Chicago!

 We planned a little family trip to Chicago the week prior to school starting. We have traveled this summer but we were either with friends or family so we wanted to do a little adventuring with just teh 5 of us. I hadnt been to Chicago since I was a kid and the others had never been so we picked it to explore. It is a 5 hour drive so we didnt need plane tickets so we decided to go for 3 nights. It was just enough time to explore without over doing it. It can be exhausting to bus and walk museums! We stayed in Lincoln park in an air bnb so we appreciated the walkability and feeling like we were locals in the neighborhood. It was a nice area and had easy access to bus downtown for sight-seeing. The kids loved riding the bus! 

The airbnb was located on Cleveland St.... how fitting. 

Chicago is big! I forget or didnt realize just how sprawling the buildings/downtown is. Lincoln Park area was less overwhelming and more charming with old townhomes/buildings and tree lined streets. We walked so many miles each day (and bused) as well as ate plenty of deep dish pizza. Thankfully the suburban was never needed to be driven. 

We enjoyed trying new restaurants and desserts too around Lincoln Park. 

In lieu of a party for Sadie's 9th birthday, we booked her cake at the American Girl Doll Store in Chicago. The girls absolutely loved the going to the store, looking at everything, eating with dolls, taking dolls, and Sadie used her birthday money to get a look-like- me doll. 

After the American Girl Doll store we walked along Lake Michigan to the Navy Pier. 

That night, though we are not Cubs fans, we wanted to go to a game at Wrigley Field since they were playing. We meet a family, The Thieles, that we had meet on our AZ trip who are friends with our friends, the Kohl's as they live in a Chicago suburb. The Kohls loaned myself and the kids some gear to wear to the game which we were thankful for.

A  guy behind Levi caught a ball and gave it to him! 

The next day we bused downtown again and went to the Field Museum. It is huge. We barely touched 20% of it before it was time to go to get more pizza. 

Then we stopped at millennium park to be tourist with the Bean. 

No matter the city, with kids, we still ended up at various playgrounds. 

And back to the actual park in Lincoln Park area for last night views. 

It was a fun city to explore but a little to big to live in for us with 3 growing kids. We enjoyed slipping back into city life for the week though!