Chi Town

A few months ago, we decided to plan a weekend adventure with Ella in Chicago. In a whirl of anticipation we set sail. The city was all decked out in lights and and hustle and bustle. And while we expected to freeze our noses off walking everywhere, we were delightfully surprised with 50 degree temperatures the entire time. It was perfect!

 We hit the ground running and Ella once again, shows us that she loves a big city.

 We scored a great hotel right on the Magnificent Mile which is not our usual 'go to' location. But we knew the Lego Store was a block away, which was our first stop of course.

We found a beautiful, quiet respite to relax for awhile.

Dogs of Chicago!

 Both nights, we managed to keep walking after dinner just to take in all the sights and sounds. Sometimes, Larry and I would tag team so she could work on her Lego purchase in the hotel room and the other could hit the streets.

Panda enjoyed the trip as well and we didn't lose him once!

 We took her to my favorite department store and she got to peek down on the Walnut Room festivities. (No way we were waiting in that line.) She zipped up to the very top via escalator so she could look down through the center of the building. A girl after my own heart!

 Larry had some fun in there too. And although he didn't leave Chicago with this snazzy jacket, Ella and I surprised him a week later and bought it for his birthday.

In a serendipitous twist, our dear friend Ami happened to be in Chicago for a few hours and was literally two blocks away from us. We darted out the lobby doors of the hotel on Saturday evening so that we could steal hugs from her.

After my late evening walk up and down The Magnificent Mile, this was me: drinking coffee at 9:30pm and still dead-on-my-feet exhausted.

 Before hitting the road on Sunday, we hit the Museum of Contemporary Art because we had to make sure she knew Chicago was so much more than retail.

We had such a good time together. There is nothing better than Chicago at Christmastime and this trip certainly didn't disappoint.

~H