Hello Chicago

Our first official family trip is in the books.

And it was a success!

We decided instead of taking a vacation away we would try to save a little money and stay closer to home with an extended weekend trip, however those hotel rooms sure add up fast for more than one night. So we did a 2 days 1 night deal in downtown Chi-town.  

We took off for the big city first thing Thursday morning and drove straight to the Shedd Aquarium.

This was both Madden and Dave's first time at the aquarium. I can't believe out of all the times Dave has come to Chicago AND even lived there (in college) he has never been there....::mind blown::.

So mommy got to show her boys around!  

We checked out all of the Waters of the World, the Caribbean Reef, the Wild Reef, the and the Amazon Rising. Then we watched the dolphin show. Little man was getting antsy during the show since he didn't get much of a morning nap in the car but he powered through.



Daddy & MJ looking at fishies

After the aquatic show was over we were able to go down to the tanks for a much closer view of the dolphins and manatees. Then went down stairs to get an underwater look at them too. That's where MJ really loved it. He was able to get out of his stroller and crawl around to look into the tank and watch the dolphins swim by us.





Mommy & MJ checking out the dolphins underneath the aquarium



Taking after mommy, loving him some dolphins!

Our tickets included a 20 minute 3D IMAX movie to choose from, we picked Ice Age. I was really nervous about taking MJ to the movie since by this point it was past his afternoon nap time and he was already getting fussy at the aquatic show. I made sure we sat in the back row on the end so at any point I could escape with him if needed.

 

IMAX movie time

 To my surprise he did pretty darn well! He loved putting on the glasses and taking them right off. He actually paid attention to the movie for a good portion until the water happened. We got squirted with water. And of course he was sitting on my lap in front of me so he got most it. It definitely took him off guard but luckily he didn't get upset, just scared for a few minutes. He spent the remainder of the movie facing me and just looking over his shoulder. We got squirted again but this second time it was mostly the back of him and me. 

Next stop was the new Jellies exhibit!

 It was really cool, a ton of different types of all kinds, colors and sizes of jelly fish. Pretty neat!



Absolutely gorgeous day to be on Lake Michigan!

Our hotel was in the middle of downtown, a few blocks away from Michigan Avenue so it was easy to find after we were exhausted from the aquarium. We checked in to relax a bit. They had a business hour which included complimentary drinks and appetizers for two hours. Dave was so excited about it that we just could not miss out on it before we went out to eat. 

 

Once we finally make it out of the hotel for dinner we walked a few blocks to Giordano's, which is one of Chicago's most famous pizza places. So famous and popular you place your order at the same time you put your name down because it's an HOUR wait. It takes 60 minutes just to bake up one of those infamous pizza's!!

Not the best idea when you have a one year old, its past said one year olds dinner time and closing in on said one year olds bedtime after a busy and exhausting day with no good naps. 

We're smart.

But we did manage to get a celebrating citing while there!! Just behind us were 2 actors, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (from Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Paul) eating dinner as well. When they got up to leave one of them made eye contact with Dave and he jumped at the chance to ask if he could get a picture with them. He was so giddy about it afterwards.

Friday morning we headed to WRIGLEYVILLE!

We went early, a few hours before the game to bypass the crazy drinking crowd before games. We found Dave and his dad's brick, MJ got a picture with it!

Family picture outside Wrigley Field

 



WRIGLEY FIELD!



My Tips to Taking a 1 year old to a baseball game
**Going to a major league baseball game with a 1 year old is hard, but fun! Totally worth all the memories we made even though he won't remember it.

• Got there early, before the crowds. Wrigley opens it gates 2 hours before the game starts. We went early to avoid the crazy drinkers (we use to be) and so we could walk around to find our seats, watch batting practice and check out the stadium. 
• No strollers, too hard to navigate through the crowd. I brought the baby Bjorn, it was a godsend! MJ is heavy, too heavy to just carry on your hip. I faced him out the majority of the time so he could see and watch everything going on. When he was overly tired and needing a nap, I faced him toward me and walked around with him.
• No ticket needed. Their small enough you don't have to buy a ticket for them, they can just sit on your lap.
• Brings LOTS of snacks!! This is my biggest piece of advice. Bring lots and lots of snacks. An entire baseball game is a long time to have to sit in one place and watch a game. I brought an container of blueberries already cut in half since he loves them, animal crackers, fruit/veggie squeeze packet, yogurt bites, and mum-mums.
• Don't expect to sit in your seats the entire time. One years want to move. Luckily MJ isn't walking yet so he couldn't want to get up and run around. But he didn't want to sit still the entire time. Dave and I took turns getting up with him when he got too antsy, I usually took him the most.
• Don't expect to make it the entire game. Your kids going to be tired, odds are they missed a nap and baseball games can drag on for a very long time. Since we got there early, all I wanted to do was make it to the 5th inning during but MJ was doing a good job that we got through the seventh inning stretch.    
• Overall it was a good experience, MJ did awesome for being the age he is, we still had fun and were able to enjoy the Wrigley experience. I'd do it again!