A Night in Chicago!

A week before Thanksgiving we took the two oldest kiddos to Chicago or as they call it, "The Towers." We took the kids to Chicago last year and they just loved it! They were extremely excited to go to the parade and stay in a hotel! The above picture is of us in the minivan and the two just woke up from their naps and saw all the beautiful buildings.

Our friends, Jake, Shari, and baby Katie live downtown and their apartment is near Navy Pier. We parked at their parking garage and met up with the McMahon's and the Domier's to go see the parade.

If you remember from last year we took the kids to the parade and we took all three of the our kids and a very nice lady helped hold Avi the whole time so she could see the parade. This time Anderson was on Chevy's shoulders and Avi was right up front. Our little Ellie was staying the night with Grammie and Papa. That meant that I actually could just stand there and just take pictures with my camera!

Here is Santa at the parade.


This is Mackenzie and Avi right at the front the crowd!

Here is Bella and Avi all bundled up!

Here are the daddy's holding their kids, so they could see the parade!

We were very excited to see Mickey and Minnie. This was Minnie's first appearance at the Chicago parade!

Look at the joy on Josh's face! Yes, I don't think this was his favorite experience standing out in the cold with two cranky children. This was not his idea of pure bliss. I told the McMahon's that this should be their Christmas card! What do you think?

The Lyman Family

The Domier Family

The Chevrier Family, except we are missing our sweet Ellie!

After the parade we went back to Jake and Shari's house for dessert and hot chocolate. For some reason I didn't feel well and we decided to head to the hotel. (No I am not pregnant!) The kids were so excited to ride their first taxi ride. We all four squished in the backseat and rode to the hotel. It was a quaint hotel with a lot of wood work. Of coarse, Anderson woke up at 6:00 in the morning. The next day, I was feeling better so we got ready and headed over to Jake and Shari's for breakfast. Shari made us some yummy cinnamon rolls!

After our breakfast we headed to Navy Pier to the Children's Museum. We took the kids there last year and they had such fun! In the picture above you can see they had a fire station exhibit. Lately, Anderson has really been into playing fireman.

Katie having fun at the firehouse.

The dads got really serious and built this fun tower. Just so you know there was a time limit! The kids had a lot of fun helping and at the end they got to record their experience in a book that was played back for them.

At the museum they have a camping room where you can pretend to go fishing.

Katie was able to play with light switches right a her level!

Avi really enjoyed the baby room!