We packed up the car & headed out on Friday morning. It’s a pretty long drive — over 3.5 hours — and the kids were AMAZING in the car. It helped that much of the drive was “new” and there was plenty to see. Kate packed a little goodie bag for each kid, too. Our timing was great & we didn’t hit any “traffic,” so even with lunch & gas stops, we arrived in Chicago a couple of hours ahead of schedule.

It was love at first sight! They were hugging posts & pillars, loudly declaring their love for Chicago, as we made our way to Willis Tower! (Witnessed by a few very amused Chicagoans.)

We did a lot of planning ahead, and had purchased CityPASS C3 Tickets. We had a 4pm admission time to Willis Tower (Sears Tower), but we were easily able to change it. Yay for not waiting around!

It was my first time there, too, and I enjoyed the informative displays about Chicago architecture & culture on our way to the elevator.

After that, it was time for an ice cream break! Kate bought Davy that Chicago taxi & he “drove” that thing all weekend (love when a purchase turns out to be a great purchase).

Then we left our car with a valet & checked into our hotel — Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown South Loop — which was almost perfect for us. There was a small kitchen, with a two-burner cooktop, a microwave, a small dishwasher & a big fridge. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a complete set of anything other than coffee mugs; they advertised that there would be place settings for four, which was short for our group, anyway, so I brought extra, and there was only a covered frying pan. (Stanley Tucci, who loves to cook, has been burned by bad kitchen supplies at rental houses so many times that when they travel, he now brings his own cookware!) The living room had a sleeper sofa and a chair, and the bedroom had two queen beds; both rooms had a TV, which was great for wind-down time. Notably, there was no Netflix (despite the big dedicated button on the remotes) nor any streaming, which was disappointing at first, but turned out just fine in the end. (We ended up watching part of The Devil Wears Prada, the last little bit of Monsters Inc, and some of Monsters University — none of which would have received approval from the kids if there’d been other choices.)

The view from our 11th floor hotel room — the Shedd Aquarium in the distance on the left & the Field Museum on the right — the remaining “2” of our “C3” CityPASS destinations. That’s Grant Park across the street, with Agora Big Feet in the foreground (mostly behind the trees). The Metra tracks are running just above middle in that photo and our taxi-wielding train-crazed 4yo was IN HEAVEN!

Besides the many trains, there were fire trucks & other emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, people & dogs, even the occasional helicopter.

As you might imagine, the pool area was a hit! We were down there twice on Friday, and for one good long session on Saturday evening.

We decided to eat in for dinner and after two trips to a nearby Trader Joe’s (keeping in mind that we had only a small frying pan & they were out of eggs), we ended up with hot dogs as our main course.

Davy was asleep by 8, the rest of us were only an hour or so behind.

We set an alarm for Saturday morning because we had a 9am entry to the Shedd, but wanted to enjoy the included breakfast at the hotel, too. (It’s amazing how many people go to that breakfast buffet in their PJs!)

It was chilly in Chicago, and had snowed a little on Friday night, but it wasn’t awful. Yes, they’re on the overpass with Metra tracks below — and there was some train action below us!

It was my first-ever visit to the Shedd, too, and it was fun to discover it alongside the kids. Davy was eye-to-eye with that little duckling for quite a while, like some kind of cosmic bonding, and Malina had a meet-and-greet with a big turtle. We saw a guy walking around with a tree python, watched an aquatic show featuring Pacific white-sided dolphins, and had lunch before heading to the Field Museum — where I hardly took any photos!

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then packed up to head home. Originally, we’d planned to stop at the Rainforest Cafe in Gurnee Mills on the way home, but a) breakfast was barely digested and b) we didn’t have reservations. We decided to stop in Milwaukee, instead, which was more of a half-way point, and decided that the Mitchell Park Domes would be the perfect final stop.

I think Kate & Ali were 3 & 1 the last time we were at the Domes! We enjoyed walking through the Tropical Dome, the Desert Dome, and the kids especially loved the Show Dome. There were trains! And there was a scavenger hunt, which Ginny & Malina enjoyed doing.

They have a small coffee counter at The Domes, rather than a full-blown cafe, so we ended up at a fast food joint around the corner before starting on the last leg home.

We all had such a great time & the kids got along so well. I think there were tears twice the whole time, and once was because someone accidentally got bonked in the head. It would have been so great to have Ali there, too, but it was also great for the kids NOT to be around their parents for a couple of days — and to be in an entirely new place. They all want to return (there’s so much more to see — “The Bean” got just a drive-by this time)… or go someplace new… Junah mentioned New York and “Would we take a plane??”