The Word From P-Town: Chicago Weekend

Tom had a volleyball tournament in Aurora on Saturday, so Tommy and I packed up the truck, picked up Amy and the twins and headed on up. I was mostly worried about the trip on the way up...3 1-year-olds in a confined space for 2.5 hours just didn't sound fun. But we made it without much of a problem. For a while Tommy kept looking from Brayden to Ashlyn and back again trying to figure out who these people were in his backseat. But he eventually got used to it. In fact right at the end he made a game of taking Ashlyn's stuffed dog and playing with it and her. He put it in his mouth and shook it back and forth just like Dunkin does. Then he kept putting it in her face andtaking it away again. I really can't explain it but she thought it was absolutely hilarious and giggled for 10 minutes. We ended up getting there and a polar front must have just gone through because it was cold, rainy, and windy...just how I hoped to spend my Saturday. We took the kids to the mall next door for a little bit. They had a playground inside and they all seemed to have a good time crawling on stuff. There are a lot of other kids and parents to contend with on a chilly Saturday, so we only stayed for about 30 minutes. The rest of the day got warmer and we hung out at the courts. After driving all that way, Tom & Brian ended up playing Trent & John in the first round of playoffs. Tom & Brian won but then lost to the team they had just played in pool play. Lindsey had the best finish for the day losing in the finals. Brian, Trent, Amy, and the twins went back home and Tom, Tommy, and I spent the night at John & Lindsey's condo. They have a beautiful place with hardwood floors, open flooplan between kitchen, living, and dining areas, three bedroom and two bath. And an awesome view of Sears Tower and downtown Chicago...and if you lean really far out on the balcony you can see the lake. In the morning we ate breakfast at "Yolk"...

At Shedd we saw Beluga whales with their trainer...

They posed for an up-close shot...

The show featured the whales, dolphins, and a sea lion...

Afterwards, we went downstairs where Tommy got to touch a real starfish and some fake barnacles...

Then we went through the penguin exhibit where they had stuffed animals that were life-sized...

We saw a blue iguana who liked to pose as much as the whale...

Before we left Shedd, Tommy was knocked out...

Then we decided to walk to Michigan Avenue and hit some shopping. On the way we cut through Millenium park and Tom got this postcard perfect picture of this orb-art...