) passed us and didn’t pick us up, and then circled the block in a weird way and finally came back.  He didn’t speak English and was trying to talk to us as if he thought we spoke Spanish.  It was odd!  Then, his app wasn’t really working, so he kept getting upset at it and trying to talk to us, but we didn’t know what he was saying!  His driving was crazy too — honking a lot, swerving, just crazy!  Thankfully though we made it to the airport safe and sound with plenty of time before the flight! Our flight was uneventful and we arrived back in Utah about 4:00pm.  When we got off the plane, it was so incredibly hot — gotta love July!  We then picked up the kiddos on our way home and it was so good to be reunited as a family!  The vacation was awesome and we made a lot of memories (and got a lot of sleep!), but it’s always best to be home with our sweet babies!