Trip to Chicago

For Spring Break this year we flew to Chicago to visit my parents. We had a wonderful time and a much needed break, thanks to my parents' hospitality. Here are some highlights from our trip:

On Saturday morning before General Conference started, Grandma helped us dye Easter eggs. Here's Jacob coloring his egg.






Grandma helping Sarah.






Grandma gave Jonah some fake plastic eggs so he could pretend he was dying eggs with the kids. He didn't know the difference and was happy to be included!

Grandma, Grandpa and Kristen put on an Easter egg hunt in their backyard inbetween Conference sessions on Saturday for the kids. Here's Anson, Jacob, Aaron, Sarah, Rachel and Jonah showing off their bags of goodies.

And, of course, we enjoyed General Conference, as always . . . that is what we were able to get out of it with 6 kids under the age of 6 running around. My parents were very patient and didn't complain a bit about the interruptions! Aren't we all glad it comes out in the Ensign?

Monday Grandma took us downtown to do a little shopping on the Magnificent Mile! Sarah's request was to hit The American Girl Doll store. She's been pouring over the catalog for weeks! She chose a mini-doll as her souvenir (I'm too cheap to buy a $100 souvenir doll. She'll have to ask Santa for that.) Here's Sarah in front of one of the display windows.


They had everything girlish at this store! A doll hospital, a hair salon for dolls, photography studios, a cafe, and even the bathrooms were girly and pink. Sarah thought she was in heaven! Grandma treated us all to a cookie from this little sweet shop inside the giant store. One day I'll take Sarah back to have a tea party with her doll. There were just too many fun things!

Jacob's choice of stores to hit was the Lego Store! Since Brandon grew up loving Lego's with his brother, he was all for exploring this store with Jacob. Here they are with Indiana Jones made out of Lego's. Jacob chose a little Pirates Lego set as his souvenir. And Jonah got a firefighter Duplo set to play with!



There were lots of Lego tables out for kids to play on. Sarah and Jonah were completely happy building while Jacob and Daddy checked out the store . . . that was until I had to pry Jonah from the table after which a huge screaming and kicking tantrum took place.

The next day we headed off to the Shed Aquarium, along with 200,000 of our closest friends! Boy, was it crowded! But thanks to my sister, Brittany, who had season passes, got us in for free, knew just where to go, when to beat the lunch rush, and how to get tickets to the Beluga whale show, we had fun despite the crowds (even if a few of us picked up some germs while we were there with our new 200,000 friends). Here's Sarah, Aaron, Jacob and Anson with some jellyfish!

With all of the crowds at the aquarium and the dark lighting, it was a little hard to get many good pictures. Here are Sarah, Jonah, Mommy and Jacob in front of the shark tank. Sarah stressed about this for days convinced that the sharks would break through the glass and eat her. Thankfully that didn't happen! Whew!


After 2 such big days we took a break, played with our new toys and cousins, relaxed at Grandma's, played at parks and did a little shopping. On Friday Grandpa took us to this great train restaurant! You sit at a oblong counter and a little train brings your food. There are trains running around the ceiling, Thomas the Train on giant TV's, and trains everywhere you look. The kids had a blast. Jonah seriously thought he was in heaven. Here is the train dropping off some food for us!

Jonah and Daddy while a train whizzes by! Someone should open a restaurant like this out where we live. It'd be a huge hit!



After a wonderful, fun-filled trip we finally loaded up the plane to head home. Here are Sarah and Jacob with some activity books and treats. They did pretty well on the plane, especially considering there was only 1 potty on the plane and some long waits for that potty!

Don't let this picture fool you. This rare moment captured on camera was only that . . . a moment. Since the flight home was through Jonah's nap time, he spent a good portion of the flight climbing around, crying, screaming, and wrestling with Mommy until he finally just crawled underneath the seats and fell asleep on the floor . . . only for the last 30 minutes of the flight. Once I got over my grossed-out factor from the filthy floor my child was snuggled up on, I had to wake him up for the landing. And, of course, more crying, screaming and wrestling took place. Oh the joys!

Thanks to all my family who drove us, fed us, and altered their busy schedules to accommodate us! We love you all and can't wait to come back!