Sonya's Blog - Day 28 - Last Day in Chicago - The Architecture!

Sonya’s Blog - Day 28 - July 20 - Last Day in Chicago

Another Chicago day, our last one. We had errands to do before we could go all the way into Chicago. First we had to drop off Kizmet for her last visit with Becky. Then we had to try and find the lost and found for CTA at O’Hare airport, Blake called and got directions and it was in terminal 2 at the airport and that was where our bag was. It was decided that Adam and Suz would head down on their own because they were going to the Children’s Museum. My kids had no desire to do that, too old for that now so we were going to do the Architectural Cruise up the river that runs through Chicago. We would then meet up with them later and do something else.

Blake got up early and made pancakes for everyone which were a huge success and everyone enjoyed them. Suz and Adam then hit the road and we left a little bit after them as I wanted to clean up first. We dropped off Kizmet at Becky’s and she was excited to go again, she runs straight in the door as soon as it opened. She also wanted to leave with me, but she gets over it pretty fast and runs to play, play, play.

We then hit some terrible traffic on the way to O’Hare and it took forever. I was driving so that I could drop Blake and Isaac off at terminal 2 so they could pick up the bag. We didn’t want to park at the airport because that is too expensive and the Rosemont parkade is just down the road about 5 minutes and it is $5. Blake and Isaac hopped out of the car and Tash and I continued on our way to Rosemont. Blake and Isaac were going to get on the first car of the train and we were to wait on our platform, if they were in the car we were to get on. If we were not on the platform yet they were going to get off. O’Hare is the first platform and Rosemont is the second. It all went really well and Tash and I made it to the platform in good time. They were not on the first train that went by, but then were on the next one. The trains are about 8 minutes apart so it is not a huge wait. Blake had his bag back and unbelievably everything was in it, including the ipad! We got pretty lucky there.

We didn’t make it downtown until almost noon. We decided to hightail it to the pier where the Architectural Cruises leave from off of Michigan Avenue. If we could get on a boat right away that would be great, if not then we would have lunch and then get on a boat. We were hoofing it pretty good and we got super lucky. We made it to the pier at 12:20 and they had a boat leaving at 12:30 that wasn’t full yet. It wasn’t even close to full, we had really good seats and a couple of rows to ourselves. Luckily there were still snacks in our bag so we were able to stave off our hunger while enjoying the cruise. Chicago has great Architecture and some amazing buildings. It is also quite an old city, so it has some really old buildings right up to more modern ones and you can see how architecture developed over time. Chicago became a bit of an Architecture’s dream city due to the great fire and they had a clean slate to work with. The cruise was very interesting and nice and relaxing.

On the Architectural Cruise:

The cruise took 90 minutes so we decided we would walk over to Navy Pier (again!!) because that is where the Children’s Museum is. Blake had turned off his phone for the cruise and when he turned it back on he had a message from Suz. They had only been at the museum for about 50 minutes by the time we were finished our cruise (some navigational problems once they got off the train - Adam struggles with Google Maps or something:). Due to the fact that they had not been there for very long we decided to stop along the way to get something to eat. We found a really cute little Breakfast/Lunch place, cannot remember the name though. They had a great menu and we all got really tasty food and were very happy and well fed.

After lunch we headed down to the pier to meet up with Suz and Adam. They looked absolutely exhausted and so did there kids. All the kids piled into the 2 person stroller with Claire holding Simon and fell asleep right away, all 3 of them.

Chicago is Exhausting:

We were heading over to a really cool park that was supposed to be right behind Millenium Park that was set up by one of the mayor’s wives right before she died from cancer. We found it without a problem and it was a really neat area. It was a whole bunch of parks that were cordoned off for different age groups, but all in the same area with a path going through it. Each small park had it’s own name, like The Enchanted Forest, The Wavy Lawn, Slide Park and suggested age ranges. There was at least 10 different parks, probably more. Unfortunately the 3 little ones were still asleep, but Isaac took off to explore. I went to find him and took a couple of pictures and explored The Enchanted Forest with him.

Isaac Playing:

When we got back Simon was awake and he played for a bit. We then decided to go and find somewhere to eat and then head back to the campground. It was a challenge to find a restaurant again, but in the end Claire had to go pee so we had to choose. The Naf Naf Grill was chosen which was more fast foody. They had falafels and stuff, so it was pretty good. I wasn’t very hungry after my massive late lunch so I was not too fussed. After supper I headed outside and so did Adam, but everyone else headed to the washrooms. Next door was a burger joint that had hand spun milkshakes and Adam ran it and got us a couple. I got Vietnamese Coffee and he got Milky Way. We shared them with our families, and they were sure yummy!

The train was not too far away from where we were and we got on without a lot of fuss. Suz and Adam had to get off at Cumberland (3rd stop from O’Hare) and our kids got off with them to go back to the campground. Blake and I continued onto Rosemont to get our truck and head off to get Kizmet. Kizmet had another fantastic day with Becky and her kids and all the dogs. They are going to miss her and Kizmet is going to miss going there.

We played a game later after we got back to the campground that Adam and Suz had brought. I don’t know the name of it, but you buy houses and then you try and get the highest value cheques with your houses. It’s pretty easy, but you never know what the other person is going to do and it is as much about that as anything. I didn’t win that game either, although I didn’t lose as badly as Blake did:)

We were awoken at 2:30 AM by crying. Kate had managed to cocoon herself in the sheet and had fallen off the bed. Blake went in and got her untangled and back to sleep and everything was fine after that.

We are off to Wisconsin tomorrow.

Sonya