Sweet Home Chicago!

Henry's day care is closed this week, so we thought that rather than hanging out at home with him, we would take a little trip to Chicago. We've been here since Sunday and have been having an absolute blast - it feels like we never left! I can't believe that we leave tomorrow. Time flies! Here's what we've been up to since we got here.

Day 1: flight from hell. Note to self: do not fly with toddler without buying him a seat into which you can strap him and his car seat, no matter how much it costs. Also, I will also never again be scheduling a flight right in the middle of Henry's nap time. It's been over a year now since Henry has had a napless day, and I now know why I've blocked those days out of my memory. All being said, he handled the travel (and lack of a nap) like a champ.

I had dinner with two of my favorite girlfriends, Sarah and Beth, and John had dinner with two of his favorite guy friends, Jim and Jeff. All around a good first night in town.

Climbing at the airport, waiting for our flight.

Day 2: Morning trip to the Astor play lot so that Henry can burn some energy before his nap. He had an absolute blast. City kids are way more polite on the playground than kids back home, so I wasn't constantly worried about him getting knocked over, sand thrown in his face, pushed down the slide, etc. Monday also marked the momentous occasion of Henry's first bus ride.  After that, it was all "bus bus bus!" (Or maybe I should say busss-sh busss-sh busss-sh in Henry-speak.)  Henry is now obsessed with the bus, and actually cried when I suggested taking a taxi to the Children's Museum rather than the bus.  Speaking of the Children's Museum, we made our first trip to Navy Pier to visit the Chicago Children's Museum. Henry loved his time there, too. He ran and played and watched all the big kids and had a great time. We rounded out our day with dinner with Scott and Auntie Steph at Chicago Q before heading back to the hotel and passing out.

Oh, and I had lunch with some more of the best girls I know - Sam, Susan, and Nicole - in the West Loop. Miss those gals!

Enjoying our view from our room (or what you can see of it through all the kid handprints on the window)

Henry's first bus ride! He's mesmerized and will never be the same.

We paid $14 per person to get into the Children's Museum, and Henry just wants to play with trucks. Lovely.

Being silly with Steph and Scott before bed.

Day 3 (today): Henry got us up at 6:30, so we got an early start. We tried out a new play lot (Lake Shore East Park), then headed to the Loop for some exploring. Henry had his first Magnolia cupcake and was in hog heaven. He had one to himself and insisted on having a few bites of mine. After a long nap by Henry (and even longer lunch by me with my old co-workers), we headed up to our old neighborhood for a bit of nostalgia. We took Henry for his inaugural trip to Timeless Toys.  He left owning several more cars than we walked in with, the spoiled little stink. After strolling down Lincoln and checking out our old stomping grounds, we played at Welles Park before having dinner at Rockwell's, which just happens to be the first restaurant Henry ever visited.  All of this activity resulted in Henry being up past his bedtime, which caused him to morph into demon dragon baby. Not cool. We promptly put him to bed and are hopeful he will wake up as his normal sweet self tomorrow.

Playing outside with our new obsession, the school bus. He didn't let go of it all day long. I had to pry it out of his little hand at bedtime!

Miss this view.

Dinner at Rockwell's.

Moments before Henry's transformation into the most ill-behaved baby.

It's been such a wonderful and nostalgic trip! It's been great seeing friends, visiting some of our favorite spots, and showing Henry around one of the best cities on earth. Now I'm off to bed so I can enjoy my last few hours here before heading back to Tulsa tomorrow.