Chicago!

Timmy had a conference in Chicago at the end of April for a couple of days and since my cousin lived there Timmy asked if I wanted to go. My first response was "NO!" The stress of having two kids in a huge city did not seem very appealing. I then talked to my mom about why I didn't want to go to Chicago and she said that I should go because it would be a good experience for all of us. I am glad I went!

We went to the Field Museum which was pretty neat, my favorite part was the dinosaur exhibit. The building itself is beautiful and huge. We got trapped in the Native American section for a half an hour, I was trying so hard to find an exit, but I couldn't! (Not that I didn't like it, there were other things to see...like big lions!) We stayed around after the Field Museum closed to make the most of our $19.00 parking. Can you believe that!!!!!!! One of the pictures is taken by the aquatic center which is supposed to be one of the best in the nation. I am thinking that we probably should have gone there. In Zach's words "Oh Man!" I guess that means we will just have to go back.

We then got to see my wonderful cousin Devon and his sweet wife Jenni. They treated us like gold and it was fun to catch up with them. I kept bragging to them about how great Grant was. Well he unfortunately cried the whole day, so that it what I get for bragging up my baby! We went to Stake Conference with them and later in the day got to see a cool park, and Lake Michigan. I look pretty dicey in the last picture because I didn't get my nap and those who know me best know how important my naps are!

We then proceeded to go to Timmy's conference for Monday and Tuesday. His Conference was about 30 minutes away from Chicago and in a very highly secured place. I had to walk around with a badge on. There wasn't much to do there, so the boys and I hung out at the hotel all day. Which was funner than I anticipated. They had a free hot cocoa machine there which Zach loved. We filled up a cup of hot cocoa about four times a day. The boys and I would then walk outside until it got a little bit to cold, then we would watch Sesame Street which is a very long show but very educational. We got a lot of ice that Zach would dump in the bathtub and then we would get some more. When lunch time came we went down to this fancy little cafeteria place where we made our presence known. And then we had a nap. The first day at the hotel was magic, the second day the newness had worn off and both Grant and Zach were ready to go home!

Monday afternoon, Timmy got back at three and we tried to make it to the zoo before it closed at five. We arrived at 4:10 pm and got to see my favorite animals before the place closed, the big cats and the monkeys. The zoo is free but the parking is not unless you move your car every half hour. Unfortunately we didn't time the parking right, so that was another $19.00 spent on parking. "OH MAN!!!" The best part of the zoo was this crazy monkey who was going crazy and showing everyone its teeth. Zach loved it and Grant didn't know what to think of it.

Then we went to the Navy Pier, this place was magic. We got there at evening and it was so fun to see the huge city and the Lake. We had Chicago style pizza kindof and the highlight for the boys was the Jamba Juice. We loved seeing all the lights and the boys slept well that night.

It was a wonderful trip but I was grateful to come back home. I have decided that it takes a lot of practice before it is easy to go on trips. It takes a lot of effort to go out of comfort zone and see new places, but it is worth it. Part of me wonders if my mom wanted me to go on the trip so that I could understand a little bit of what she went through when my family went on trips. Well it worked! Thank you mom and dad for being so brave and taking me and my brothers and sisters on lots of trips because it isn't easy!

(Sorry that pictures are in a crazy order. Who knows how it happened. My technology skills are lacking!)