Chicago

After visiting Nauvoo, we stopped in Chicago on our way back home for a few days. We tried to see as many great sites in our 3 days that we could. We had a pretty packed schedule, but thanks to Bill's great planning, it all worked out pretty smoothly. We took the buses/trains/subways around the city to avoid traffic and parking issues. Three kids, two strollers, and a bunch of stuff on and off the bus was a bit crazy but somehow it worked.

Downtown fountain plaza

Crown Fountain and Cloud Gate Sculpture at Millenium Park

Water Taxi

We took a water taxi on the river through downtown. The kids liked it and it got us to another destination. It is really cool that a waterway runs through the middle of downtown. Its a fun way to get around and see the city.

Giordano's Italian Restaurant 

Its a famous/popular Chicago restaurant, with excellent Chicago deep dish pizza. It was a great break from walking and was just a short walk from Willis Tower--our next destination.

Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower)

We all liked this. It was a quick elevator ride up and then 360* windows to see the whole city. We went in the evening on a weeknight and so there was no line, luckily. It was cool to see the whole city from so high. We especially liked the see through popped out window.

Museum of Science and Industry 

This was one of the best museums we had ever been too. There are a lot of things that kids can touch/sit on/etc. We were on a tight time schedule, so we were there for just a few hours, but we could have spent a whole day there.

Lincoln Park Zoo 

 Its free and just open to the public like a park. Its a pretty zoo with lots of trees and pretty walkways. It had the most diverse primate house I have seen. Despite the rain and cold the kids really liked it.

Navy Pier 

It was more like an indoor mall, than like Pier 39 in San Francisco. It did have some outside shops, but it was under construction so it was a little confusing. We walked around the entire pier looking at the lake and the city. There was an outdoor area with 5-6 rides. We let the kids each pick a ride, they loved it. Bill and Spencer did the Ferris Wheel and Aliyah did the High Swings.

They have Children's Museum in the inside part, which was the best part of the whole trip for the kids - just a bunch of fun kids activities. The kids got to paint their own faces in a mirror.

 

 Children's Museum

Hotel

 The kids love staying at hotels! 

Feild Museum 

This was a very typical natural history museum, but it had a HUGE exhibit of taxidermied animals and bird, ancient Egypt, mineral and gemstone collections, dinosaur bones, bugs, etc. We wish we could have stayed longer here too.

 Adler Planetarium

It was a bit small and plain after the two major museums we went to, but there was a fun little kids area they could run around and pretend to be astronauts. We spent and hour or two here before we headed off to the baseball game.

Wrigley Field - Cubs game 

The stadium is very old and basic. Its all outdoors, even the concessions level, though covered was not heated It was 40* and raining and I didn't pack any winter gear, so we were all very cold. Luckily, we had pretty decent seats on the first level that's below the second deck which blocked the rain. Otherwise it would have been a fun time. There is a 7/11 by one of the entrances so we all picked some drinks and snacks to bring in, the kids love picking out their own things! The game was the last stop on our trip, the kids were tired and FREEZING, so we didn't stay through the entire game. But we were happy to see such a historic baseball stadium.