Chicago and Iowa

Adam is always begging to go back to Iowa.... so we decided that we would make a trip to Chicago, spend a few days there and then drive over to Iowa to spend a few days there.  Flying was crazy--- everything with Cade is crazy. He was on the go go go go go non-stop until about 15 minutes left in the flight over and then crashed. Of course. We were just glad we made it.  

The hotel we stayed in was downtown close to the everything so we walked ALOT.  The first day we walked down to Navy Pier, explored a little and then rented this little quadcycle and biked along lake michigan. It was a lot of fun and I think the kids liked it more than we did. haha.  Adam took the brunt of the work. It was a gorgeous day and great views.

The McDonalds on Navy Pier because our friend... restrooms, free cold water, and cheap ice cream cones. Pretty sure we stopped in their a number of times. They also had this cool electricity thingy. I caught this moment with Lincoln helping Norah reach. Best big brother award for sure.  Chicago is a gorgeous city with great history.

I had always wanted to do a river architectural cruise and it did not disappoint. The kids loved the boat ride itself, and we were fascinated with all the history of the buildings and why Chicago was built like it is.  

We then headed back to our apartment tired and wore out.  Thanks to technology(the tablet) the kids bonded and cuddled with each other on the bed.  Sleeping in the hotel room with Cade was an  adventure in itself as well.  That kid WILL NOT sleep if he sees or hears anyone around. So all 5 of us in a tiny hotel room was a disaster come bedtime. We had to take Cade out for walks in the hallway and try to get him to calm down while the other kids fell asleep.  Needless to say Cade ended up by Mom most nights.

The next day was more fun exploring the city.  We walked down to Millennial Park, enjoyed construction, hula hooped, visited the Bean, went to the splash pad and playground and Maggie Daley Park, got snowcones and walking along the Pier to get to the Aquarium kept us busy for the 1st half of the day.

We made it to the Aquarium and were fascinated by all the awesome creatures.  Lincoln was eating it all up and teaching us about many of the animals/reptiles there.

To reduce our walking we hopped on a water taxi that took us across the bay. Well worth the money ant it had a great view of the skyline.

Our last stop for the day was the Children's Museum. We happened to be there on Thurs day night which was free night so of course we stopped in to check it out. The kids could have spent hours and hours there. So many fun things from racing cars, to climbing, to diggin dinosaur bones, to playing in the water room, and so so much more we didn't get to in the couple hours we were there.

After dinner we walked to Gino's East for some deep dish Pizza. Lincoln was loving the stretchy cheese.  Yum.... next up hotel and bed!!!  Another fun, long, and exhausting day.

Day 3- we hopped on the Bus (which the kids thought was Awesome!) and headed to Lincoln Park Zoo (which Lincoln also thought was cool that it was named with his name.  Norah was so excited to see the Pigs--- and one of the very first things we saw when we entered the park were some huge, hairy pigs haha.   We saw lots of other fun animals and the day was perfect.  and we loved that the Zoo was free!! yes free!

Day 4- we headed to Iowa. Our 1st stop was in Anamosa to visit with some of the Ellisons at a park while the kids played and then we headed up to the cemetery to see the headstone that we had just had placed for Dean(Adam's Dad).  It was a great visit and def felt touched there in the cemetery and thinking about Adam's Dad.  Many of the Ellisons came over to the cemetery as well.  

After Anamosa we headed up to Dyersville to check out the Field of Dreams Movie Site.  Adam had never been and I had never been when there was actual huge corn stalks. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to see that an actual game was being plated on the field. I guess there is such thing as a Vintage Baseball League that plays by all the old rules, wears old style uniforms, and basically plays like back in the day.  Pretty cool to watch. And they were passing out pins and baseball card to all the kids.  We also had to get some classic pics in the corn!  It was huge! 

AFter Field of Dreams we headed to our hotel in Iowa City but of course we had to stop in Hale... to get some grub at the Supper Club.  Although we missed Grandpa Willie we thought about him the entire time and the broasted chicken was as good as we remember.... Our kids were crazy and out of control though.

Sunday we were able to go to church in Iowa city and then we went in to Mechanicsville to see Grandpa Willie's headstone.  We also made a stop to see Great great Grandpa Ellison.  More Corn fields were for exploring as well.   Next was Aunt Carol's house. We love Aunt Carol, the kids were so excited to see her, and she spoiled us rotten by making is lunch (thanks to her friend as well) and then the kids got hooked up with goodie bag with little presents. They loved it all.  It was so good to see and visit with her both on Sunday and Monday.   Monday we also went to the Amana Colonies for a bit and checked out some of the little shops.  The big Rocking Chair was def. a highlight.  We were like midgets in it.  

Monday night we got to see our  friends Abe and Erin Sheffield along with their adorable little Twins (Hugh and Greta). We got some Burgers, went to a park, and then walked down to Dane's Dairy for ice cream.  By the end of our walk the kids were all tired and ready to be home! We miss the Sheffields and wish we could see them more often!!

Our final day in Iowa we went up to University of Iowa campus and walked round town, visited the Pentacrest, went to the Natural History Museum, went souvenir shopping and had a fabulous time reliving our time in Iowa.  We love Iowa City and it will always have a little special place in our hearts.

On our way back to the Chicago Airport we stopped at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline.  They had a bunch of their huge equipment available to everyone to climb on and explore. They also had some fun activities. It was a great stop to break up the drive back and the kids could have stayed much longer.  It was a great week and so fun to spend it to gether as a family!!