Day 4: Chicago/ Nauvoo Vacation

Day 4:

This was just a cute picture I left out of the last post. This was at the Indian restaurant!

Our last day in Chicago, we just walked up and down the "Magnificent Mile" and saw all the stores. I forced Cameron to go into the American Girl doll store. :) I LOVED these when I was younger. Kirsten was my first doll and I still have her. I also have the Samantha doll but she wasn't in the store anywhere. I asked a lady why they didn't have Samantha and she said that she had been "archived." I wonder if that means she'll be worth alot of money one day. I had to get a picture in front of the collection!

An old cathedral. I love old churches.

This was outside of the cathedral and I thought it was gorgeous.

A huge fountain that Cameron SHOULD NOT have been up on. I kept waiting for the police to chase us down.

A rare picture of just me and Cameron!

We took the four hour drive to Nauvoo and this was as we were crossing the Mississippi River. I was amazed at how HUGE it was. I've seen the Mississippi River in St. Louis, but this seemed like triple the size. It was incredible.

Snapped a quick picture while driving by. :)

That was the end of Day 4 for us!!

Stay tuned for a fantastic two days in Nauvoo.....

Day 3 Chicaco/ Nauvoo Vacation

Day 3:

So, this was very funny at the time but everytime I tell the story it's not so funny anymore. We jumped on the bus by our hotel and we told the bus driver we wanted to go to the Sears Tower. So, the large black man told us where to get off to see this massive building.

When we got off the bus, we looked left and right and up and down and just didn't know where we were. We looked straight up at the huge building next to us that said "Willis Tower" on it. Now, keep in mind that when you're in Chicago and your standing at the bottom of a building, they all look pretty huge. So, I pulled out my little map and stared at it for the longest time, looked at all the street signs that were on the street corners, consulted the map so more....I was SO confused!!!

This nice (and very tall) man walked up to me and said: "You look lost."

Me: "Yeah, I'm very confused right now"

Nice man: "Well, where are you trying to get to?"

I look down at my map and say: "Well, according to my map we should be at the Sears Tower but we don't know where it is. Do we need to go down a block or so?"

Nice Man gives me a funny, yet playful look and says: "Okay, look down! "

I look down at my toes, look back at him and say "Am I here? Is this it?"

Nice Man (laughing): "You made it"

Me (face turning red): "Well, it says 'Willis Tower.' "

Nice Man: "They changed the name."

Red-faced Me (laughing and incredibly embarrasseed): "Thank you very much."

Nice Man proceeds to walk into the very tall "Willis Tower" and heads to work.

So if you're EVER looking for the Sears Tower....IT'S NOT CALLED THAT ANYMORE!!!

Sheesh!!! When were they going to inform the dumb tourists????

So, anyway...this is us in the HUGE elevator. The nice lady let Kashton push the button to take us up 110 stories high!!!

The view on top of Chicago and Lake Michigan!!

They've now added these glass boxes that you can walk out in. It's very scary to look down and see just the ground below you.

At the bottom of the building

While Kashton napped, Cameron and I decided to walk from the "Willis Tower" to Millennium Park. Thats me standing at the bottom of the cool water tower.

Weird, yet cool Asian sculptures.

Kashton playing in the fountains. There were SO many kids there playing in them. Kashton was still not quite awake, so he wasn't as in to it.

There is this big silver sculpture in the park that is like a huge mirror. This is our reflection.

This is what it looks like. I think it's cool that you can see the reflection of the city in it.

A big, cool fountain!!

Navy Pier!!

Cameron really wanted to go on the huge Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. I thought the pier itself was really cool. I would've like to have stayed there much longer. We didn't get to do all that I would've liked. Just too much to do and so little time.

This is from the top of the Ferris Wheel!

I love this picture!!!

Funny statues outside Navy Pier!!

It had been raining and I didn't want to get my bum wet while I was interviewed by Bob Newhart!

That night we thought we'd be adventurous and try real Indian food. Not only was it a beautiful restaurant but the food was FANTASTIC!!! It didn't look too appetizing and we were a little nervous to try it, but it was SO good. I was mad that my tummy was kind of hurting and I couldn't eat very much.

What a wonderful day!!!

Day 2 Chicago/Nauvoo Vacation

Day 2:

I was kind of nerdy when we got up the next morning. I LOVE to visit new cities...especially if I've never seen them before.

This was the view from our hotel room. I loved how you could see Lake Michigan and all the sailboats from our window.

This was a plaza that was across the street from our hotel. Kashton loved the fountains.

Michigan Avenue!! I thought Chicago was one of the coolest cities I've ever been to. I want to live there. :)

Lake Michigan and the sailboats.

We went to Shedd Aquarium first thing in the morning and this was the view from the Aquarium.

Playing at the Aquarium.

He liked the sea otters!!

A fantastic view of the city from the Aquarium.

After the Aquarium, we walked over to the Field Museum. Kashton fell asleep in his stroller, so we took advantage of looking at the more "boring," grown-up stuff. Personally, I liked the museum more than the aquarium. (That's me and the stroller in front of that MASSIVE building)

The museum was having a special Pirate exhibit. We didn't go to it because it cost extra money...but hey, at least I got to make out with a pirate!!! What better way to spend the day??

The front of the museum!!

Look familiar??? Yeah, this is how intelligent I am. Once we had already LEFT the museum, I was told it was the same museum from Night At the Museum. I'm a genius in the making. :(

More pirates jumping down on us....SCARY!!

Us being dumb. We're probably not suppose to be sitting on this exhibit, but Cameron has his fantasies....

Another illegal move!! Cameron posing with his "homies." Glad we didn't get kicked out of the museum.

Cameron laying on the giant map in the foyer. Pointing to where he went on his mission (Taipei,Taiwan). Aaaaww, it's like being in the MTC all over again!!!

My FAVORITE part of the museum. I've always been fascinated with Ancient Egypt. I thought this was so cool: An example of a family tomb. Those are real mummies in there. Look at the little infant...that broke my heart.

A real mummy...SO COOL!!! A young boy!

So, I thought this was interesting. A tomb for the animals. These are mummified pets: falcons, eagles, cats, etc.

Kashton woke up from his nap (he had a MAJOR blow-out which explains his lack of clothing) and he was afraid of the pirate. Daddy was trying to help him not be afraid...however...I'm not sure what he was doing here. Daddy, what are you teaching your son????

Some street performers. These guys were AWESOME!!! They were promoting "Don't Do Drugs" which explains the red they're wearing. Yup, they're doing exactly what it looks like. Two guys holding one guy upside-down by his shoulders, and the other guy jumped and did a flip inbetween the upside-down dude's legs. So cool!!

We were told that if we wanted to try the best and most authentic deep dish Chicago pizza...this was the place to go!!! That's Cam standing in line OUTSIDE!!!

It took about an hour to get our pizza and LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS!!! The crust was made from cornmeal and it was unlike anything I've ever had before. I'm not a pizza person...but this was REALLY good.

Cameron is in heaven!!!

Stay tuned for Day 3: