Chicago

Well, for those of you waiting on the edge of your seat wondering "did she do it" "did she go"...sorry to disappoint but...she didn't. I simply am not at a place in my life where going to the top of the John Hancock building is feasible. We did however eat at the Cheesecake Factory at the very base of the building and to be honest with you, I could barely concentrate on my company, all I could think about was the fact that there was 95 stories of steel and cement sitting on top of us. It is painful to be me.

The train ride up was dreadful. Sorry to those of you who think the South Shore is the best way to travel but...hated it. Once we got to Chicago we hopped in a cab to our hotel, which was nice. The Millennium Knickerbocker. It was a 4 star on Hotwire. I felt rich.

Then we ventured out, down Michigan Ave. We stumbled upon one huge Disney Store. Emily had been wanting a plush of Bolt for months now and when we walked in it was on sale! Half price! So, she decided to spend some of her $$ on that. It's about the size of her sister. And Gracie got a couple of cute little puppies.

We then got lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Such a pretty building but...well, ya know...

Let's see, then we headed to the Hershey's store and got a HUGE dark chocolate bar, got on a horse drawn carriage and rode around nibbling on it and laughing about just about everything. Note to self: next time you get into a horse drawn carriage, make sure the top is down so you can SEE!

Okay, so then it was off to Millennium Park to check out the big jellybean. Loved It.

Then we planned on eating at the Rain Forest Cafe but when we walked in a HUGE (albeit plastic) snake dropped out of the ceiling too close to Emily and totally freaked her out so we left and went next door to the Hard Rock Cafe. And here is where knowing a bit about Chicago would have paid off lovely. Had we known a better place to go we certainly would have. The Hard Rock was...bad.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast at Tempo and then sat and waited for 10 am so we could finally go to the store that brought us to Chicago in the first place. American Girl.

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! What a place! Two stories of pink and red beauty! Everything about this place was over the top. Check out the bathrooms! That is heaven for me. So clean, so pretty.

The girls each got a doll and a couple of outfits. Then we got on the train and headed home. The ride home was so much quicker than the ride up. Grace slept the whole way and Emily brushed doll hair.

Sadly, we were barley a 1/2 mile from the airport when Grace began throwing up. She continued to do so into the night and is now, 2 days later feeling much better.