Day 2

I'm back again. August has come around in true fashion. After a summer of mild weather (it spoiled us really), the HEAT is on and so is the humidity. I can take heat, but with today's humidity I did not do much outside.

Day two in Chicago was quite fun. We started early and beat the crowd to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Turns out, we beat the animals to the zoo also. Most of them were in hiding I think. Even though our children LOVE animals, they didn't want to spend long at the zoo. We made the decision that we would NOT be going to visit Shedd aquarium on zoo day. Somehow we couldn't justify spending $70 plus to visit for an hour or so.

We left the zoo and went to the Oak Street Beach. The OSB gets high marks from me! If you didn't turn around to see the skyline, you wouldn't know you were in Illinois. There are beautiful palm trees and a cafe right there. We ate lunch there before testing out the water. The sun was great and we got some color. Unfortunately, I failed to put sunblock on my nose. Therefore, I still look like Rudolph. The water was cool and refreshing!

Dinner was yummy at Quartino's (italian). The downside to Quartino's for me was that I could not decipher most of the menu. They made it more fancy sounding than the dish actually turned out to be. The funniest thing about Q's is that they have bathroom valets/attendants.

Josh took Keirah to the restroom there and she was assisted in handwashing by the B V. She brought back some candy to the table. On the rest of our trip she thought that every time she visited a restroom at a restaurant, she would get a piece of candy.

We spent time walking around the city. Chicago is gorgeous at night with all of the buildings lit up!

Enjoy a few pictures from Day 2 and stay tuned for fun on day 3!

A few notes: I have no idea who the people in the pics are below at the beach, but just overlook it =).

Keirah is potty trained, however she wears a swimmer at the beach/pool to assist in keeping her bottoms up and to make sure she doesn't moon the beachgoers. As you can see, she needs more than just a swimmer =).

Chicago Day 1

We got up early on Sunday morning. For me, it was slightly over 2 hours of sleep. Why? Someone was shooting off very loud fireworks all night. Also, some neighbors were having a party and were loud.

Anyway, either way I was fine and very happy to be on vacation! The train was a bit late, but that did not matter a whole lot because we made up time on the train. All of us snoozed a bit at some point on the ride. We arrived in Chicago 15 minutes early!!

As is typical, there was some large event going on in Union Station. It was Disney's Christmas Carol. It looked cool, but I'm not into Christmas in July--sorry.

We took a quick cab ride to our hotel (same one as last year). We were able to check in and get a great room view.

We decided to walk to PF Changs since it was still a bit early. We had plans of visiting the Pier and the beach. The walk only took like 10 minutes. Lunch was very yummy and much needed. Since we thought they had discontinued the free trolleys, we took a water taxi to Navy Pier. Turns out they hadn't discontinued the trolleys completely, just scaled them back A LOT! Aliyah was pretty animated on the ride. She was cheering about everything we saw. The captain told her to have fun on the Ferris Wheel.

Again, as is typical there was another event going on...the AB Clydesdales were all on display at Navy Pier along with their stagecoach and dalmation. I have seen them before (obviously a different group of them several years ago). Josh and the girls on the other hand, haven't seen them. They are MASSIVE, beautiful, muscular, and amazing. What do you know, I left my camera in the hotel room--duh! We enjoyed looking at Scott, Curly and others. It seems like it would only take about 1/4 of one Clydesdale to pull that Stagecoach =).

Navy Pier was busy and we only stayed a short time to look at one little shop. We took the short walk to the Ohio St. Beach to check out the water. It was a bit chilly, but we managed to enjoy it. We got to ride the trolley back =).

Following a quick nap, we were back out in the city again. We visited American Girl and picked up the items that were on Aliyah's birthday list as well as a few books that she wanted to read.

For dinner, we went with familiar and chose Chili's. It was tasty!

Since everyone was pretty tired and I was battling a cold, we headed back to our hotel. We chilled out for the rest of the evening and enjoyed the gorgeous view from our hotel room. Every night, we made sure to keep the curtains open every night to take in the gorgeous lights and sights of the city. We were on the 27th floor overlooking the river. In the picture, you will see NBC tower on the right, the Hancock building in the background (white line across the top), Tribune bldg. etc...

Stay tuned for the rest of the fun as well as many more pictures!

Chicago VI

Following our time at the Oprah show, it was definitely time for lunch. We were all well past starving. We headed over to Chili's (our old-faithful restaurant). It was as yummy as could be. All along the way, we were talking about how we couldn't believe we got to experience Oprah and see all of those Olympians. On that note, I found a pic of the men's gymnastics team being silly.
Our plans after lunch were to go to all of the rest of the stores that we still wanted to visit. Josh wanted to go to the newly-opened Crocs store on State St. We left and began walking. We walked and walked and walked and eventually made it to the Crocs store. We found Keirah a cute pair of shoes and then headed back up towards our hotel. We stopped at Caribou Coffee since we had a coupon from our Oprah trip earlier in the day. We had some yummy drinks there. We also visited the mall on Michigan to pick up a few things. Aliyah enjoyed the Sanrio (Hello Kitty) store. The Lego store was fun as well.

We went back to our hotel and sat for a couple of minutes--it was more like we all visited the restroom, re-arranged all of the bags and went to claim our baggage from the bellman. They suggested a cab to Union Station. They whistled and there it was. It was a quick cab ride and a nice driver. We can say that we have taken every mode of public transportation in Chicago--train, water taxi, regular taxi, trolley, and bus. We had some time to wait in the train station. We saw everything from full-fledged Amish to some very hippy-earth loving folks.

It was our best trip ever--that's saying a lot. It magically beat out Florida. I think that was because it had everything that we like as a family all in one place. It had the beach and sand that looks like the ocean and plenty of things to do when you aren't swimming or chillin! There are many hours in a day and there was never a shortage of evening activities in Chicago. The hotel was wonderful and a super Hotwire deal. Some of the best things that we did were free--how is that possible?? We didn't pay a penny to have the Oprah experience. We had some great shopping experiences--when else do you get to shop by yourself at AG or Coach or the nice stores of Michigan?? The restaurant choices are endless and great!! You could eat at a different place for every meal every day for months and still not try all of the places Chicago has to offer. I will post a montage of pictures from the trip that I haven't posted before.
I thought this garden was gorgeous. Maybe if I have a garden like this--I will win next year's garden contest hands down! This is at Navy Pier.









The above pictues are a shot of Buckingham Fountains and the Chicago Theatre on State St.

The following pictures are Oprah's digs--it is almost right next to the Drake Hotel. She lives in the Gold Coast area--Chicago's $$ district. Also, you will see some of the shops along Oak Street (Chicago's version of LA's Rodeo Drive).

Well, that concludes my pictures and stories thus far from this trip to Chicago. I will be posting more pictures on Facebook so, if you are my friend on FB, check them out there. I have so many more that I just didn't have room to post here. Time for Shutterfly!

Chicago V

We woke up early on Wednesday morning to get ready for the day and to get our things together. We found out that morning that Oprah's taping would begin at 10 am. We arrived at MP around 9:15 am. We were given Olympic pins which was our little souvenir of the day. We walked into the lawn area and were surprised that we didn't have too bad a spot at all. When we walked in, I saw Chris Rock and his wife (more on that later). It is one of those things where you see so many famous people in person all at once that it's one of those "pinch yourself" moments. The warm-up lady was having the crowd practice different "cheering" for different things. She also had some practice Q&A times. I must say, now that I've been to a taping, I understand what goes on before airing, during commercials, and after the show. It was a neat experience even from that aspect.

Anyway, the crowd warm-up lady informed everyone that this was the FIRST show kids have ever been allowed to attend. Normally you have to be 18 years old. There were only a handful of kids. Most were in school anyway--obviously. She also announced that this was one of the biggest Oprah shows ever. Everyone was buzzing with excitement...c'mon 175 top Olympic medalists--including the one and only PHELPS! We finally saw the Olympians lining up to come in before official airing. Those medals gleamed in the sunlight. They waved and of course everyone was about to burst they were so excited. Another side note...there are a TON of cameras and even several helicopters flying overhead. Some of the cameras are on these like 50 foot pole-type things. Those are the ones that typically sweep over and around the audience. There were 3 cameras up on booms. The police presence was incredible. The police were on horseback, bicycles, segways (sp), foot, squad car, and probably any mode I have forgotten. Finally, the announcer came on and announced the show and out came Cleopatra...I mean Oprah. These giant velvety curtains opened and there she was. A few observations on Oprah:

she had giant hair that day (it was even more giant than you would see on tv)
she was speaking in a deep voice that day

She made her intro and brought in the Olympians--everyone went wild!! Once they say that they will be back right after this, they arrange people and things on the stage and figure out exactly where they are going to go/do. Suprisingly there is a large amount of dead time which is filled by highlights of various medal-moments of the Olympics. The crowd knows when to cheer as they are going back to taping. Michael Phelps was interviewed first of course. She probably spent the longest talking to both Michael and his mother. I noticed that several things were cut out of his interview once the show aired. Things like...his love interest (to which he said some things must be kept private), what he has done with his million from Speedo (I don't recall that part airing but maybe I'm wrong) I'll have to go back and watch the tape etc... They interviewed Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Dara Torres, Jenny Finch, Kobe Bryant, Misty May & Kerri Walsh and the women's 4 X 400 medley relay from track as well as the other members of Phelps 4 x 100 relay. The show went for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. That's why they had to cut stuff out. They posed them all for photographs which took quite awhile. Shawn Johnson only came up to Phelps elbow (if even).

The entertainment of the day was exciting, although it was almost lost in the complete excitement of the Olympians. It was David Cook (this year's AI winner). He sang "Time of Your Life" while the athletes all came to greet the crowd. Everyone was beyond excited at that point.

Keep in mind that if you were in the seats, you were not allowed to take pics or anything. My regular camera was dead. I think I got one photo and that was basically--turn on and snap and that it turned off. All of these pics were taken on cell phone--thus major lack of zoom and delay in shots. The pic above is the big picture they were all having taken with Oprah. Michael Phelps and Shawn J. are on your left and Oprah is in dark blue.
I also forgot to mention that Oprah's best friend, Gayle King was there along with Mayor Daley (his first Oprah show attendance also), Chris Rock & his wife, and many Olympian's parents.

Following the show, we (at my urging) made a bee-line to the outside where we knew that they would be exiting eventually. We were in a crowd of people, but decided to move across the street where we had a clearer view. The crowds by the buses were pretty hemmed in by police and such. We did get to see a lot more on that side. There were several double-deckers (probably 8) and then Black Escalades for special people such as Michael Phelps, Oprah, Misty May, Kerri Walsh, I believe Shawn & Nastia, Michael's mom & sisters. Some of the Olympians crossed the street right by us and took a cab (not sure why). As we were walking out of MP, I had just put my camera away and I came within feet of Chris Rock again. He looks the exact same in person--giant smile, signature voice. By the time I got the phone back out and camera back on, he was walking away.

I think I mentioned before that the men's gymnastics team were funny. We (myself and some girls next to me) yelled Jonathan Horton's name and he and 2 others decided to do handstands on the top of the bus. They did it several times. He (Horton) is just as charismatic in person as he was on television during the meet. When the buses began to pull away, they drove right past. He smiled, yelled and waved at us all. Dara Torres--wow--you can see the muscles on her arms a mile away! I can see why she did so well. Oprah was one of the last to leave in a black escalade. I figured her vehicle would go straight. Instead, they turned around and drove right past us. I had my phone away because I didn't expect to be able to see her. Well, wrong again...she rolled her window down right in front of us and yelled out the window--thank you and some other stuff and waved. I'm sure that few feet is the closest I will ever get to Oprah. She had on gold jewelry--notably a gold bracelet. Off she went down the streets of Chicago.

All in all, it was an awesome experience. It's one thing to see the Olympics on TV and cheer for these people for a couple of weeks every four years, but it's another to get so close to them and high-five them and see them in person. I have always been a HUGE HUGE fan of the Olympics (since I was 6). I remember watching Mary Lou get the gold!

A couple of questions we have been asked repeatedly:

1. Did Oprah give away anything? No--I'm guessing having 175 Olympic medalists was her gift. We only got the pin. I don't even think everyone got those.

2. How did you get in? It was by accident and worked out great that we were able to get to MP and we didn't have to have tickets.
3. Is Oprah still thinner or is she bigger again? I would say she has a typical AA woman's build. She maybe didn't look as thin as some previous shows I have seen, but I'm sure many factors weigh into that.

4. Did you get Michael Phelps' autograph? No--and I would be surprised if very many/if any did. They specifically said the athletes were not doing autographs or photos.

I'm ready to go again!!

In my pictures, you will see Brendan Hansen (gold medalist in swimming)--I missed getting the medal in the pic =(. BTW, he lost his medal on a plane flight last week, but it was found and turned in--whew! Also, there was Brian Clay (decathalon gold) and some track stars and others who I can't name.

I will check Josh's phone for post-worthy pics as I think he may have a couple more. If so, I will update the post with more pics.

Watch for the remaining Chicago visit post to come! I'm on a roll this week--so far. Every time I post, I miss it a lot and I'm more than ready to go back!

Chicago IV

I have decided that I have to finish my Chicago posts before September ends!
We didn't do much on the morning after Labor Day. Josh wasn't feeling well after he ate entirely too much the night before. That is the truth and he would tell you that also =). Anyway, we were meeting someone that I work with through work--does that make sense? She is from Chicago so she took us all to lunch at Lou Malnati's. Once we got ready, we walked to Lou Malnati's and had some yummy pizza. My children were a bit fidgety--maybe because it takes awhile to get the pizza. Anyway, it was good and it was hot outside. Once we left, we decided that we should squeeze in yet another day at the beach. After all, the weather was perfect for it.
The beach had people, however it was quite obvious that it was no longer a weekend or a holiday. We enjoyed some more swimming and relaxing. For some reason, water & sun de-stress me--majorly. It was refreshing. Since we didn't have watches or anything, we decided we would leave when the shadows of the buildings got long and took most of the sun from the beach. It worked great. We took a water taxi to the beach--very beautiful, BTW. We decided to try the Blue Trolley to go back to the hotel. The Red Trolley that stopped at our hotel finished running for the summer after Labor Day. Anyway, the blue trolley worked out, we just had to walk a bit further than we did with the red one.
We decided that we would have a shopping night. Upon request (by Aliyah) after she had seen it on our tour, we went to dinner at Rainforest Cafe--late. We went to all of our favorite shops on Michigan and vicinity. We made our stop at the American Girl store and WOW did we pick a perfect time to go! It was like a private shopping experience. Our children were the ONLY ones in the whole store. We spent about an hour in there while they decided what they wanted. This trip, they pretty much wanted the whole Bitty Baby deal. Aliyah also got Kit's dog & scooter. Bags in hand, we headed over to Hershey's. Once again, we did dessert before dinner. Keirah had some chocolate wonder and Aliyah had a "chocolate muffin" as she calls it.

I couldn't do more than 2 bites as it was very rich!

We proceeded to Water Tower Mall. We visited Coach =). I had the privilege of a private shopping experience there as well. I resisted the temptation to get a beautiful full-sized purse even though my beloved husband was cool with me getting one. Instead, I got some Coach perfume--which is my new fave and a Coach Zoe Mosaic Clutch wristlet. I love the deep chocolate brown. My reasoning behind the clutch wristlet is that after lugging my normal Coach purse with all of the stuff in it gets heavy--particularly with two kids in tow and lots of bags. I now switch--if I don't need to carry everything, I carry the clutch. I absolutely love it.

We visited a few other stores before heading back out onto Michigan. Michigan was absolutely delightful because the more talented musicians come out at night--probably a side gig to earn extra $$ after the day job. We listened to a violinist and a saxophonist as we waited to cross various streets. It just gives it a wonderful flavor. We walked down to the more "night-life" district (River North) and went into Rainforest Cafe. The hostess said she had the perfect seats for us right by this...

Yes, the elephants. They make noise and come to life quite often. Neither of the girls were very sure of it, particularly Keirah. She jumped into my arms as soon as it started. We explored a few other things while waiting for our meal. The food was great! Aliyah declared it to be her favorite.

As you can see, Keirah has her eyes on the elephant in the picture. We headed back out and to our hotel. Everyone was pretty tired as it was about 10:30. When we arrived back at our hotel, we turned on the TV to catch a blurb about Olympic athletes arriving in Chicago for the Oprah show to be taped in Millennium Park. Since our hotel was only 2 blocks from MP, we decided to go. I knew that Oprah taped in the morning, however we were unsure of the time, but decided to leave between 8:30 & 9:00 to head over there. The rest of the Oprah post is to follow.

Oh My!

Short & sweet as we have just arrived home. I have probably 1 month's worth of posts that I could write about after our trip, but let's just say...it was awesome and I had an OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE today. You all know if you have read my blog that I LOVE THE OLYMPICS and miss them greatly still--well do I have stories to tell!! However, you will have to wait and see until I get around to writing them and hopefully I get it written before Monday Sept. 8th, 2008 b/c that's when OPRAH's OLYMPIC show is on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I will say for now. OLYMPICS, OLYMPICS, OLYMPICS!!!